Pablo Heras-Casado to Conduct Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall, 10/23

On Wednesday, October 23 at 8:00 p.m.,Orchestra of St. Luke's returns to Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for the first of three concerts this season. Following a successful debut last season as the orchestra's principal conductor, Pablo Heras-Casadoconducts Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings as well as Mendelssohn's overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major.

Written during World War II, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings showcases the composer's unique brand of pastoralism, while exploring the theme of night. Tenor Ian Bostridge, who is among the world's leading Britten interpreters, performs the haunting cycle with French horn player Stewart Rose. Throughout the 2013-2014 season, Carnegie Hall pays tribute to late composer Benjamin Britten in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Carnegie Hall's 100th anniversary programming is part of Britten 100, a global celebration of Benjamin Britten's centenary, organized by the Britten-Pears Foundation. Concerts and special events at Carnegie Hall join major Britten performances by cultural partners throughout New York City, including BAM, The Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and Trinity Wall Street to form a season-long citywide tribute to this master composer. For more information, visit carnegiehall.org/britten.

The following month, celebrated Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer leads the orchestra and pianist Jonathan Biss in Schumann's Piano Concerto on Thursday, November 21 at 8:00 p.m. Other works featured on the program are Leó Weiner's Serenade, Op. 3, Bartók's folk-influenced Hungarian Sketches and Mozart's beloved Symphony No. 41 in C Major, "Jupiter".

The final Carnegie Hall concert by the Orchestra of St. Luke's takes place on Thursday, March 6 at 8:00 p.m. with guest conductor Sir Roger Norrington. Making a rare visit to the US, during the year of his 80th birthday, Maestro Norrington leads the orchestra, the Oratorio Society of New York, and eminent soloists, in one of Beethoven's grandest ceremonial works, Missa solemnis. The orchestra and chorus are joined by sopranos Susan Gritton and Julie Boulianne, tenor Michael Schade, and bass-baritone Nathan Berg during this powerful evening of music-making.

About the Artists
Pablo Heras-Casado, hailed as "the thinking person's idea of a hotshot young conductor" by The New York Times, enjoys a multi-faceted conducting career of unusual breadth and variety, from early music to cutting-edge contemporary scores, intimate chamber programs, and grand opera. Announced in December 2011 as Principal Conductor of Orchestra of St Luke's, Mr. Heras-Casado commences his second season with the orchestra in 2013-2014, while also making debuts with the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra as well as at the Metropolitan Opera, where he conducts Verdi's Rigoletto. Other season highlights include return performances with the San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ensemble Intercontemporain. He also tours with Freiburger Barockorchester and guest conducts a series of concert and opera performances at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Past seasons have seen the Spanish conductor make important appearances with orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, and The Cleveland Orchestra. He was also re-invited by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Spanish National Orchestra, and the Teatro Real in Madrid. In 2012-2013, he appeared for the first time at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Oper Frankfurt.

In September 2013, Harmonia Mundi releases Mr. Heras-Casado's debut recording for the label of Schubert's Third and Fourth Symphonies with the Freiburger Barockorchester. Autumn 2013 also sees the release of a disc on Sony, featuring Placido Domingo in Verdi arias with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. He has been awarded the Medalla de Honor of the Rodriguez Acosta Foundation, which includes Manuel De Falla and Andrés Segovia Torres among its previous winners, and also the Golden Medal of the City of Granada, his hometown, in recognition of his outstanding professional trajectory.

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) is one of America's foremost and most versatile orchestras, regularly collaborating with the world's greatest artists and performing approximately 70 concerts each year-including its Carnegie Hall series, chamber music series at The Morgan Library & Museum and the Brooklyn Museum, and a summer residency at the Caramoor Music Festival. OSL has commissioned more than 50 new works; given more than 150 world, US, and New York premieres; and appears on more than 90 recordings, including four Grammy Award-winning albums and seven releases on its own label, St. Luke's Collection. Pablo Heras-Casado is OSL's Principal Conductor.

OSL grew out of a chamber ensemble that gathered in the Church of St. Luke in the Fields in Greenwich Village in 1974. Today, St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble consists of 21 virtuoso artists who make up OSL's artistic core and are dedicated to a diverse repertoire spanning Baroque to contemporary. OSL's Community & Education programs have introduced audiences across New York City to live classical music. OSL brings free chamber concerts to the five boroughs; offers free interactive music programs at its home, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music; provides chamber music coaching for adult amateurs; and reaches 10,000 public school students each year through free school concerts and in-school instruction. In July 2013, OSL and Police Athletic League (PAL) launched Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's (YOSL), an after-school orchestra and instrumental coaching program emphasizing musical excellence and social development. For more information, visitOSLmusic.org.

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