Philadelphia Orchestra Announces 2010-2011 Season

The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates its 30-year musical partnership with Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit in the 2010-11 season. Highlights of Mr. Dutoit's nine subscription weeks with the Orchestra include the 2010-11 Opening Night with violinist Joshua Bell; the U.S. premiere of James MacMillan's Violin Concerto, co-commissioned by the Orchestra, with Vadim Repin; the world premiere of Jonathan Leshnoff's Flute Concerto with Principal Flute Jeffrey Khaner; and Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and tenor Paul Groves. Mr. Dutoit also leads the Orchestra in three performances at New York's Carnegie Hall and a performance at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in his first appearances as music director designate of The Philadelphia Orchestra, leads two subscription weeks. In October Mr. Nézet-Séguin leads Haydn's Symphony No. 100 ("Military") and Mahler's Symphony No. 5; he returns in January 2011 to conduct Debussy's Nocturnes and the Orchestra's first performances of Mozart's Requiem in 20 years.

The Orchestra and Associate Conductor Rossen Milanov open the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts with a collaborative performance of Stravinsky's complete Pulcinella with Pennsylvania Ballet featuring new choreography by Jorma Elo. Mr. Dutoit and the Orchestra appear as part of the Festival with an all-Stravinsky program featuring two rarely-performed works, Apollon musagète and Oedipus Rex.

Explore different connective paths between music, culture, and media with Sound Waves, the Orchestra's new three-concert multimedia series. Featured programs include Tan Dun's The Map, The Inca Trail: A Musical Journey with Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and The Thomashefskys with Michael Tilson Thomas.

Beyond the Score, the multimedia concert series featuring in-depth explorations of selected works, returns for a second crowd-pleasing season with programs featuring Shostakovich's politically controversial Symphony No. 4, Strauss's musical self-portrait Ein Heldenleben, and Holst's mythically-inspired The Planets. Mr. Dutoit, who was instrumental in bringing the series to Philadelphia audiences, leads all three programs.

The Orchestra performs three major works by contemporary French composer Henri Dutilleux throughout the 2010-11 season. Mr. Dutoit leads the composer's evocative Timbres, espace, mouvement, ou La Nuit étoilée inspired by van Gogh's iconic painting "Starry Night." The composer's L'Arbre des songes (Tree of Dreams), for violin and orchestra, receives its first Philadelphia Orchestra performances under the baton of Semyon Bychkov, with Renaud Capuçon as soloist. Stéphane Denève leads the Orchestra in Dutilleux's complex orchestral masterwork Métaboles.

Four internationally-renowned conductors-Gianandrea Noseda, Jonathan Nott, Fabio Luisi, and Vasily Petrenko-make their respective Philadelphia Orchestra debuts throughout the 2010-11 season.

Venerable guest conductors who make return guest appearances throughout the 2010-11 season include: Christoph von Dohnányi, Semyon Bychkov in his subscription debut; Jaap van Zweden; Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos; Robert Spano; Donald Runnicles; Alan Gilbert; Michael Tilson Thomas; Vladimir Jurowski; Stéphane Denève; Jun Märkl in his Philadelphia Orchestra subscription debut; David Zinman; and Kurt Masur.

In the 2010-11 season, The Philadelphia Orchestra once again welcomes an international array of world-class soloists throughout the season. Notable guest artists include violinists Joshua Bell, Leonidas Kavakos, Vadim Repin, and Gil Shaham, and pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet, André Watts, Garrick Ohlsson, and Hélène Grimaud. Additional returning guest soloists include pianists Imogen Cooper, Andreas Haefliger, Marc-André Hamelin, and Stephen Hough; violinists Lisa Batiashvili and Renaud Capuçon; sopranos Melanie Diener, Lisa Saffer, and Jennifer Welch-Babidge; mezzo-sopranos Susan Graham, Petra Lang, Mary Phillips, and Birgit Remmert; tenor Gordon Gietz and Paul Groves; baritones AnDrew Foster-Williams and David Wilson-Johnson; and bass-baritone Nathan Berg. Soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, tenor James Taylor, baritone Christòpheren Nomura, and bass-baritone Robert Gierlach makes his Philadelphia Orchestra debut and pianist Jeremy Denk makes his subscription debut.

Seven Orchestra musicians-Associate Principal Cello Efe Baltacigil, Principal Flute Jeffrey Khaner, First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang, Concertmaster David Kim, Principal Horn Jennifer Montone, Principal Cello Hai-Ye Ni, and Principal Oboe Richard Woodhams-appear as soloist throughout the season.

The music of 12 composers of our time, selected and nurtured by the conductors presenting their works, is featured throughout the season. Featured composers include Henri Dutilleux, Gabriela Frank, Osvaldo Golijov, Jonathan Leshnoff, Magnus Lindberg, Jimmy López, Diego Luzuriaga, James MacMillan, Arvo Pärt, Behzad Ranjbaran, Christopher Rouse, and Tan Dun.

The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrates timeless artistic collaboration with a programmatic thread featuring musical compositions inspired by literature, including Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Stravinsky's Apollon musagète and Oedipus Rex, Weber's Overture to Oberon, and Berlioz's Overture to Beatrice and Benedict and The Damnation of Faust, among others.

The 2010-11 chamber series features the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra and special guest artists, including violinists Renaud Capuçon and Leonidas Kavakos, in six intimate concerts in the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater.

The five-concert 2010-11 Family Concert Series is a lively, fascinating introduction to the Orchestra for parents and young people ages 6 to 12. Full of classic children's entertainment and imaginative fun, this season features Peter and the Wolf and Other Tails, Tchaikovsky Discovers America with Classical Kids LIVE!, Extreme Orchestra with Jamie Bernstein, the Enchantment Theatre Company's Sheherazade, and Picasso Paint by Music.

Designed for children ages 3 to 5, Sound All Around concerts are fun, interactive programs with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and award-winning storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston that introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra. This season's concerts introduce young music lovers to the violin, clarinet, tuba, and percussion instruments.

Celebrate the holiday season with festive concerts by the Fabulous Philadelphians! Glorious Sound of Christmas, The Philadelphia Orchestra's best-selling holiday album, comes to life in three festive concerts led by Associate Conductor Rossen Milanov. Conductor Paul Goodwin leads Handel's Messiah in its 50th consecutive annual performance by the Orchestra. Music lovers can also ring in 2011 with a special New Year's Eve concert featuring members of The Philadelphia Orchestra; complete details to follow.

Full schedule may be found at http://philorch.org/.