Thomas Adès to Conduct Academy Season Finale at Granada Theatre, 8/9

Thomas Adès, the brilliant British pianist, conductor, and composer who has been hailed as among "the most imposing figures in contemporary music" (The New Yorker), will lead the Academy Festival Orchestra in its final concert of the 2014 Summer Festival season at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre on Saturday, August 9. Featuring Stravinsky's dramatic and innovative ballet Petrushka (1947 version) as well as Ives' Variations on "America," Mr. Adès' own work Polaris: Voyage for Orchestra, and "Four Sea Interludes" from Britten's Peter Grimes, the concert will begin at 8 pm. Tickets start at $15.

"One of the most accomplished and complete musicians of his generation" (The New York Times), Mr. Adès is renowned as both a composer and a performer, and works regularly with the world's leading opera companies and festivals. The many orchestras he has conducted include the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC and Finnish and Danish Radio symphony orchestras, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (whose music director he was between 1998 and 2000), the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, and the Athelas Ensemble.

During the 2012-13 season he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as both a conductor and a composer, leading the Met premiere of his 2004 masterpiece The Tempest in a new production by Robert Lepage that was seen internationally as part of the Met: Live in HD simulcast series and which garnered a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. He also recently led the Boston Symphony in performances of his piano concerto In Seven Days and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 - both with Kirill Gerstein - as well as Sibelius' Sixth Symphony and Luonnotar with soprano Dawn Upshaw. Mr. Adès has appeared as a pianist in chamber concerts under the auspices of the Boston and San Francisco symphonies.

In April, English National Opera mounted a new production of Mr. Adès' first opera, Powder Her Face - composed when he was just 24 years old - prompting critics to once again declare the work a modern classic. Writing in Gramophone, conductor Sir Simon Rattle observed, "Even as the UK is brimming with wonderful young composers, I think few would dispute that Tom Adès may be the most extravagantly gifted of them all."

The Granada Theatre is located at 1216 State Street in Santa Barbara. The Music Academy's 2014 Orchestra Series is generously supported by Robert W. Weinman.

Remaining highlights of the Music Academy's 2014 season include a new production of Georges Bizet's popular opera Carmen as well as cellist Joshua Roman performing the world premiere of his new work we do it to one another. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events are being presented in venues throughout Santa Barbara. The Music Academy's 67th annual Summer Festival concludes August 9.

For tickets and information, call 805.969.8787 or visit musicacademy.org.