Apollo's Fire Launches 24th Season With BACH'S BIRTHDAY PARTY: ORCHESTRAL FIREWORKS Tonight

Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra kicks off the 2014-15 Season with a festive celebration of J.S. Bach's "Orchestral Fireworks," launching a season that will celebrate Bach's 330th birthday throughout the year. In these opening concerts, the group will unveil three great Bach pieces never yet played by Apollo's Fire: Concerto in C minor for Two Harpsichords, BWV 1060 (featuring Jeannette Sorrell and Joe Gascho on harpsichord), Violin Concerto in E Major (featuring AF concertmaster Olivier Brault), and Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor for Flute & Strings (featuring Kathie Stewart on flute). Select biographies are found at the end of the press release.

The opening of the season marks another landmark year for AF as its subscription and ticket sales continue a 5th year of dramatic growth, defying the national trend of decline in classical music concert attendance. This past season (2013-14), subscription revenue increased by 15%, while total attendance of single-ticket buyers and subscribers together, including the Countryside Concerts, increased by a dramatic 17% (from 11,259 in 2013-14 to 13,146 in 2013-14).

What began as enormous growth spurt for the 20th anniversary season in 2010-11, has now been confirmed as a continuing trend over four years. Between the 19th season (2009-10) and the 22nd season (2013-14), subscription revenues have increased by an overwhelming 64% and single ticket revenues by 56%. Total tickets sold throughout the season is up 48% from 2009-10, confirming a pattern of astonishing and continuous growth.

AF's Countyside Concerts (a summer crossover series) have also experienced enormous growth this past summer with the premiere of Jeannette Sorrell's new Appalachian crossover program "Glory on the Mountain" which performed to an unprecedented 2576 attendees, thus outselling even the premiere of "Come to the River" which went on to become a national tour program and Billboard Classical Top 10 hit. So popular was "Glory on the Mountain," that Apollo's Fire added an additional unscheduled performance to accommodate demands of ticket-buyers. Seven of the originally scheduled eight concerts were complete sell-outs!

This fall, early subscription sales are already running 13% ahead of last year. The opening concerts of "Orchestral Fireworks" are expected to attract strong single ticket sales as well.

No stranger to the works of Bach, AF's interpretations of some of his signature works have garnered international attention. The group's recording of the Brandenburg Concertos hit the Billboard Classical Top 10 and the international press raved of the group's nuances "The most is made of the instrumental colours Bach so exhilaratingly put onshow." (The Sunday Times, London) and "Musicians playing zestfully and with obvious understanding of Bach's virtuoso works. Appealing, intelligent and well played." (Fanfare Magazine)

330 years of soulful music merits a party of more than one performance. Part II of Bach's Birthday Celebration will debut in January 2015 with a visit to Bach's household in the winter for a "Family Frolic". January's celebration is a multi-generation party featuring AF's Young Artist Apprentices alongside AF favorites performing a flute quartet by Johann Christian, Papa Bach's Harpischord Toccata in E minor, and the zany Coffee Cantata.

"Orchestral Fireworks" is generously underwritten by Kohrman Jackson & Krantz.

Interactive Events:

Join the large and lively crowd that attends Apollo's Fire pre-concert talks. Cellist René Schiffer will present an informative and free "inside look" into the concerts one hour before each performance. For patrons who choose to attend Thursday or Friday evening performances, AF will also host a post-concert Q&A with the musicians!

Tickets:

Single Tickets range from $20-$68 with special rates for students, seniors, and young adults (under 30). Single tickets are available for purchase online at www.apollosfire.org and by phone at (216) 320-0012 or (800) 314-2535. In the Fairlawn location, student tickets are free, underwritten by the GAR Foundation.

Subscriptions for the 2014-15 Performance Season may also be purchased online or by phone.

Local Performances:

Thursday, October 9, 7:30 PM* Fairlawn Lutheran Church

3415 West Market Street

Fairlawn, OH 44333

Friday, October 10, 8:00 PM* St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Cleveland Hts.

Saturday, October 11, 8:00 PM 2747 Fairmount Boulevard

Cleveland Heights, OH 44106

Sunday, October 12, 4:00 PM Rocky River Presbyterian Church

21750 Detroit Road

Rocky River, OH 44116

Pre-concert talks will be given by cellist René Schiffer one hour before each performance. Providing additional insight to the program, along with a performer's stage perspective, this talk is free and open to the public!

* Q&A with the AF musicians following Thursday and Friday evening concerts

Select Biographies:

Apollo's Fire: Named for the classical god of music and the sun, Apollo's Fire was founded in 1992 by the award- winning young harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell. Sorrell envisioned an ensemble dedicated to the baroque ideal that music should evoke the various Affekts or passions in the listeners. Apollo's Fire is a collection of creative artists who share Sorrell's passion for drama and rhetoric.

Hailed as "one of the pre-eminent period-instrument ensembles" (THE INDEPENDENT, LONDON), Apollo's Fire made its London debut in 2010 in a sold-out concert at Wigmore Hall, with BBC broadcast. Apollo's Fire returned to Europe in fall 2011, as part of a major international tour with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky. The ensemble was met with standing ovations in Madrid (Royal Theatre), Bordeaux (Grand Théàtre de l'Opéra), Lisbon, Metz, Boston, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco. A third European tour in 2014 included London, Birmingham and Austria, all of which elicited rave reviews in the press.

Apollo's Fire has also toured throughout North America, appearing at such venues as the Aspen Music Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival series, and the Library of Congress. Major North American tours include the Monteverdi Vespers in 2010 (11 concerts) and the Brandenburg Concertos in 2013 (9 concerts). At home in Cleveland, Apollo's Fire enjoys sold-out performances at its subscription series, which has drawn national attention for Sorrell's creative programming.

Apollo's Fire has released 20 commercial CD's, four of which have become Billboard bestsellers in the U.S. The ensemble records for British label AVIE. Since the ensemble's introduction into the European CD market in 2010, the recordings have won rave reviews in the London press: "a swaggering version, brilliantly played" (THE TIMES) and "the Midwest's best-kept musical secret is finally reaching British ears" (THE INDEPENDENT). The 2010 CD release of the Monteverdi Vespers and the 2011 release of Jeannette Sorrell's early American disc "Come to the River" both became immediate best-sellers in the U.S.A.

Music Director Jeannette Sorrell has won international attention for "forging a vibrant, life-affirming approach to early music" (BBC Magazine). Trained by the great harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt and by conductors Leonard Bernstein and Roger Norrington, Sorrell won the First Prize and Audience Choice Award in the Spivey International Harpsichord Competition - the largest harpsichord competition that has taken place in modern times. She has won national awards for creative programming. Increasingly in demand as a guest conductor and soloist, she has led the Pittsburgh Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, and the Houston Early Music Festival, and this season makes her debut with the New World Symphony in Miami as well as returning to the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Jeannette Sorrell, Artistic Director/harpsichord, has quickly gained international attention as a leading creative voice among the new generation of early-music conductors. She has been credited by the U.K.'s BBC Music Magazine for forging "a vibrant, life-affirming approach to the re-making of early music... a seductive vision of musical authenticity."

Sorrell was one of the youngest students ever accepted to the prestigious conducting courses of the Aspen and the Tanglewood music festivals. She studied conducting under Robert Spano, Roger Norrington and Leonard Bernstein, and harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. She won both First Prize and the Audience Choice Award in the 1991 Spivey International Harpsichord Competition, competing against over 70 harpsichordists from Europe, Israel, the U.S., and the Soviet Union.

Sorrell founded Apollo's Fire in 1992. Since then, she and the ensemble have built one of the largest audiences of any baroque orchestra in North America. She has led AF in sold-out concerts at London's Wigmore Hall, Madrid's Royal Theatre (Teatro Real), the Grand Théâtre de l'Opéra in Bordeaux, Boston's Early Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival, among others.

Sorrell made her debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2013 as conductor and soloist in the complete Brandenburg Concertos. With standing ovations every night, the event was hailed as "an especially joyous occasion" (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). She has also appeared as conductor or conductor/soloist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis with the St. Louis Symphony, Handel & Haydn Society (Boston), the Omaha Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Arizona Opera, and has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra as guest keyboard artist. Upcoming engagements include a debut with New World Symphony in Miami and a return engagement with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Sorrell and Apollo's Fire have released 20 commercial CDs, of which four have been bestsellers on the Billboard classical chart. Her recordings include the complete Brandenburg Concerti and harpsichord concerti of Bach (with Sorrell as harpsichord soloist and director), which was praised by the London Times as "a swaggering version... brilliantly played by Sorrell." She has also released four discs of Mozart, and was hailed as "a near-perfect Mozartian" by Fanfare Record Magazine. Other recordings include Handel's Messiah, the Monteverdi Vespers and two creative crossover projects: "Come to the River: An Early American Gathering" and "Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers."

Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming. She holds an honorary doctorate from Case Western University, two special awards from the National Endowment for the Arts for her work on early American music, and an award from the American Musicological Society. Passionate about guiding the next generation of performers, Ms. Sorrell has led many baroque projects for students at Oberlin Conservatory.

Olivier Brault, concertmaster, from Terrebonne in Québec, brings communicative enthusiasm and scholarship to concerts throughout Canada, Europe and the U.S. In addition to directing the ensemble Sonate 1704, he performs as soloist with Les Goûts Réunis in Luxembourg and with many Montréal-based ensembles including the Ensemble Caprice, Les Boréades de Montréal, La Bande Montréal Baroque, the Quatuor Franz Joseph, Les Idées heureuses. He has participated in many award-winning recordings on the ATMA and Analekta labels. An accomplished baroque dancer, he also holds a Doctorate from the Université de Montréal, where he specialized in 18th-century violin repertoire. He is regularly invited to lead workshops and masterclasses at institutions including the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, McGill University, Case Western Reserve University, Oberlin Conservatory and Penn State University. In 2011 he had received a medal from the Assemblée Nationale du Québec for cultural contribution to his nation.

Joseph Gascho, harpsichord, enjoys a multifaceted musical career as a keyboard artist, conductor, teacher and producer. This fall he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan where he teaches harpsichord, coaches chamber music, and conducts an early music choir and orchestra. In 2002, he won first prize in the Jurow International Harpsichord Competition. Recent performing highlights include concerts with the National Symphony at Carnegie Hall, the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, and conducting Idomeneo for the Maryland Opera Studio. A graduate of the Peabody Institute and the University of Maryland, he also teaches basso continuo and conducts the student orchestra at Oberlin Conservatory's Baroque Performance Institute.

Kathie Stewart, flute, teaches baroque flute in Oberlin Conservatory's Historical Performance Department, where she is also the Curator of Harpsichords. A founding member of Apollo's Fire, she has performed extensively with the ensemble as a soloist and in the flute/recorder section. She is an avid proponent of Irish music, playing Irish flute in Cleveland-based band Turn the Corner. She has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, ARTEK, Cleveland Lyric Opera, and Cleveland Opera.

To post a comment, you must register and login.