Bill Murray Teams with Cellist Jan Vogler for Evening of Music & Literature at Carnegie Hall

A new collaboration between actor Bill Murray and cellist Jan Vogler comes to Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage on Monday, October 16, 2017 at 8pm, presented by Dorn Music. Tickets are now available.

Legendary actor Bill Murray surprises again with his versatility, teaming up with acclaimed German cellist Jan Vogler to present a spirited evening of music and literature, for one night only. In this rare live appearance, Murray - as both singer and narrator - brings his irresistible charm and wit to songs by Foster, Gershwin, Mancini, and Bernstein, as well as readings of classic American poetry and prose, in dialog with Vogler's singing Stradivari cello.

Actor Bill Murray and cellist Jan Vogler met on an airplane several years ago, and have developed this program to perform together after becoming intrigued by each other's artistic worlds. The performance features Murray and Vogler with violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Perez, and explores American values in music and literature and showcases the bridges artists have built between America and Europe. A studio album based on the live performance is planned for commercial release on a major label in August 2017.

The Carnegie Hall engagement follows performances at Wolfsburg, Germany (June 2); Dresden Music Festival, Germany (June 4); Festival Napa Valley, CA (July 20); Granada Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA (October 6); McCallum Theatre, Palm Desert, CA (October 7); Christopher Cohan Center, San Luis Obispo, CA (October 8); Chicago Symphony Center (October 10); The Royal Conservatory, Koerner Hall, Toronto (October 13).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Bill Murray was born in 1950 and grew up in Wilmette, a village just outside Chicago. After giving up his medical studies, he dedicated himself to his second passion, acting. Having gathered experience on the radio show The National Lampoon Radio Hour, he became a fixture among the authors and performers of the legendary TV show Saturday Night Live, for which he won an Emmy Award. Growing popularity brought his first film roles. He worked closely with the director Ivan Reitman, whose 1984 comedy Ghostbusters propelled him into the first rank of Hollywood actors. This was followed by movies such as Tootsie, Ghostbusters II and Groundhog Day. In 1999, he starred in Wes Anderson's Rushmore, which brought him seven awards. He further collaborated with Anderson in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2005), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). For his role in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, he received a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Oscar. Murray was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in the 2014 film St. Vincent. Recognized not only as an actor, but also humorist, Bill Murray was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in October 2016. His passion for baseball and golf is just as famous as his ability to turn everything into art, and his eccentric and irreverent style have caused him to be seen by many as a folk hero.

Jan Vogler is one of today's most renowned soloists, praised for his "soulful, richly hued playing" (New York Times) and his "spiraling virtuosity" (Gramophone Magazine). He frequently performs with leading international orchestras including New York Philharmonic, Boston, Pittsburgh and Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg as well as Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia and collaborates with conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Fabio Luisi, Sir Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Thomas Hengelbrock, Manfred Honeck and Kent Nagano. Currently he is focusing on the historically informed sound of the cello repertoire and performing with gut strings on his latest album of Schumann's Cello Concerto with Dresden Festival Orchestra under the baton of Ivor Bolton. Upcoming highlights include a recital tour with long-term duo partner Hélène Grimaud in Germany. A prolific and multi-award-winning recording artist, Jan Vogler exclusively records for Sony Classical. Among his most recent albums by Sony Classical is a Tchaikovsky recording with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and the Moritzburg Festival Ensemble, that Hugh Canning of the Sunday Times praised, writing "Vogler's witty and affectionate Rococo Variations are up there with the best." For his recording of Bach's six Suites for cello solo he was awarded his third ECHO Klassik award in the category Instrumentalist of the Year 2014 (cello). Jan Vogler plays the 1707 Stradivari "Ex Castelbarco/Fau" cello.

A native of China, the violinist Mira Wang studied with Roman Totenberg at Boston University, from which she graduated with distinction and the prestigious Kahn Award for outstanding musicians. She has appeared with numerous orchestras in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has performed at many international festivals, including the Marlboro Festival, Les Museiques in Basel, the Kuhmo Festival, the MDR Music Summer, and the Moritzburg Festival. Highlights of her career include the world premiere of Spring in Dresden by Chen Yi with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Iván Fischer; performing Chain 2 by W. Lutoslawski with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center; the world premiere of John Harbison's Double Concerto with Jan Vogler and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Duo Concerto on three continents with Vogler. The label BERLIN Classics has released several albums featuring Mira Wang, including the Violin Concerti by Saint-Saëns with the NDR Radio Philharmonic and Prokofiev with the German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken. She has also appeared on recordings for Sony Classical, including on the Moritzburg Festival's Mozart production (winner of an ECHO Classical Award) and its Tango album.

Venezuelan-American pianist Vanessa Perez has been praised for a bold, passionate performing style allied to musicianship of keen sensitivity. The Washington Post reports, "Vanessa Perez is not to be taken lightly." She has performed across the United States, Latin America and Europe. She has performed with musicians such as pianists Gabriela Montero and Ingrid Fliter, cellist Jan Vogler, and conductors Gustavo Dudamel, John Axelrod, Enrique Batiz, Gustav Meier, James Judd, David Gimenez Carreras, and Diego Matheuz. Among other high-profile experiences in the studio, Perez joined superstar violinist Joshua Bell for his At Home with Friends album, released by Sony Classical in 2009. She also teamed with Jan Vogler for the cellist's 2008 Sony album, Tango. As a solo artist, she has recorded for VAI - Presenting Vanessa Perez, and received high praise for her Telarc recording of Chopin, The Complete Preludes, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard charts. Her most recent recording, Spain, was released by Steinway & Sons in 2016. Vanessa Perez began her studies in Caracas, Venezuela at the age of 7 at the Colegio Emil Friedman. She has degrees from the Royal Academy of Music in London, and Yale University. She was featured this past December in Amazon's series Mozart in the Jungle, performing Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla with Gael Garcia Bernal and Ondist Suzanne Farrin. Vanessa Perez is a Steinway Artist.