The Pasadena Symphony Closes Season with TCHAIKOVSKY PIANO CONCERTO, Featuring Shai Wosner and Guest Conductor Jahja Ling, 5/10

By: Apr. 18, 2014
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The Pasadena Symphony celebrates the best of the best Russian music with international piano star Shai Wosner guest conductor Jahja Ling. The 86thseason concert finale explodes with Tchaikovsky's dazzling Piano Concerto No. 1 and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony on Saturday May 10, 2014 at Ambassador Auditorium with matinee and evening performances at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

"Shai Wosner's fingers are at the service of a keen musical mind and deep musical soul...he's downright thrilling," raved NPR's All Things Considered. Known for his freshly vibrant interpretation of the most popular piano concertos, Wosner exemplifies a "remarkable blend of the intellectual, physical and even devilish sides of performance," expressed the Chicago Sun Times. To experience his performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto will be like hearing it for the first time for music lovers.

Guest Conductor Jahja Ling is the Music Director of the San Diego Symphony and enjoys a 30 year affiliation with the Cleveland Orchestra. Jahja Ling's distinguished career as an internationally renowned conductor has earned him an exceptional reputation for musical integrity, intensity and expressivity.

Performances take place at both 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and are accompanied by pre-concert discussions one-hour before curtain. Audiences can also enjoy the new and vibrantly social Symphony Lounge, yet another addition to the care-free and elegant concert experience the Pasadena Symphony offers. A posh setting at Ambassador Auditorium's beautiful outdoor plaza, audiences can now enjoying delicious morsels and fine wines before the concert and during intermission.

The Ambassador Auditorium is located at 131 South St. John Avenue, Pasadena, CA. Ticket prices start at $35 and may be purchased online at www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org or by calling (626) 793-7172.

IF YOU GO:

What: The Pasadena Symphony presents Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
Special Guests:

Jahja Ling, Conductor
Shai Wosner, Piano

When: Saturday May 10th at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Where: Ambassador Auditorium | 131 South St. John Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105
Cost: Tickets start at $35.00
Parking: Valet parking is available on Green Street for $15. General parking is available next to the Auditorium at the covered parking structure for $10. ADA parking is located at the above-ground parking lot adjacent to the Auditorium (entrance on St. John Ave.) for $10. Parking purchased onsite is cash only.
Pre-Concert Discussion: Pre-concert discussion begins one hour before curtain and is available to all ticket holders.

Artist Biographies

Jajah Ling
Jahja Ling's distinguished career as an internationally renowned conductor has earned him an exceptional reputation for musical integrity, intensity and expressivity. The 2013-14 season marks his tenth season as Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. In October of 2013 Mr. Ling is leading the San Diego Symphony to perform at Carnegie Hall with Lang Lang as soloist, followed by a tour to China with Joshua Bell and Augustin Hadelich. This two week tour will be the first international tour and the first appearance of the San Diego Symphony at Carnegie Hall in their 102 year history. Together they have undertaken commissions as well as premieres of many new works and have recorded new works by Bright Sheng, and a new CD of Lucas Richman's Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals with soloists Jon Kimura Parker and Orli Shaham.

In recent and upcoming seasons Mr. Ling returns as guest conductor with the Cleveland Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Jakarta Symphony, Macao Symphony, Philharmonia Taiwan (National Symphony of Taiwan), Royal Philharmonic of London, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony, as well as the Yale Philharmonia and Curtis Symphony Orchestra. In June of 2012, he conducted the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in Berlin's O2 World arena on the occasion of Lang Lang's 30th birthday concert with Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock and 50 young pianists from around the world. He is the first and only conductor of Chinese descent who holds a music director position with a major orchestra in the United States and has conducted all major symphony orchestras in North America including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.

Mr. Ling holds one of the longest continuous relationships with one of the world greatest orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra. In the 2008-09 season he celebrated his 25th anniversary season with that esteemed ensemble with performances at Severance Hall and Blossom Festival.

During his tenure as Music Director of the Florida Orchestra (1988-2003) Jahja Ling was the first conductor ever invited to appear at the Super Bowl (XXV in 1991) with Whitney Houston performing the National Anthem; the audio and video of that performance earned platinum records.

Mr. Ling's recordings for Telarc include the Dupré Organ Symphony and the Rheinberger Organ Concerto with soloist Michael Murray and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and two albums of baroque works with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (the first of which, with trumpeter Rolf Smedvig, was nominated for a Grammy® Award). His performance with the New York Philharmonic of the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Third Symphony is featured in a recent compact disc collection of Philharmonic performances entitled American Celebrations.

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, of Chinese descent and now an American citizen, Mr. Ling began to play the piano at age four and studied at the Jakarta School of Music. After completing a master's degree at Juilliard, he studied orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music under Otto-Werner Mueller and received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1985. Mr. Ling makes his home in San Diego with his wife, Jessie, and their young daughters Priscilla and Stephanie.

Shai Wosner
Pianist Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire from Beethoven and Mozart to Schoenberg and Ligeti, as well as music by his contemporaries, communicates his imaginative programming and intellectual curiosity. Mr. Wosner's virtuosity and perceptiveness have made him a favorite among audiences and critics, who have praised him for his "keen musical mind and deep musical soul" (NPR's All Things Considered) and for exemplifying a "remarkable blend of the intellectual, physical and even devilish sides of performance" (Chicago Sun Times).

Mr. Wosner has been widely praised for his interpretations of Franz Schubert's solo works, both in concert and in recording. Following a recent Schubert-themed recital at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, the Washington Post called his performance "enthralling" and "technically remarkable," and after his recital debut at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival in an all-Schubert program, Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times wrote, "In Schubert Mr. Wosner is not afraid to employ an enormous dynamic range. His pianissimos are uncommonly delicate and beautiful. But when the music moves him, his fortissimos can be steely and terrifying..."
Mr. Wosner's most recent solo recording, released by Onyx in October 2011, features a selection of works by Schubert that incorporate elements of folk music. In its review of the album, Gramophone magazine wrote," With this recital Shai Wosner declares himself a Schubertian of unfaltering authority and character." His latest album, recorded with frequent recital partner violinist Jennifer Koh, titled "Signs, Games + Messages" featuring works by Janácek, Bartók and Kurtág, was released by Cedille Records in October 2013.

Mr. Wosner made his highly acclaimed subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2010. He has appeared with numerous major orchestras in North America including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Berkeley, Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. He performed with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in a concert that was broadcast on American Public Radio. In Europe, he has appeared with the Bournemouth Symphony, Staatskapelle Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, among others. In 2006, he debuted with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Salzburg, during the 250th anniversary celebrations of Mozart's birth.

Mr. Wosner is a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, as well as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. Born in Israel, Mr. Wosner enjoyed a broad musical education from a very early age, studying piano with Emanuel Krasovsky as well as composition, theory and improvisation with André Hajdu. He later studied at The Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax. Mr. Wosner now resides in New York City with his wife and two children.

ABOUT THE PASADENA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION

Recent Acclaim for the Pasadena Symphony and POPS

"The Pasadena Symphony signals a new direction...teeming with vitality...dripping with opulent, sexy emotion." Los Angeles Times.

"...full of pulsating energy from first note to last... the strings were lushly resonant, the wind principals were at the top of their games, and the brass rang out with gleaming vigor." -Pasadena Star News.

The Pasadena Symphony Association was founded in 1928 by Conductor Reginald Bland. Originally named the Pasadena Civic Orchestra, its first members were mostly volunteer musicians, many of whom were students of Bland. The annual operating budget was $3,500, which was funded entirely by the City of Pasadena.

The Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an ensemble of Southern California's most talented, sought after musicians. With extensive credits in the film, television, recording and orchestral industry, the artists of Pasadena Symphony and POPS are the most heard in the world.
In the fall of 2007, the Pasadena Symphony incorporated the Pasadena POPS into its Association under the new name Pasadena Symphony and POPS. This merger created an expanded Classics and POPS series providing the community with a full spectrum of live symphonic concerts year-round. In the summer of 2012, the Pasadena POPS' relocated its summer home to the Los Angeles County Arboretum where it has been performing to record-breaking crowds and critical acclaim. The Pasadena POPS announced Michael Feinstein as its new Principal Pops Conductor in August 2012; he will be the first conductor to hold the Marvin Hamlisch Chair title.

The Pasadena Symphony provides a musical experience like no other at the Ambassador Auditorium - known as the Carnegie Hall of the West - where they have been the resident professional orchestra since 2010. In 2013, the Pasadena Symphony named Maestro David Lockington as its fifth Music Director and appointed Nicholas McGegan as Principal Guest Conductor.

A hallmark of its robust education programs, the Pasadena Symphony Association has served the youth of the region since 1972 through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra comprised of over 200 gifted middle school students from more than 40 schools all over the Southland. The PYSO most recently performed on several episodes of the popular television show GLEE.



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