January 31, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INSIDE THE OREGON SYMPHONY’S 2010/11 SEASON:
LIVING COMPOSERS … AND OTHER RARITIES
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – In addition to the masterworks from the core orchestral repertoire that make up about a third of all the music the Oregon Symphony will perform in its 2010/11 season, the concert lineup is generously studded with what might be considered rarities: seldom-performed gems, Oregon Symphony premieres and a significant number of pieces by living composers.
Among the 10 pieces by living composers to be performed this year – up from seven in each of the past two seasons – are two by composers who are part of the Oregon Symphony family: Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda will conduct one of his own compositions, Duevoe, on the Feb. 20-21 classical program. And at the final classical program of the season May 21-23, Music Director Carlos Kalmar will lead the orchestra in a program that includes the Jig from Four Dances for Tuba by Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik.
Nine of the 10 works by living composers are Oregon Symphony premieres. The tenth – John Adams’ Slonimsky’s Earbox – is an Oregon Symphony co-commission that had its U.S. premiere here in 1996 but has not been performed by the orchestra since.
Season highlights include:
– 10 works by living composers …
- Narong Prangcharoen, Phenomenon … the Mysterious and the Unexplained (Oct. 2-4)
- William Bolcom, Violin Concerto (with violinist Benjamin Schmid, Oct. 30-Nov.1)
- John Adams, Slonimsky’s Earbox (Dec. 5)
- Marc-André Dalbavie, Color (Jan. 15-17)
- Rodion Shchedrin, Carmen Suite (after Georges Bizet) (Jan. 29-31)
- Jennifer Higdon, Percussion Concerto (with percussionist Colin Currie, Jan. 29-31)
- Gregory Vajda, Duevoe (Feb. 19-21)
- Arturo Márquez, Danzón No. 2 (Feb. 26-28)
- John Adams, The Wound-Dresser (May 7-9)
- Jeff Tyzik, Jig from Four Dances for Tuba (May 21-23)
– Rarities on the 2010/11 schedule that have not been performed by the Oregon Symphony in at least a decade …
- Aaron Copland, The Tender Land Suite (Sept. 16, last performed here in 1975)
- George Enescu, Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1 (Sept. 16, last performed here in 1969)
- Richard Wagner, Prelude to Parsifal (Oct. 9-11, last performed in 1958)
- Gioachino Rossini, Overture to Semiramide (Oct. 30-Nov. 1, last performed in 1984)
- Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 1, “Winter Dreams” (Oct. 30-Nov. 1, last performed in 1994)
- Franz Liszt, Piano Concerto No. 1 (with pianist Stephen Hough, Nov. 20-22, last performed in 1988)
- John Adams, Slonimsky’s Earbox, (Dec. 5, an Oregon Symphony co-commission last performed at its 1996 premiere)
- Dmitri Shostakovich, Cello Concerto No. 1 (with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Dec. 5, last performed in 1997)
- Carl Maria von Weber, Overture to Der Freischütz (Jan. 15-17, last performed in 1989)
- Johannes Brahms, Tragic Overture (Feb. 5-7, last performed in 1991)
- Igor Stravinsky, Four Norwegian Moods (Feb. 26-28, last performed in 1954)
- Franz Schubert, Symphony No. 5 (Feb. 26-28, last performed in 1997)
- Aram Khachaturian, Violin Concerto (with violinist Baiba Skride, Mar. 12-14, last performed in 1990)
- Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 1 (with pianist Natasha Paremski, Apr. 9-11, last performed in 1983)
- Paul Dukas, La péri Fanfare (May 21-23, last performed in 1972)
###
CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org