Poway OnStage Presents Jeremy Denk and More in UPRIGHT & GRAND PIANO FESTIVAL Tonight

Poway OnStage is elated to participate as a featured stop in the Upright & Grand Piano Festival presented by The San Diego Symphony tonight, January 15th, 2016 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts (15498 Espola Rd Poway, California). The evening will include a presentation of Liszt's Black Gondola, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5: Emperor, led by conductor Cristian Macelaru. The performance will feature renowned and award-winning pianist Jeremy Denk.

Denk is the winner of a 2013 MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America's 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year award. Hailed by the New York Times as someone 'you want to hear no matter what he performs' he has recently appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and London.

"An important component of this piano festival is to offer an array of acclaimed artists who are at the top of their game-superstars in their own right performing the most exciting repertoire written for the piano"- Tommy Phillips, the Symphony's Director of Artistic Planning.

The Upright & Grand Piano Festival will make its appearance at the Poway Center for Performing Arts (15498 Espola Rd, Poway, CA 92064) on January 15th, 2016 at 8pm. Ticket Prices range from $32-$74, and are available at www.powayonstage.org, or by calling our box office at: 858-748-0505.

Poway OnStage is also pleased to entice audiences to make it date night by adding a dinner to your evening. Café Merlot's serves a gourmet buffet dinner on our beautiful plaza courtyard beginning two hours prior to curtain. Tickets for "Dinner on the Plaza" are only $28 and include a complimentary beverage (wine, beer or non-alcoholic). Tickets to the evening's performance are required for dinner admission. Gluten-free and Vegan options are available upon request. Please send all requests to Sokeefe@powayonstage.org or call 858-668-4798.

One of America's most thought-provoking, multi-faceted, and compelling artists, pianist Jeremy Denk is the winner of a 2013 MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America's 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year award. He has appeared as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and London, and regularly gives recitals in New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, and throughout the United States. In 2014-15, he launched a four-season tenure as an Artistic Partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; makes debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra under Susanna Mälkki and the New York Philharmonic led by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Jeremy is known for his original and insightful writing on music, which Alex Ross praises for its "arresting sensitivity and wit." His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New Republic, The Guardian and on the front page of The New York Times Book Review. In 2014, Denk served as music director of the Ojai Music Festival in which he performed and curated and in addition, wrote the libretto for a comic opera. The opera was presented by Carnegie Hall last season.

Winner of the 2014 Solti Conducting Award, Cristian M?celaru is conductor-in-residence of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He began his tenure with that ensemble as assistant conductor in September 2011, and in recognition of his artistic contributions to the Orchestra, his title was elevated to associate conductor in November 2012. In addition to supporting Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in important artistic projects, Mr. M?celaru will conduct a subscription week each season, as well as educational and community programs, and lead the ensemble in summer performances in Philadelphia and other venues. He made his Orchestra subscription debut in April 2013 stepping in unexpectedly in place of Jaap van Zweden.

Mr. M?celaru came to public attention in February 2012 when he conducted the Chicago Symphony as a replacement for Pierre Boulez in performances met with critical acclaim. Since his debut, he has conducted that orchestra on subscription in three consecutive seasons.

An accomplished violinist from an early age, Mr. M?celaru was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Miami Symphony and made his Carnegie Hall debut with that orchestra at age 19. He also played in the first violin section of the Houston Symphony for two seasons. Formerly he held the position of resident conductor at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, where he was music director of the Campanile Orchestra, assistant conductor to Mr. Rachleff, and conductor for the Opera Department. A proponent of music education, Mr. M?celaru served as a conductor with the Houston Youth Symphony, where he also conceptualized and created a successful chamber music program. As the founder and artistic director of the Crisalis Music Project, Mr. M?celaru spearheaded a program in which young musicians perform in a variety of settings, side-by-side with established artists. Their groundbreaking inaugural season produced and presented concerts featuring chamber ensembles, a chamber orchestra, a tango operetta, and collaborations with dancer Susana Collins, which resulted in a choreographed performance of Vivaldi/Piazzolla's Eight Seasons.

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra performed its first concert on December 6, 1910. In the 100-plus years since its inception, the SDSO has become one of the leading orchestras in the United States, and was designated a Tier 1 Orchestra by the League of American Orchestras in 2010. It is committed to providing musical experiences of superior quality for the greater San Diego community and beyond. Through a rich mixture of innovative and educational programming designed to appeal to all ages and cultures, the Symphony makes music an integral part of the cultural and intellectual fabric of Southern California, valued by and relevant to all its residents. Recently the San Diego Symphony Orchestra celebrated our 100th anniversary, the first California orchestra to reach this milestone. (Note: though the Articles of Incorporation for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra were completed March 28, 1928, the history of the Symphony as a performing entity begins in 1910.)

The Orchestra offers wide range of concert experiences and performs over 140 concerts each year. The SDSO's indoor performances include the Jacobs Masterworks series with music director Jahja Ling, offering traditional classical repertoire and featuring such guest artists as Horacio Gutierrez, Joshua Bell, Lang Lang and Gil Shaham; the City Lights series, featuring principal pops conductor Bill Conti and popular guest artists such as Jennifer Holliday, Michael Feinstein, Peter Cetera, Bill Conti, Kenny G and Brian Stokes Mitchell; the Family Festival, featuring family-friendly concerts; and the Fox Theatre Film Series,in which the Jacobs Music Center's in-built, might Fox Theatre Organ accompanies the greatest hits of the Silent Film Era projected above by our period carbon-arc projectors. There is also a Chamber Music Series presented at the Auditorium at TSRI that brings together world-class performers and musicians of the Orchestra for intimate musical encounters.

Each summer, from July through September, the Orchestra presents an outdoor Summer Pops season at Embarcadero Marina Park South, mixing classical favorites and pop music in a festive, outdoor atmosphere on San Diego's picturesque waterfront, all under the baton of Matthew Garbutt, principal Summer Pops conductor. Recent Summer Pops guest artists have included Boz Scaggs, Vanessa Williams, Nathan Pacheco, Michael Bolton, Amy Grant, En Vogue, Neil Sedaka, Wilson Phillips, Roberta Flack, Dave Koz, Wynonna and Burt Bacharach.

Formed in 1990, the Poway Center for the Performing Arts Foundation has gone by many names: Arts Alive! The PCPA Foundation. The POW! Foundation. Now, with the arrival of our Silver Anniversary, we are proud to be recognized as Poway OnStage.

Poway OnStage is the non-profit organization responsible for booking professional artists into the city-owned Poway Center for the Performing Arts. Each year, Poway OnStage assembles a line-up of marquee talent from the worlds of drama, dance, music, comedy and more.

Pictured: Jeremy Denk