Internationally-Acclaimed, NHSO Principal Clarinetist David Shifrin to Perform Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) will explore the Northernmost point in Western music at the Northern Lights Festival on Thursday, October 29, 2015 at 7:30pm in Woolsey Hall. Led by NHSO music director William Boughton, the concert program will include Sibelius’ Symphonies No. 5 and 7, as well as NHSO Principal Clarinetist David Shifrin performing Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto.
The Yale School of Music and NHSO are collaborating on a month-long journey through Nordic and Scandinavian composers and music. 2015 marks the 150th birthday of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius; both the NHSO and Yale School of Music are celebrating the works of this revolutionary composer, as well as his Nordic neighbors – Danish composer Carl Nielsen and Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.
The Northern Lights Festival kicked off at the NHSO’s Opening Night concert on October 1 with Sibelius’ Swan of Tuonela and Grieg’s Piano Concerto; this October 29 performance of works by Sibelius and Nielsen will be the second event of the festival. The festival continues with Yale Philharmonia playing Sibelius’ Symphonies No. 1 and 2 at Woolsey Hall on Friday, November 6 as well as the music of Sibelius and Nielsen in several upcoming chamber music concerts. (For tickets and information on concerts presented by the Yale School of Music, visit music.yale.edu.)
NHSO Board Member and Yale School of Music Dean Robert Blocker says, “We are very pleased to partner with the NHSO on this year’s Northern Lights Festival. Not only are we joining together to celebrate the enduring legacy of Jean Sibelius and Carl Nielsen, but this collaboration also honors the long shared history of the NHSO and the Yale Philharmonia.”
One of only two wind players to have been awarded the Avery Fisher Prize since the award’s inception in 1974, David Shifrin is in constant demand as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber music collaborator. Mr. Shifrin has appeared with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras and the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, Detroit and Denver symphonies among many others in the US, and internationally with orchestras in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. An artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1989, David Shifrin served as its artistic director from 1992 to 2004. David Shifrin joined the faculty at the Yale School of Music in 1987 and was appointed Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Yale and Yale’s annual concert series at Carnegie Hall in September 2008.
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 families are free. For tickets and information call 203.865.0831 x20 or visit www.NewHavenSymphony.org.
Pre-Concert Activities:
Symphony Supper: Indulge in a delicious Symphony Supper with other music lovers at Barcelona prior to the performance; visit NewHavenSymphony.org or call 203.865.0831 x18 for details.
Prelude: Join the NHSO for an intriguing free pre-concert discussion with Matthew Suttor, NHSO Board Member and Professor and Director of the Laurie Beechman Center for Theatrical Sound Design and Music at Yale School of Drama from 6:30-7:00pm at Yale’s Sudler Hall the night of the performance.
Northern Lights Festival is sponsored by The Estate of Richard L. English and WSHU. The Classics Series is made possible with support from Knights of Columbus, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Better ITS, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Jay Bright Architects, Marcum LLP, Pelli Clark Pelli Architects, and Town Fair Tire. Symphony Suppers are sponsored by ARIA, a subsidiary of Guilford Savings Bank. The Classics Series media sponsor is the New Haven Register. KidTix and Blue Star Tix are sponsored by Frontier Communications.
