New World Symphony and Harris Theater Present INVERNO IN-VER Tonight

New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy (NWS), and the Harris Theater present a three-part program featuring the world premiere of a video installation created by critically acclaimed British director, designer and video artist Netia Jones, in creative collaboration with Michael Tilson Thomas. Co-commissioned by NWS and the Harris Theater, Jones' video will accompany Niccolò Castiglioni's Inverno in-ver and will be incorporated into the performance in real time. The performances will be conducted by NWS Founder and Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas in Miami today, October 17 at the New World Center and in Chicago on October 19 at the Harris Theater. The program will also include Berio's Violin Duets, performed by NWS violin Fellows and local student musicians from the Miami area (on the Miami program) and NWS Fellows with students from the Music Institute of Chicago (on the Chicago program), and Stravinsky's Pulcinella, sung by mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell, tenor Matthew Newlin, and bass-baritone Rod Nelman of Chicago Opera Theater.

Composed by Castiglioni in 1973, Inverno in-ver (inverno is Italian for winter) is a series of 11 short musical poems for chamber orchestra. The composition is recognized for its crystalline quality, timber, and visual imagery (atmospheric movement titles include Flowers of Ice, Winter Dance and The Frozen Lake), as well as its mystery and shadowy elusiveness. The winter conjured is one of great clarity and detail, the heightened sense of sight and sound that exists in a frozen world.

Jones' installation takes inspiration from the music and is designed to complement the architecture of both New World Center and the Harris Theater. Using digitized film, Jones focuses on the abstract beauty and intricacy found in microscopic images of elements from winter landscapes-the repeating patterns of crystal structures, the kaleidoscope created as water freezes, the extraordinary sugary detail of frost. Jones also finds connections between minutely observed snowflake structures and highly detailed Baroque and Gothic architectural forms, reflected in Castiglioni's references to old world dances and musical forms.

In creating a projected visual world for this piece, using the simplest structures, Jones has broken the screen surfaces into facets, creating them out of paper and wire above and within the orchestra, mirroring the drifts of crystals in a frozen microscopic landscape.

Michael Tilson Thomas stated, "Netia Jones is an inspiring and inspired partner. It has been wonderful to explore the creation of an installation and performance piece around Castiglioni's glittering and mysterious work."

"I am overjoyed to be collaborating with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Fellows on this project," stated Netia Jones. "Inverno in-ver is one of my favorite pieces of all time. Castiglioni's wintry world is vivid and sharp, at once frozen still and full of movement. Yet there is more to this beautiful and sparkling winter landscape than meets the eye. Melancholy, mystery and strangeness are woven through this work creating an elusive and otherworldly vision, opening up extraordinary possibilities when it comes to the imagery."

Michael Tiknis, President and Managing Director of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance added, "The Harris is proud to be part of such an important collaboration. Even more significant is that this performance will be part of the Harris at 10 season, providing yet another first for the Chicago arts scene."

Program Information:

New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Netia Jones, video artist and live video performer
Peabody Southwell, mezzo-soprano
Matthew Newlin, tenor
Rod Nelman, bass-baritone

Berio: Duets for Two Violins
Castiglioni: Inverno in-ver (with video installation by Netia Jones)
Stravinsky: Pulcinella

Thursday, October 17 at 7:30pm
New World Center
500 17th Street
Miami Beach, FL 33139

Miami-area student musicians performing during the Berio: Duet for Two Violins include representatives from the New World School of the Arts, Miami Arts Charter School, Academy of Arts and Minds, American Heritage School and Dreyfoos School of the Arts.

Ticket prices begin at $35 and are available online at www.nws.edu or through the Box Office at 800-597-3331.

Saturday, October 19 at 7:30pm
Harris Theater at Millennium Park
205 E. Randolph Drive
Chicago, IL, 60601

Chicago-area student musicians performing during the Berio: Duet for Two Violins are from the Music Institute of Chicago.

Ticket prices begin at $30 and are available online at www.harristheaterchicago.org or through the Box Office at 312-334-7777.

Netia Jones: Netia Jones is a director, designer and video artist working in opera and staged concerts, using video, film and projected media in all of her work. She is director of transition, the 'energetic' (Guardian) and 'vibrant' (Independent) performance group which combines live music and opera with new media, integrated video and film. She is also a director of LIGHTMAP, a mixed media partnership with whom she has collaborated on video, film, installation and interactive media projects in the UK, US and Europe. www.lightmap.net, www.transitionprojects.net, www.transitionopera.com.

Michael Tilson Thomas: Michael Tilson Thomas is the Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy; Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony; and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. In addition to these posts, he maintains an active presence guest conducting with the major orchestras of Europe and the United States.

His recorded repertoire of more than 120 discs includes works by composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Prokofiev and Stravinsky as well as his pioneering work with the music of Charles Ives, Carl Ruggles, Steve Reich, John Cage, Ingolf Dahl, Morton Feldman, George Gershwin, John McLaughlin and Elvis Costello. He recently completed recording the complete orchestral works of Gustav Mahler with the San Francisco Symphony.

Among his many honors and awards, Mr. Tilson Thomas is a Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, was Musical America's Musician of the Year and Conductor of the Year, Gramophone Magazine's Artist of the Year and has been profiled on CBS' 60 Minutes and ABC's Nightline. He has won 11 Grammy Awards for his recordings. In 2008 he received the Peabody Award for his radio series for SFS Media, The MTT Files. In 2010 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in a ceremony in the White House.

About the New World Symphony: The mission of NWS is to prepare highly gifted graduates of distinguished music programs for leadership roles in orchestras and ensembles around the world. NWS is dedicated to the artistic, personal and professional development of outstanding instrumentalists. The NWS fellowship program provides top graduates of music programs the opportunity to enhance their musical education with the finest professional training. As a laboratory for musical education and expression, NWS seeks to develop twenty-first century first-class musicians through a wide range of performance and instructional activities. Under the artistic direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, the program offers in-depth exposure to traditional and modern repertoire, with the active involvement of leading guest conductors, soloists and coaches. The relationships with these artists are extended through NWS's pioneering experimentation with distance learning via Internet2.Designed by Frank Gehry, the NWS's home, the New World Center opened in January 2011 and is a unique performance, education, production and creative space with state-of-the-art capabilities. A global hub for creative expression and collaboration and a laboratory for the way music is taught, presented and experienced, the building enables the NWS to continue its role as a leader in integrating technology with music education and concert presentation. For additional details and a complete 2013-2014 season schedule, visit www.nws.edu.

About the Harris Theater: Opened on November 8, 2003, the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park was the first multi-use performing arts venue to be built in the downtown Chicago area since 1929. Today, the non-profit theater features the most diverse offerings of any venue in Chicago, hosting the city's most acclaimed music and dance institutions as well as world-renowned national and International Artists and ensembles through its Harris Theater Presents series. The Harris Theater's mission is to partner with an array of Chicago's emerging and mid-sized performing arts organizations to help them build the resources and infrastructure necessary to achieve artistic growth and long-term organizational sustainability. The Theater supports this mission by providing these partner organizations subsidized rental, technical expertise, and marketing support, thus allowing the organizations to focus on what they do best - bringing the finest music and dance to the public. For additional details and a complete 2013-2014 season schedule, visit www.harristheaterchicago.org.

Pictured: Netia Jones Sketches of Images for Inverno in-ver Courtesy of the Artist.