Midori Selects Hawaii Symphony Orchestra for 2016 Orchestral Residency Program

The Hawaii Youth Symphony (HYS) and the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra (HSO) have been selected for Midori's Orchestral Residencies Program.

During a six-day period in April 2016, internationally-renowned violinist Midori will lead performance workshops, masterclasses and discussion groups with the two orchestras, as well as advocacy visits with legislators. In addition, Midori will perform with both the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra and Hawaii Youth Symphony.

"Midori is an inspiration to all, youth and adults alike," said Jonathan Parrish, executive director, Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra. "The relationship and support between youth orchestra and professional orchestra is vital, and this residency will strengthen and highlight those ties while benefitting the greater community. It has been many years since Midori performed in Honolulu and we look forward to this opportunity to work together with the Hawaii Youth Symphony to benefit the student musicians."

"We are truly excited-and grateful-that our students have the opportunity to perform with Midori," said Hawaii Youth Symphony Executive Director, Randy Wong. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will surely inspire Hawaii's young, aspiring musicians. Our collaboration with the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra makes this all the more meaningful."

Designed by Midori as a means of providing more opportunities for American youth orchestras, the Orchestra Residencies Program is a collaborative project that aspires to help establish the youth orchestra as a presence in the community, as well as to build upon relationships with the local professional symphony, visiting artists and administrative staff. Each season, two youth orchestras and their partner professional orchestras are selected through an application process. Previous program cities include Fargo-Moorhead, ND; Kalamazoo, MI; Eugene, OR; and Santa Rosa, CA.

Midori and the Hawaii Youth Symphony: Hawaii Youth Symphony's top orchestra, Youth Symphony I, will perform its annual Spring Concert with Midori at Blaisdell Concert Hall at 7:30 pm on Friday, April 8, 2016. The orchestra is composed of 100 students from 20 public, private, and home schools. Henry Miyamura, HYS's esteemed Music Director, will be the conductor for this concert. Midori will perform two movements of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto, and in a very special feature, will perform Johann Sebastian Bach's Double Concerto with three HYS violinists (Shin Chang, 12th grader, Kalani High School; Angela Yang, 11th grader, Iolani School; Joseph Fujinami, 12th grader, Mililani High School) playing alongside Midori as soloists. The orchestra will also perform the world premiere of Donald Womack's "Rush," commissioned by HYS for its 51st season, Ottorino Respighi's "Belkis, Queen of Sheba" and Ambroise Thomas's "Mignon" Overture. Tickets range from $8 (student/senior) to $18 (general admission) and are on sale now at the Blaisdell Box Office, or by calling Ticketmaster: 1 (800) 745-3000.

During her residency, Midori will participate in a wide range of activities tailored by the Hawaii Youth Symphony to maximize student learning. Activities are being planned for youth at all levels and will include a visit to HYS's Music in the Clubhouse program at the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii; a master class and performance workshop for more advanced students; arts advocacy visits to local legislators; and a discussion group with the boards of both orchestras.

Midori and the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra: The Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra presents "Spring Gala with JoAnn and Midori" at 4 pm on Sunday, April 10, 2016 at the Hawaii Theatre Center. HSO Artistic Advisor JoAnn Falletta leads the orchestra in a program featuring Fauré's Suite from Pelléas and Mélisande, Dvorák's Czech Suite in D Major and the Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, featuring Midori.

· Tickets for "Spring Gala with JoAnn and Midori" range from $42 to $105 and are on sale now at the Hawaii Theatre Center. Call the Box Office and purchase by phone to avoid online ticket fees: (808) 528-0506.

· $13 student rush tickets and $20 active duty military tickets are available beginning Tuesday, April 5 with valid ID. Must purchase in-person at the Hawaii Theatre Center Box Office, 1130 Bethel Street, Honolulu. Box Office is open Tuesday thru Saturday.

· A $3 Theatre Restoration Fee is applied to all ticket sales at Hawaii Theatre Center.

· A VIP dinner package is also available for $275 through the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra box office, which includes complimentary parking, premium seating in the concert hall and a four-course meal with wine at Restaurant Epic following the performance.

Midori is unquestionably one of the most legendary violinists of this generation. In addition to performing at the highest levels internationally, she has also been recognised by the United Nations and the World Economic Forum for her exceptional commitment to education and community engagement throughout the USA, Europe, Asia and the developing world. More recently, Midori has been making a sustained commitment to the violin repertoire of the future, commissioning several new concerto and recital works.

Since her debut at the age of 11 with the New York Philharmonic 32 years ago, the violinist Midori has established a record of achievement which sets her apart as a master musician, an innovator, and a champion of the developmental potential of children.

Last season she added two new recordings - one of which won a Grammy - to her extensive catalogue of CDs, and this season she will make two new recordings, one of Bach solo sonatas and partitas and one of the violin concerto DoReMi by Peter Eötvös with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the composer conducting.

Other notable events this season are residencies, the first at Ravinia, where she served as both soloist with the Chicago Symphony and faculty member at the prestigious Steans Institute; the second, at the Lucerne Festival, where she was named Artiste Étoile, she played the world premiere of Oskar (Towards a Brighter Hue II), a new violin concerto composed for her by Johannes Maria Staud; and the third, a series of concerts at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, combining recitals of new music and standard repertoire with a special concert for seniors and another featuring four violin concertos in a single programme.

Recital engagements include Bach solo sonatas and partitas in London and concerts with pianist Özgür Aydin in Paris, Düsseldorf and Tokyo, and she will perform in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra.

In North America, engagements include concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Montréal Symphony, and the NY Philharmonic at the orchestra's residency in Vail. To this and her many other commitments she continues her position as Distinguished Professor of Violin and Jascha Heifetz Chair at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.

Today Midori is recognized as an extraordinary performer, and also as a devoted and gifted educator and an innovative community engagement activist. In 1992 she founded Midori & Friends, a non-profit organization in New York which brings music education programmes to underserved New York City schoolchildren in every borough each year. Two other organizations, Music Sharing, based in Japan, and Partners in Performance, based in the U.S., also bring music closer to the lives of people who may not otherwise have involvement with the arts. Her commitment to community collaboration and outreach is further realised in her Orchestra Residencies Program.

In 2007, she was named a Messenger of Peace by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon. Midori was born in Osaka, Japan in 1971 and began studying the violin with her mother, Setsu Goto, at a very early age. Zubin Mehta first heard Midori play in 1982, and it was he who invited her to make her now legendary debut - at the age of 11 - at the New York Philharmonic's traditional New Year's Eve concert, on which occasion she received a standing ovation and the impetus to begin a major career. Today Midori lives in Los Angeles. Her violin is the 1734 Guarnerius del Gesù 'ex-Huberman'. She uses three bows - two by Dominique Peccatte, and one by Paul Siefried.

Hawaii Youth Symphony (HYS) has connected Hawaii's young people with music education since its incorporation in 1964, recently celebrating its 50th anniversary season. HYS is the only statewide youth music education program. Each year, HYS directly serves 600+ students, ages 7 to 18, from more than 100 schools, and produces 24+ concerts attended by a total of more than 20,000 people.

Hawaii Youth Symphony's mission is to advance critical and positive links between music study, academic achievement, and social and emotional development with programs that service youth through orchestral music education, performance opportunities, and community engagement.

HYS strives to serve any interested student, regardless of financial means. This year, HYS will distribute over $30,000 in scholarship, financial aid, and neighbor island student travel assistance.

For more information or to make a donation, visit www.HiYouthSymphony.org or Facebook: www.facebook.com/HawaiiYouthSymphony.

The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra was founded in 2011 and made its debut in 2012. The new HSO carries on the legacy of the Honolulu Symphony, which was founded in 1900 and performed for more than a century. The orchestra employs 84 professional musicians and presents classical masterworks, pops, educational and community programs.

The mission of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra is to present the highest-quality performances of great music, bringing national and international distinction to the orchestra and its community; to delight and educate audiences of all ages and backgrounds, and enhance the cultural vitality and quality of life in these Islands; and to operate in a financially sound manner.

For more information or to make a donation, visit www.HawaiiSymphonyOrchestra.org. For more, go to Facebook: www.facebook.com/HawaiiSymphony. Don't forget to use the hashtag #hisymphony and share your photos of your Hawaii Symphony experience.

 

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