Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado Makes Carnegie Hall Debut with Orchestra of St. Luke Tonight

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) will open its 2012/2013 orchestra series with Principal Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado leading the orchestra for the first time at Carnegie Hall. The performance also marks Heras-Casado's main stage Carnegie Hall debut.

Heras-Casado will conduct a broad collection of works by Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and Schumann-including the U.S. premiere of Debussy's Five Préludes as orchestrated by the German conductor and composer Hans Zender in 1991. The distinguished pianist Christian Zacharias will join the orchestra in the first half of the program to perform Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2.

"This is a very special concert for me-to have the chance to perform with my orchestra for the first time on the main stage at Carnegie Hall," Heras-Casado said. "I am also looking forward to collaborating with Christian Zacharias for the first time. He is a musician who has earned a reputation among orchestras for being a perfect partner."

Heras-Casado was named OSL Principal Conductor in December 2011. Throughout his four-year appointment, he will perform with the orchestra regularly at Carnegie Hall and the Caramoor International Music Festival, and will take part in special projects. He is OSL's fourth titled conductor, along with Roger Norrington (1990-1994), Charles Mackerras (1998-2001) and Donald Runnicles (2001-2007).

OSL will continue its 2012/2013 orchestra series on March 28, 2013 with maestro Iván Fischer performing J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the New York City-based chorus Musica Sacra, featuring soloists soprano Dominique Labelle, mezzo-soprano Barbara Kozelj, tenor John Tessier and bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann.

OSL will close its orchestra series on June 1, 2013 with a program of Haydn and Mozart led by the distinguished period music conductor Nicholas McGegan. Maestro McGegan's original Carnegie Hall date with OSL on November 1, 2012 was postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. The June 1 concert will include cellist Steven Isserlis performing Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2. It will be McGegan's first performance with OSL at Carnegie Hall.

The performance will take place in the Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage tonight, February 7, 2013, at 8:00 PM. To purchase subscriptions for OSL's orchestra series ($75 - $240) or tickets to individual concerts ($14.50 - $84.00), call (212) 247-7800 or visit CarnegieHall.org.

Orchestra of St. Luke's
Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor
Christian Zacharias, piano

PROGRAM:

BEETHOVEN
Egmont Overture, Op. 84

CHOPIN
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
DEBUSSY
Five Préludes (orch. Hans Zender) (U.S. Premiere)

SCHUMANN
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120 (1841 version)

Now in its 38th season, Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) is one of America's foremost and most versatile ensembles. Dedicated to engaging audiences throughout New York City and beyond, OSL performs approximately 70 orchestral, chamber and educational concerts each year-including an annual orchestra series at Carnegie Hall, an annual chamber music series at The Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum and summer concerts as Orchestra-in-Residence at Caramoor International Music Festival. OSL's Principal Conductor is Pablo Heras-Casado.

OSL collaborates regularly with the world's great artists, such as Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Susan Graham, Anna Netrebko, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mark Morris Dance Group, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Elton John and many more. In March 2011, OSL opened The DiMenna Center for Classical Music-its first permanent home, and New York City's first rehearsal and recording facility dedicated to classical music. Committed to community-building, OSL produces free concerts in each of the five boroughs as part of its Subway Series, free concerts devoted to the artistic process as part of its OSL@DMC series at The DiMenna Center and has engaged more than one million people in its Community & Education programs.

OSL's stellar 70+ discography includes seven releases on its own label, St. Luke's Collection, and four Grammy Award-winning recordings. Throughout its history OSL has commissioned more than 50 new works and performed more than 150 world, U.S. and New York City premieres. For OSL's calendar of events, tickets and more information, visit OSLmusic.org.

Pablo Heras-Casado enjoys an unusually varied conducting career-encompassing the great symphonic and operatic repertoire, historically-informed performance and cutting-edge contemporary scores-and has already developed a special rapport with a number of soloists, orchestras and opera houses. In December 2011, he was announced Principal Conductor of Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York, beginning a four-year term including an annual season at Carnegie Hall.

The 2012/13 season sees Heras-Casado give return performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago and San Francisco symphony orchestras, the Tonhalle-Orchester, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra. He gives debut performances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, the Spanish National Orchestra and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Opera performances include Rigoletto at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Les Vêpres siciliennes at Oper Frankfurt, and Il Postino at Teatro Real, Madrid.

In 2013/14, Harmonia Mundi will release Heras-Casado's recording of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2, Lobgesang, with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, in addition to a disc featuring Freiburger Barockorchester in Schubert's Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4. A DVD of his conducting Gaetano Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden is due for release by Euroarts in Spring 2013.

Heras-Casado is the holder of the Medalla de Honor of the Rodriguez Acosta Foundation, of which previous recipients include Manuel De Falla and Andrés Segovia Torres. In February 2012, he was awarded with the Golden Medal of Merit by the Council of Granada, his hometown. His 2011 DVD recording of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at Teatro Real received the Diapason d'Or.