Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Is Soloist In Concert At Carnegie Hall Presented By Chamber Orchestra Of New York

GRAMMY-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who is described by The Washington Post as “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity,” will be the featured soloist with Chamber Orchestra of New York conducted by Salvatore Di Vittorio, in a concert on Saturday, December 14, 2023 presented by Chamber Orchestra of New York at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Dinnerstein, an American pianist who is heralded for her distinctive musical voice and commitment to sharing classical music with everyone, will be the featured soloist in a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467. The concert program will also include Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Suite by John Williams, and the world premiere of Salvatore Di Vittorio's Suite Verdiana –– a transcription of five of Verdi's favorite operas.

The Washington Post has called Simone Dinnerstein “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.” As a musician who embraces collaboration and inclusiveness with her artistry and performances, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 holds particular significance for Dinnerstein. Not only is the piece included on her 2017 album, Mozart in Havana, but the concerto served as a point of artistic connection between Dinnerstein and the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, with which she performed the piece while visiting Cuba in 2015, at the invitation of her teacher and esteemed pianist, Solomon Mikowsky. Gramophone describes Dinnerstein's performance of the C Major K 467 concerto as having “heartfelt directness, purity of line,”

Of the personal significance behind Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major and her cherished memories performing it, Dinnerstein says:

“This Mozart concerto has been one of my favorites since I was a child. I've had many memorable experiences performing it, from the thrilling experience of performing it in Vienna, where Mozart lived, to recording it in Havana with the extraordinary Havana Lyceum Orchestra and subsequently touring it with them in the United States. The writing is reminiscent of Mozart's operatic output, and it is a complete joy to sing on the piano. I am excited to perform this work, collaborating for the first time with Salvatore DiVittorio and Chamber Orchestra of New York!”

More about Simone Dinnerstein: Simone Dinnerstein has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seoul Arts Center and Sydney Opera House. She has made thirteen albums, all of which topped the Billboard charts. During the pandemic she recorded three albums which form a trilogy: A Character of Quiet, An American Mosaic, and Undersong. An American Mosaic was nominated for a Grammy.

In recent years, Dinnerstein has created projects that express her broad musical interests. She gave the world premiere of The Eye Is the First Circle at Montclair State University, the first multi-media production she conceived, created, and directed, which uses as source materials her father Simon Dinnerstein's painting The Fulbright Triptych and Charles Ives's Piano Sonata No. 2. She premiered Richard Danielpour's An American Mosaic, a tribute to those affected by the pandemic, in a performance on multiple pianos throughout Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the U.S. for the first time, performing eleven concerts. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for her, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras. Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard's Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals, and performed it at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and presented by LA Opera. Dinnerstein has also created her own ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs. The Washington Post comments, “it is Dinnerstein's unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative.

For more information, please visit www.simonedinnerstein.com.

Chamber Orchestra of New York is a premier ensemble that features a seasoned roster of our city's most flourishing musicians. The orchestra is internationally distinguished for championing unique repertoire that bridges the classical and modern traditions, including iconic film music, through premieres and world premiere recordings of rediscovered masterworks. Through all-embracing approaches with its distinct programs – from performances to educational outreach – the orchestra aims to cultivate a broader audience across generations for the future of classical music. The orchestra has received commissions from The Morgan Library & Museum, Dolce & Gabbana at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the United Nations, and Star Wars under Disney, among others. The orchestra's albums for Naxos Records, including its work championing Respighi, continue to air worldwide to much acclaim. It has also established The Respighi Prize music competition, New York Conducting Workshop, and Maestro Juniors education program.

Salvatore Di Vittorio is an internationally respected, published composer and conductor, recognized for his uniquely lyrical, melodic orchestral music “following in the footsteps of Ottorino Respighi” – the revered 20th century composer who inspired great composers in both classical and film music. In 2008, the great nieces of Respighi, Elsa and Gloria Pizzoli, entrusted Di Vittorio with the restoration of several early orchestral works, including the completion of the first Concerto for violin (in A Major). With his profound natural gift of melody throughout all his memorable music, Di Vittorio's forte of orchestration and arrangement is evidenced not only through his own original works but numerous elaborations across the spectrum from Claude Debussy to John Barry. A multifaceted career, doubling as an orchestral conductor, as Music Director of Chamber Orchestra of New York, further distinguishes Salvatore Di Vittorio from most orchestral composers today.

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