Star-Studded Classical Performances by Violinist Itzhak Perlman and Conductor Gustavo Dudamel Leading Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Kimmel Center in November
October 27, 2008
Gustavo Dudamel
Classical music at its finest, Kimmel Center Presents brings a star-studded classical feast to Philadelphia this November—from an internationally renowned violin virtuoso to "Classical music’s newest rock star" conducting one of the world’s greatest orchestras.
Click on the name of the artist below for more information on each Kimmel Center performance:
- Violinist Itzhak Perlman joins musical forces with pianist Rohan de Silva to perform a special duo recital (November 2, 2008)
- Conductor Gustavo Dudamel makes his Philadelphia debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (November 19, 2008)
Tickets 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 215-790-5883.
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 evening curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Rohan de Silva, piano
Sunday, November 2, 2008 | 3pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $35-85
"And once again, the trademark qualities of [Itzhak Perlman’s] playing were there for all to hear: the opulent sound, the silken tone, the supple bow arm, the effortless technique."
Fifteen-time Grammy® Award-winning violinist Itzhak Perlman takes the stage with pianist Rohan de Silva on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 3pm in Verizon Hall. Recently honored with a Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award in celebration of his longstanding contributions to classical music, Perlman celebrates the 50th anniversary of his American debut during the 2008-2009 season. The program includes J.M. Leclair’s Sonata for violin and piano in D Major, Strauss’s Sonata for violin and piano in E flat major, Op. 18, and Messiaen’s Theme and Variations for violin and piano, as well as additional selections to be announced from the stage.
Perlman has appeared with every major orchestra and in recitals and festivals around the world. His long association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra includes history-making concerts in Warsaw and Budapest in 1987, as well as the Soviet Union in 1990, captured on the Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary, Perlman in Russia. Additional Emmy Awards garnered include the PBS documentaries Fiddling for the Future, Perlman in Shanghai and In the Fiddler’s House, the latter of which was filmed in Poland in 1995 and dedicated to Klezmer music. His virtuosic violin solo performances have also been featured in the soundtracks of Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning film Schindler’s List, Zhang Yimou’s film Hero and Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha.
Perlman has received various awards and recognitions for his musicianship including the Kennedy Center Honor, America’s most prestigious lifetime achievement award, in December 2003; the "National Medal of Arts" from President Clinton in 2000; and the coveted "Medal of Liberty" from President Reagan in 1986. He has performed for the highest dignitaries including the State Dinner for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, hosted by President and Mrs. George W. Bush at the White House in May 2007.
Internationally renowned pianist Rohan de Silva, a native of Sri Lanka, has performed with Perlman in prestigious venues worldwide, including the White House, and on PBS’ Live from Lincoln Center broadcast in January 2000. Partnerships with violin virtuosos Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Joshua Bell and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, among others, have lead to wide acclaim. De Silva’s numerous music festival appearances include the Aspen, Interlochen, Manchester, Ravinia and the Wellington Arts Festival in New Zealand. In 2005, de Silva received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award, presented by Perlman at the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall.
"[Perlman’s] tonal warmth and musical integrity were in full, sensitive force, just as his sense of humor proved irresistible. The music’s luminous outpouring of tender, dramatic and skittish ideas found the artists interacting as if engaged in a series of intriguing conversations."—Cleveland Plain Dealer
Perlman Program:
LECLAIR: Sonata for violin & piano in D Major
STRAUSS: For violin & piano in E flat major, Op. 18
MESSIAEN: Theme and Variations for violin & piano
Other works to be announced from the stage
Sunday, November 2, 2008 | 1:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza | Free in the Plaza
Maplewood Ensemble
This talented string ensemble featuring Julie Bougher, James Finegan, Steven Heitlinger and Andrea Weber will delight us with pieces such as Glazunov 5 Novelettes and Haydn's Lark Quartet, among others. The Maplewood Ensemble will perform in Commonwealth Plaza prior to the ticketed performance by Itzhak Perlman in Verizon Hall.
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | 8pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $33-115
"…[Dudamel] delivered teeming, impassioned and supremely confident performances…Clearly, the Philharmonic players were inspired by the boundless joy and intensity of his music-making…Mr. Dudamel has a powerfully intuitive feeling for color and character in music."
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra returns to Philadelphia under the baton of one of today’s uniquely gifted conductors, Gustavo Dudamel, on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 8pm in Verizon Hall. Hailed by the London Times as "South America’s lightning conductor," 27-year-old Venezuelan phenomenon Dudamel makes his Philadelphia debut with a program featuring Bernstein’s Jubilee Games and Halil, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98.
Gustavo Dudamel exploded onto the international scene after winning the inaugural Bamberger Symphoniker Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition, the world's most prestigious competition for young conductors, in May 2004. He has been appointed the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, effective 2009-10, with whom he made his celebrated United States debut in 2005. Dudamel has dazzled audiences as guest conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic, among many others.
In addition to engagements with the world's most renowned orchestras and musicians, Dudamel serves as Principal Conductor of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He is also currently in his ninth year as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, where he began his conducting studies with José Antonio Abreu, the orchestra’s founder. The ensemble is widely recognized for its role in transforming the lives of hundreds of thousands of impoverished youth through music education, a mission which Dudamel plans to continue in Los Angeles. In May 2007, Dudamel was awarded the Premio de la Latindad by the Union Latina, an honor given for outstanding contributions to Latin cultural life.
Founded in 1936, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is one of Israel’s oldest and most influential cultural institutions. Under the esteemed leadership of Music Director Zubin Mehta since 1969, the orchestra has enjoyed associations with such renowned artists as Emanuel Ax, Daniel Barenboim, Yefim Bronfman, Principal Guest Conductor Yoel Levi, Yo-Yo Ma, Lorin Maazel, Honorary Guest Conductor Kurt Masur, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Arthur Rubinstein, Gil Shaham, Isaac Stern and Pinchas Zukerman, among others. As Israel’s premier cultural ambassador, the orchestra travels extensively throughout the world, particularly to countries where there is little or no Israeli representation. In 2007, the IPO performed five concerts in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles; seven concerts in six cities in Japan and 23 concerts during their summer European Festival Tour. In February, 2008, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra toured five U.S. cities with a "Tribute to Leonard Bernstein" that included the famous composer’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein, under the baton of Michael Barrett.
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Program:
BERNSTEIN: Jubilee Games
BERNSTEIN: Halil
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | 6:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza | Free in the Plaza
Musical Tribute to Venezuela
In partnership with Casa de Venezuela
The Music Ensemble of Casa de Venezuela promotes the culture, roots, traditions and folklore of Venezuela. Join us as the Music Ensemble takes us through a cultural journey complete with a traditional folkloric dance performance in honor of Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel’s ticketed engagement with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Verizon Hall.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | 6:30pm
Annex Lounge | Forte Event
Forte Young Professionals Mixer
Forte, the Kimmel Center’s newly-launched young professionals community, hosts its second event of the season prior to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance in Verizon Hall. Young performing arts lovers, ages 21-40, are invited to join us for a networking mixer with music and dancing in the Kimmel Center’s Annex Lounge. A $33 ticket price includes the pre-show mixer and the Orchestra’s performance, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999 or at www.kimmelcenter.org/forte.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | Post-show
Verizon Hall | Organ Postlude
Nathan Laube, organist
Nathan Laube is a rising star among young classical musicians. A native of Chicago, Laube began his music studies at age five, and at age 15, he was accepted as a full scholarship student at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Laube is currently a fourth year student at the Curtis Institute, where he studies with Alan Morrison (organ) and Susan Starr (piano). The free postlude will take place on the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ following the ticketed performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Verizon Hall.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2008/2009 Season is sponsored by Citi. The Great Orchestras on Tour Series is supported by ARCWheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System, American Express, and Interpark. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. NBC-10 is a media partner for Kimmel Center Presents.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.
The Kimmel Center is the recipient of partnership funding through the nationally recognized PNC "Grow Up Great" initiative, a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for success in school and life. Funding gives support to the Kimmel Center’s early childhood program "Bop and Swing," an arts program for children 1-5 years old, designed to promote an appreciation for American culture.
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