Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra to Perform at Severance Hall, 10/7

For the first time in their 91-year history, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, "one of the leading European orchestras" (The Independent), will tour the U.S., visiting four major markets in October. The Orchestra, under the direction of its Chief Conductor Muhai Tang, will appear first at Symphony Hall in Chicago on October 6th, then at Severance Hall in Cleveland on October 7th, at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, MD on October 8th, and at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium in New York City on October 9th. The ensemble will bring two programs on tour, performing repertoire ranging from Khachaturian to Tchaikovsky to Sibelius. At Severance Hall and the Strathmore Center, the Orchestra will add a ballet suite by Stevan Hristi?, a founder and first principal conductor of the Orchestra (1923-1934). At Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall, the Orchestra will add arias from Verdi's Rigoletto and Macbeth, to be sung by the Serbian baritone Željko Lu?i?, a Met Opera sensation. Tickets for the tour, on sale now, have been set at family-friendly prices and can be obtained on venue websites.

The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) is an ensemble with a rich history which has carved a unique niche for itself in recent times with enlightened artistic planning, innovative marketing and even an enthusiastic embrace of social change in an ofttimes challenging political environment. The Orchestra regularly plays host to major soloists and guest conductors like Nelson Freire, Sarah Chang, Julian Rachlin, Ivry Gitlis, Midori, Fazil Say, Sir Neville Marriner, Krzysztof Penderecki, Mischa Maisky, Maxim Vengerov and many others, while creating opportunity for emerging talents in a special series devoted to showcasing both emerging young talents, like Anu Tali, and more established artists, such as Jane Glover and Gisele Ben-Dor. In 2011, the Orchestra was awarded funding from the European Union to support a series of concerts celebrating the New Years of five different religious and ethnic communities, in an effort to break down longstanding regional and ethnic tensions. In the same year, the Orchestra undertook a similar long-term project whereby the BPO and the orchestras of Ljubljana and Zagreb play concerts in each other's territories. In the 2012-2013 season the Orchestra instituted a concert series called Bizarrte, devoted to unusual repertoire designed to delight and even startle audiences. The concluding concert of the series this year was comprised of compositions marked by a distinct sense of humor: Satie's Parade, which features noise-making machines; Milhaud's Le Boeuf sur le Toit, with carnival sounds, Poulenc's Les Biches, evoking a wanton party, and the pièce de résistance, Mindaugas Piecaitis' Catcerto, with featured piano soloist Nora the Cat on video. The BPO is, in other words, seeking to upend preconceived notions of what a symphony orchestra can or should do, with everything from bold political gestures to playful programming.

One of the most devoted of BPO's musical colleagues and friends is conductor Zubin Mehta. The maestro made his professional debut with the Orchestra in 1958, and remains an enthusiastic supporter to this day. He has made generous donations of time, energy, ideas, even concert fees to the Belgrade Philharmonic Foundation, instituted in 2004 and now bearing his name. The Zubin Mehta Belgrade Philharmonic Foundation supports the Orchestra in numerous ways and now principally has established plans to build a new concert hall for the Orchestra in Belgrade. One of the chief objectives of the BPO's 2014 U.S. tour is to raise money toward the construction of this new hall. The other is to contribute funding to the relief effort for victims of the recent floods in Serbia.

The exciting initiatives of BPO's present and future rest on decades of artistic accomplishment better known in Europe than in the U.S. This is an orchestra that has endured and prevailed through thick and thin. Probably the chief architect of BPO's emergence from the enormous challenges posed by years of warfare in the 1990s and its subsequent precarious financial position is Ivan Tasovac, Director of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra from 2001-2013, now Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia. "There is a reason the Belgrade Philharmonic is on such a bright path today," says Mr. Tasovac. "It is the passion of the players and the leadership of Maestro Tang. The average age of BPO's musicians is 40. The Orchestra has enormous energy, talent, and excitement about its future. Our goal now is to help this ensemble realize its dreams, and touring the U.S. is an important part of that plan."

Chief Conductor Muhai Tang first achieved international recognition when Herbert von Karajan invited him to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in its 1983 subscription series. This success led to repeat appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic and invitations from many of the world's leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Staatskapelle Dresden, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Sydney Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestras among many others. Since then he has appeared as guest conductor on four continents and at music festivals in Prague, Berlin, Edinburgh, Verona, Bergen and Beijing. He is a favorite with audiences and musicians alike, with an engaging stage presence and graceful and natural technique. He has worked with numerous great artists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Martha Argerich, Anne-Sophie Mutter and many others. He maintains close links with China, returning regularly to conduct in Beijing and Shanghai. Muhai Tang also enjoys working with younger musicians in a mentoring role and has conducted the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra, where he studied himself. He became Conducting Professor and Head of the Conducting Department at the Conservatory in 2007. He has also worked for Shanghai Concert Hall as Artistic Director and also holds the title of Conductor Laureate of the National Symphony Orchestra of China. Among Muhai Tang's many recordings, the Guitar Concertos by Tan Dun and Christopher Rouse with Sharon Isbin and the Gulbenkian Orchestra, for Teldec, was awarded a Grammy in 2002.

Željko Lu?i?, a native of Serbia, has established himself as one of the most exceptional dramatic baritones in the world's leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, and L'Opéra National de Paris. For his appearance in La forza del destino with San Francisco Opera, the Financial Times declared, "with this Don Carlo, Željko Lu?i? served notice that he is one of today's pre-eminent Verdi baritones." About his Rigoletto, The New York Times noted "Mr. Lu?i?...is an unconventional but compelling Verdian who does not have the classic mellow, Italianate baritone sound. Still, his voice is big and penetrating, focused and true. There is a smoky quality to his tone, with a slightly nasal texture that lends humanity to his singing. And his phrasing is supple and elegant." Mr. Lu?i?'s recent engagements included singing Germont in La Traviata with Diana Damrau, Amonasro in Aida in a return to Teatro alla Scala, and Gerard in Giordano's Andrea Chénier at the Metropolitan Opera. European engagements included Scarpia in Tosca and the title role in Nabucco with Wiener Staatsoper; Iago in Otello with Opernhaus Zurich; the title role in Falstaff with Stadtische Buhnen Frankfurt; the title role in Simon Boccanegra with Semperoper Dresden; and Scarpia in Tosca with Bayerische Staatsoper. In the 2014-15 season he reprises the role of Gerard in David McVicar's new production of Andrea Chénier at the Royal Opera House, to be broadcast cinematically worldwide, and will appear in Macbeth on The Met: Live in HD on October 11th, 2014.