The Orchestra Now Performs 'Russian Evolution: From Rimsky-Korsakov To Gliere' At Carnegie Hall

The Orchestra Now begins its fourth season at Carnegie Hall with a concert titled Russian Evolution: From Rimsky-Korsakov to Glière on Friday, December 14 at 7:30 pm. The program focuses on the drama of Russian music and will also be performed at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College on Wednesday, December 12 at 7:00 pm. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote much of his first symphony while serving in the Russian navy, and actually appeared onstage in uniform at the work's 1865 premiere. Many Russian folk and oriental melodies can be heard in the piece, and nationalists dubbed it the "First Russian Symphony."

Reinhold Glière's expansive Symphony No. 3, Ilya Muromets, is based on the life of one of Russia's most famous mythical heroes. Highly respected for his values, he is the only such character to have been canonized by Russia's Orthodox Church. Glière was a true believer in the pre-revolutionary national Russian school and hence, his embrace of traditional forms made him a favorite of Soviet authorities. With this concert, Leon Botstein highlights the search for a true, nationalist style in Russian symphonic music, one with an aesthetic that incorporated folk or oriental themes or that was based on legends and folk heroes. The works performed at the evening's concert by these two composers illustrate how Russian music evolved along those lines from the time of Rimsky's first symphony (1865) to the time of Glière's third (1911).

For details of upcoming 2018-19 season concerts, please click here.

Tickets start at $25, and may be purchased online at carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or in person at the Carnegie Hall box office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.

The Orchestra Now is a group of more than 60 vibrant young musicians from 14 different countries around the globe: the United States, Bulgaria, China, France, Hungary, Malaysia, Mongolia, Peru, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Venezuela. All share a mission to make orchestral music relevant to 21st-century audiences. Hand-picked from hundreds of applicants from the world's leading conservatories -including The Juilliard School, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and the Curtis Institute of Music-the members of T?N are not only rousing audiences with their critically acclaimed performances, but also enlightening curious minds by presenting on-stage introductions and demonstrations at concerts, offering program notes written from the musicians' perspective, and connecting with patrons through one-on-one discussions during intermissions. To date, members of T?N have earned positions with orchestras across the United States and in Europe. Some play regularly with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony.

Conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein founded T?N in 2015 as a master's degree program at Bard College, where he also serves as president. The Orchestra is in residence at Bard's Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, offering multiple concerts there each season as well as participating in the annual Bard Music Festival. The Orchestra also performs numerous concert series at major venues in New York, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as a schedule of free performances across New York City boroughs. T?N has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Fabio Luisi, Neeme Järvi, Gerard Schwarz, and JoAnn Falletta.

For upcoming activities and more detailed information about the musicians, visit theorchestranow.org.