Esa-Pekka Salonen To Conduct World Premiere By Anna Thorvaldsdottir

The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct a program featuring an emerging composer and soloist, both of whom the Philharmonic has championed: the World Premiere of Kravis Emerging Composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Metacosmos, commissioned by the Philharmonic; Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Eroica; and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring Benjamin Grosvenor, inaugural recipient of the Ronnie and Lawrence Ackman Classical Piano Prize at the New York Philharmonic, in his Philharmonic subscription debut. The performances take place Wednesday, April 4, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, April 6 at 8:00 p.m.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir says that her Metacosmos is "constructed around the natural balance between beauty and chaos - how elements can come together in (seemingly) utter chaos to create a unified, structured whole." The Philharmonic commissioned Ms. Thorvaldsdottir to compose Metacosmos in 2015, when she was named the Philharmonic's Kravis Emerging Composer, an honor bestowed on an up-and-coming composer as part of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music. The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music and the positions of Kravis Emerging Composer and The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence are funded by a $10 million gift given to the Philharmonic in 2009 by Henry R. Kravis in honor of his wife, Marie-Josée. The New York Philharmonic nominated Ms. Thorvaldsdottir for the Martin E. Segal Award, part of the Lincoln Center Awards for Emerging Artists, to be presented in March 2018.

Benjamin Grosvenor was named the inaugural recipient of the Ronnie and Lawrence Ackman Classical Piano Prize at the New York Philharmonic, awarded to an up-and-coming pianist or piano duo poised to become exceptional figures in the piano world. Prize winners - selected by a confidential panel comprising prominent pianists, New York Philharmonic leadership, and other recognized musical figures - receive $30,000 and will perform with the New York Philharmonic, play chamber music with Philharmonic musicians, and serve as classical music ambassadors, taking part in community engagement and education initiatives around New York City. He will perform chamber music with Philharmonic musicians at 92nd Street Y (see below) and meet with middle-school students in the Composer's Bridge program - part of the Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program - to workshop and perform their piano works.

Esa-Pekka Salonen - the composer-conductor who displays "a kind of complete musicianship rarely encountered today" (The Boston Globe) - is in his third and final season as The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence. He will conclude his tenure in June 2018 conducting and hosting Foreign Bodies, a one-night-only multidisciplinary event that includes his work of the same name, accompanied by the World Premiere of a live video installation by Tal Rosner, and Obsidian Tear, a dance work choreographed by Wayne McGregor and set to Mr. Salonen's Nyx and Lachen verlernt. Highlights of Esa-Pekka Salonen's residency include the New York Premiere of his Gambit (2017); the New York and European Premieres of his Cello Concerto with Yo-Yo Ma (2017); the CONTACT! concerts "Salonen's Floof and Other Delights" (2016) and "The Messiaen Connection" (2016); and his conducting Messiaen's Turangalîla-symphonie, as part of Messiaen Week (2016), and Circle Map, a program celebrating Kaija Saariaho presented by Park Avenue Armory (2016).

The Saturday Matinee Concert on April 7 at 2:00 p.m. opens with Esa-Pekka Salonen's Catch and Release, conducted by the composer and performed by Philharmonic Assistant Concertmaster Michelle Kim, Principal Bass Timothy Cobb, Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill, Principal Bassoon Judith LeClair, Principal Trumpet Christopher Martin, Associate Principal Trombone Colin Williams, and Principal Percussion Christopher S. Lamb. The rest of the program features Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Eroica.

The Saturday Matinee Concert on April 7 will be followed immediately by New York Philharmonic musicians performing original compositions by students in the Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program - created by Very Young Composers Founder and Artistic Director Jon Deak - led by Assistant Conductor Joshua Gersen. Students from the Middle East and South America communicated with their counterparts in New York through Musical Postcards, in which students from different countries share stories and musical ideas. Audience members will be invited to contribute to organizations that benefit child refugees around the world: Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee in New York, and the New York Philharmonic Education Fund.

The New York Philharmonic and 92nd Street Y will co-present a chamber music program featuring Benjamin Grosvenor and Philharmonic musicians - Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples, Associate Principal Viola Rebecca Young, Associate Principal Cello Eileen Moon-Myers, and Principal Bass Timothy Cobb - performing Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1 and Schubert's Piano Quintet, Trout, on April 10, 2018.