The New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) will celebrate immigrants’ influence on classical music at Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra on Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 7:30pm in Woolsey Hall in downtown New Haven. Led by NHSO music director William Boughton, this concert of masterworks written by immigrants and refugees will include Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead, Zhou’s First Sight, and Korngold’s Violin Concerto, featuring Artist-In-Residence Elena Urioste.
Music Director William Boughton says, “New Haven’s citizens have always warmly welcomed immigrants and has an enviable reputation as a safe-haven. Whilst putting the final classics series program of our season together I mused on the wide range of composers who had emigrated to the US to flee persecution and seek new opportunities. The great Russian pianist/composer Serge Rachmaninov fled the Russian revolution in 1918, and Béla Bartók and Erich Korngold both fled from Nazism in the 1930’s. To reflect our times, I searched for a contemporary immigrant composer and was attracted to Tian Zhou’s music and his story. This program encompasses Hollywood-inspired film music, Russian Romanticism, a brilliant orchestral concerto with all its folk influences, and a haunting piece of our time.”
Béla Bartók, born in Austria-Hungary, escaped to the United States after Hungary fell to Nazi control. Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff moved to the United States in 1917, and established himself as a virtuosi in American culture; he lived in the United States until his death in 1943. Symphonic film score composer Erich Korngold was born in the Czech Republic but left his home in advance of Nazi occupation and found major success writing music in Hollywood. Zhou Tian was born in Hangzhou, China and currently works in the United States. His exploration of multiculturalism is critically acclaimed and has earned him a 2018 Grammy nomination.
Violinist Elena Urioste is one of the NHSO’s three Artists-in-Residence this season, and made her NHSO debut at their opening night performance this Fall. She has been hailed “a drop-dead beauty who plays with equal parts passion, sensuality, brains, and humor” by The Washington Post. Recently, she has made her debut with the LA Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Orchestra of Opera North, and has performed with the Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. She made her recital debut at the Kennedy Center with pianist and NHSO Artist and Composer-in-Residence Michael Brown. Most recently, she has been selected as a BBC New Generation Artist and featured on the cover of Symphony Magazine. In addition to being a devoted musician, Elena is a yoga fanatic; voracious reader; lover of delicious food, semi-colons, and corgis; hopeless dreamer; and occasional scarf-knitter.
Tickets: Adult tickets are $15 – $74. College student tickets are $10 and KidTix (kids under 18) 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 203.865.0831 ext. 20 or visit www.NewHavenSymphony.org.
Pre-Concert Activities:
Symphony Supper: Union League Café
Thursday, May 10, 2018 – 5:00pm – Union League Café
Audience members can attend a prix fixe Symphony Supper before the performance. Space is limited and tickets are $55. Registration is available online at www.NewHavenSymphony.org or by calling 203.865.0831 ext. 20.
Prelude: There will be a pre-concert talk at 6:30pm with Amy Christman, Music Department Chair at Educational Center for the Arts, in Sudler Hall. She will discuss her thoughts on the evening’s world-traveling musical program. Admission into the “Prelude” is free and is open to the public.
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra is co-sponsored by Northwestern Mutual and the International Association of New Haven. Ms. Urioste’s appearance is co-sponsored by Chamber Insurance Trust and the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven. The Classics Series media sponsor is the New Haven Register. KidTix and Blue Star Tix are sponsored by Frontier Communications.
