NHK Symphony Orchestra Led by Vladimir Ashkenazy Opens Kimmel Center Presents ARC Wheeler's Great Orchestras On Tour Series
September 21, 2006
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Free at the Kimmel Also Presents Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Ensemble Performing on the Commonwealth Plaza Stage at 6pm
"This may well be the world’s most famous orchestra you’ve never heard" (–The New York Times, September 10, 2006).
Japan's oldest orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, opens the Kimmel Center Presents Arc Wheeler's Great Orchestras On Tour Series in Verizon Hall on Tuesday, October 17 at 8pm. Commemorating their 80th anniversary, NHK even managed to continue performing during World War II and now flourishes under the baton of newly appointed Music Director Vladimir Ashkenazy, one of the most revered pianists and conductors of our time. Celebrated pianist Hélène Grimaud performs Brahms Piano Concerto. No 1. The program also includes Elgar's Enigma Variations and Debussy's La Mer.
This concert is the first in the ARC Wheeler’s Great Orchestras on Tour Series. The next concert in the series will be the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with conductor Mariss Jansons on November 1, 2006 at 8pm.
Tickets for the NHK Symphony Orchestra are $115, $100, $80, $65, $59, $35 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply). For group sales call 215-893-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Through the years NHK Symphony Orchestra has provided many historical performances by inviting some of the world’s leading conductors and soloists of our time to join in performances. With regular overseas concerts since 1960, plans for semi-staged operas, a complete range of commissioned works and CD recordings, NHK Symphony Orchestra has been regarded with high reputation worldwide. The history of the NHK Symphony Orchestra began with the "New Symphony Orchestra," Japan's first professional orchestra established on October 5, 1926. The orchestra changed its name to "NHK Symphony Orchestra" after receiving full financial support from NHK. Today, NHK Symphony Orchestra performs around 120 concerts a year, including 54 subscription concerts with 27 programs at the NHK Hall and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. All subscription programs are broadcast nationwide on NHK television and over FM radio networks as well as to Europe, North and South America, and Asia through the NHK World Service. The NHK Symphony Orchestra celebrates the 80th anniversary of its foundation in 2006, and this tour will be its 6th visit to the United States since 1960.
Vladimir Ashkenazy has built an extraordinary career not only as one of the most renowned and revered pianists of our times, but as an artist whose creative life encompasses a vast range of activities and continues to offer inspiration to music-lovers across the world. Following his period as Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003, Ashkenazy recently took up the position of Music Director of NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo in September 2004. Mr. Ashkenazy maintains strong links with a number of other major orchestras with whom he has built special relationships over the years, including the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin. While conducting takes up a significant portion of his time each season, Ashkenazy continues to devote himself to the piano and continues to build his extraordinarily comprehensive recording catalogue. Most recently released is his recording of that most challenging and enriching of works, Bach's Wohltemperierte Klavier. Ashkenazy has also been involved with developing educational programs with NHK TV, including the 1999 Superteachers working with inner-city London school children, and in 2003-04 a documentary based around 'Prokofiev and Shostakovich Under Stalin' project.
Hélène Grimaud performs regularly with many major orchestras worldwide and continues to appear with conductors of the highest caliber. She has performed with such orchestras as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony Orchestras, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In addition to her impressive roster, Ms. Grimaud has released several critically-acclaimed recordings. In November 2003, Grimaud released her first book, Variations Sauvages, in which she discusses her life as a musician and her environmental work with wolves.
Kimmel Center Presents also offers more than fifty Free at the Kimmel community performances during the 2006/07 5th Anniversary season. These include Free in the Plaza with local artists performing classical, jazz, pop, country, world, dance and family fun on the Commonwealth Plaza stage, as well as Artist Chats with Kimmel Center Presents performers, education events and Organ Postludes in Verizon Hall. On Sunday, October 15 at 5:30pm, Melody Gardot will deliver jazz/pop hybrid harmonies on the Commonwealth Plaza Stage, followed by Emmylou Harris’s ticketed performance in Verizon Hall. On Tuesday, October 17 at 6pm, the Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Ensemble will precede the NHK Symphony Orchestra ticketed performance with conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. A free organ postlude by Peter Richard Conte will follow the performance. Please check online for additional information and a performance schedule.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, ARC Wheeler, and The William Penn Foundation. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com are media sponsors for the Great Orchestras on Tour series.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
October 17, 2006 | 8:00pm
Verizon Hall
NHK Symphony Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor
Hélène Grimaud, piano
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 (Hélène Grimaud)
ELGAR: Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma)
DEBUSSY: La Mer
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FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENTS
Sunday, October 15, 2006 | 5:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Melody Gardot, vocals and guitar
Ken Pendergast, bass
Charlie Patierno, drums
Patrick Hughes, trumpet
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 | 6pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Ensemble
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 | Post-show
Verizon Hall
Organ Postlude
Peter Richard Conte, organist
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