Tchaikovsky called his Sixth Symphony “the best thing I ever composed or shall compose.” The New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) will perform his Symphonic masterpiece at Tchaikovsky, Brahms & Lash on Thursday, May 19 at the 7:30pm at Woolsey Hall in downtown New Haven. Led by NHSO Music Director William Boughton, this concert’s program will also include Brahms’ Violin Concerto featuring NHSO New Generation Artist Benjamin Beilman, plus the world premiere of the next chapter of the Lash/Voynich Project: “Astronomical.”
Although he may be best known for his delightful ballets, such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty, Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies, particularly his Sixth Symphony, reveal his personality and innermost self to the listener. This work was premiered only a few days before he died under mysterious circumstances. Its music captures a lifetime of emotions and experiences, earning its nickname, “Pathetique,” which means “impassioned” or “full of emotion.”
The NHSO has commissioned NHSO Composer-In-Residence Hannah Lash to compose a full Symphony over the course of two seasons; the Symphony is inspired by the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, which is housed at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The NHSO is premiering each of the four movements separately before the full piece is premiered in Spring 2017. The second movement, “Astronomical,” is inspired by the Voynich Manuscript’s celestial charts and images. The music will mimic the vastness of space and motion of the planets and stars. To learn more about the Lash/Voynich Project, visit NewHavenSymphony.org/Lash-Voynich-Project.
25-year-old violinist Benjamin Beilman has received several prestigious awards including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2014, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a London Music Masters Award in 2012. In 2010, he won First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and First Prize in the Montréal International Musical Competition. Beilman has played with the London Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Tonhalle, Basel Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, San Francisco Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Los Angeles Chamber orchestras, amongst others.
Tickets: Adult tickets are $15 – $74. College student tickets are $10 and KidTix (children ages 7-17) are free with the purchase of an adult ticket. Blue Star tickets for active military personnel and their immediate family are free. For tickets and information call 203.562.5666 or visit www.NewHavenSymphony.org.
Pre-Concert Activities:
Prelude: Join the NHSO for an intriguing free pre-concert discussion with Yale School of Music professor Richard Gard, back by popular demand, from 6:30-7:00pm at Yale’s Sudler Hall.
Tchaikovsky, Brahms & Lash is sponsored by Evergreen Woods. The Lash/Voynich Project is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Alison M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and the Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy. The Classics Series media sponsor is the New Haven Register. KidTix and Blue Star Tix are sponsored by Frontier Communications.
