NY Philharmonic Announces 'Lorin Maazel A Grand Finale' 2009 Winter Tour Dates

Lorin Maazel will make his valedictory tour as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic featuring 13 concerts in 9 cities in the United States and Puerto Rico, February 21-March 9, 2009.

The Philharmonic and Mr. Maazel will perform concerts at the Schwarz Center, Atlanta, Georgia; Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, Florida; Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, Florida; Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, Sarasota, Florida; Knight Concert Hall, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, Florida; Festival Hall, Bellas Artes Performance Complex and Teatro de al Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Memorial Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Newlin Hall, Norton Center at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky; Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Orchestra Hall, Chicago, Illinois.

The New York Philharmonic is proud to travel under the banner of its Global Sponsor, Credit Suisse.New York Philharmonic Winter U.S. Tour 2009/2
The 2008-09 concert season, Lorin Maazel - A Grand Finale, is Mr. Maazel's seventh and final season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. A celebration of his tenure will take place at Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic, in New York, June 4-27, 2009, and will include two large-scale masterpieces: Britten's War Requiem and Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand.

The tour repertoire will feature works by Barber, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Mussorgsky/Ravel, Schumann, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. Violinist James Ehnes will perform Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, March 1, 2009. (See attached schedule for details.)

The Winter U.S. Tour 2009 marks the first visits by the New York Philharmonic to Naples, Florida; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Danville, Kentucky, and its second visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The tour will also include the Orchestra's first performance in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. The Philharmonic last performed in Atlanta, West Palm Beach, and Miami in 2003, and in Ann Arbor and Chicago in 2005, all with Lorin Maazel. The most recent New York Philharmonic performance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was in 1997 with Kurt Masur, and in Sarasota in 1976 with Leonard Bernstein. The most recent New York Philharmonic tour was the Tour of Europe 2008, the first European tour with Global Sponsor Credit Suisse.

On February 23, the Philharmonic will launch a Virtual Tour, accessible from the Orchestra's Website at nyphil.org/WinterUS2009, which will provide details on the New York Philharmonic Winter U.S. Tour 2009 including an online photo album that will be updated throughout the tour.

"It is with immense pleasure that I will lead a tour of this magnificent Orchestra in the United States, the third such tour during my directorship," said New York Philharmonic Music Director Lorin Maazel. "In selecting the works for this - my final Philharmonic tour - I chose masterpieces that the Orchestra and I have enjoyed performing before, including Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Schumann's Symphony No. 4, and Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Certain to be another highlight is the performance in San Juan of Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the superb violinist James Ehnes, with whom I collaborated just last year at the Philharmonic. I anticipate that this journey will add to the enormous collection of memorable musical experiences I will have collected over the seven years of my tenure."

"Lorin Maazel has worked with this Orchestra to give performances of precision and excitement both at home in New York City and around the world," commented New York Philharmonic President and Executive Director Zarin Mehta. "It is a particular joy to share this sound and such wonderful masterpieces with these great American cities. This domestic tour is sure to be triumphant, but also poignant, as it will be Lorin's final tour with us, but with a pleasing number of ‘firsts:' the Philharmonic's debuts in Naples, Florida; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Danville, Kentucky; as well as our first performance at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. It is truly an appropriate way to celebrate Lorin's valedictory season."

"Lorin Maazel's tenure as the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic has been stellar, a shining era of spectacular performances and acclaim throughout the world," said New York Philharmonic Chairman Paul B. Guenther. "But, of course, we are an American orchestra, with a great American maestro, so I can think of no more fitting area to visit in his final season than the many regions we will be visiting on the Winter U.S. Tour 2009. As we celebrate our first domestic tour in partnership with Credit Suisse, our Global Sponsor, we will look back on Lorin's seven seasons with the Orchestra, and remember the many wonderful performances he has led in that time."

"One of the principal attractions of Credit Suisse's role as Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic is its touring schedule that takes them to all corners of the world and now across the United States," said Karlheinz Muhr, Managing Director of Credit Suisse and a member of the Board of the New York Philharmonic. "The Orchestra's ability to bring beautiful music to a diverse range of audiences in many places is a proud part of their heritage and one which Credit Suisse is delighted to share in."

Founded in 1842, the New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. Since its inception, the Philharmonic has played a leading role in American musical life, championing the new music of its time and commissioning or premiering many important works, from Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World (1893) and Gershwin's An American in Paris (1928) to John Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning On the Transmigration of Souls (2002) and Esa-Pekka Salonen's Piano Concerto (2007). Lorin Maazel became Music Director in 2002, succeeding Kurt Masur in a distinguished line of 20th-century musical giants that has included Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, and Pierre Boulez; Gustav Mahler, Bruno Walter, and Arturo Toscanini. The Philharmonic has long played a leading role in American musical life, and over the last century has become renowned around the globe, having appeared in 422 cities in 59 countries on five continents. In February 2008 the Philharmonic made a historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea -the first performance there by an American orchestra and an event that was watched around the world and for which the Philharmonic received the 2008 Common Ground Award for Cultural Diplomacy.

Long a media pioneer, the Orchestra began radio broadcasts in 1922, and is currently represented by The New York Philharmonic This Week, syndicated nationally 52 weeks per year, streamed on the Orchestra's Website, nyphil.org, and carried on XM Satellite Radio. The Orchestra's concerts are also broadcast throughout Europe on BBC Radio 3. On television, in the 1950s and '60s, the Philharmonic inspired a generation of music lovers through Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts, telecast on CBS, and its presence on television has continued with annual appearances on Live From Lincoln Center, which began with that series' inaugural episode in 1976. The Internet has expanded the Orchestra's reach, and in 2006 the Philharmonic became the first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live, which are available on the DG Concerts label, exclusively on iTunes. Credit Suisse is the exclusive Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic.

As one of the world's leading banks, Credit Suisse provides its clients with investment banking, private banking, and asset management services worldwide. Credit Suisse offers advisory services, comprehensive solutions, and innovative products to companies, institutional clients, and high-net-worth private clients globally, as well as retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is active in more than 50 countries and employs approximately 49,000 people. Credit Suisse's parent company, Credit Suisse Group, is a leading global financial services company headquartered in Zurich. Credit Suisse Group's registered shares (CSGN) are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.

Credit Suisse and Culture Through its commitment to culture, Credit Suisse is instrumental in making outstanding cultural performances possible and bringing them to a wide audience. Credit Suisse enters into long-term partnerships with major cultural institutions, thus providing them with the financial scope to realise ambitious and unusual projects. In all its cultural collaborations the company supports partners who are able to combine and incorporate performance, uniqueness, and quality in their work. Within the field of classical music, Credit Suisse currently has sponsorship commitments with the Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, and Bolshoi Theatre, as well as the New York Philharmonic.
Artists

Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra's summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted nine World Premiere-New York Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke's Symphony No. 3; Melinda Wagner's Trombone Concerto; and Steven Stucky's Rhapsodies for Orchestra. He has led cycles of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky, and conducted the Orchestra's inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series - a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in February 2008 - the first performance there by an American orchestra. Other recent tours have included Europe 2008 in August-September; Asia 2008 - to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing in February; the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the Philharmonic Tour of Italy in June 2006, sponsored by Generali; the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries in autumn 2005; and residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A frequent conductor on the world's operatic stages, he returned to The Metropolitan Opera in January 2008 for the first time in 45 years to conduct Wagner's Die Walküre.
Prior to his tenure as New York Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Maazel led more than 100 performances of the Orchestra as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993-2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988-96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982-84); music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972-82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965-71). He is an Honorary Member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and an Honorary Member of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Grammy and Juno Award-winning violinist James Ehnes has performed as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in more than twenty countries on five continents and has worked with many of the world's most renowned orchestras and conductors. In the 2008-09 season he will be featured in concerts with the BBC, Duisburger, Liège, Rotterdam, and Royal Liverpool philharmonic orchestras; the Bournemouth, Gothenburg, London, Malaysian, and Sydney symphony orchestras; as well as the l'Orchestre de la Swisse Romande in Geneva, Gürzenich-Orchester of Cologne, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the Munich Staatsoper Orchestra. In Canada he will perform with the Winnipeg, Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver, St. John's, and Timmins symphony orchestras, and the National

Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa; in the United States he appears with the Florida West Coast Symphony and at the San Diego Mostly Mozart Festival. His recital appearances bring him to Detroit, Toronto, Tilburg (Netherlands), and London's Wigmore Hall, as well as in tours of Eastern and Western Canada.

James Ehnes's extensive discography of more than 20 recordings includes repertoire ranging from Bach violin sonatas to John Adams's Road Movies. He recently released Homage, a CD/DVD set featuring performances on 12 of the greatest instruments ever made, all belonging to the Fulton Collection.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, in 1976, James Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, and at nine he became a protégé of Francis Chaplin. He continued his studies with Sally Thomas at The Juilliard School, where he won the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation in 1997. His other honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant and an honorary doctorate from Brandon University, and in 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada.
James Ehnes plays the "Ex Marsick" Stradivarius of 1715, and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan from the Fulton Collection.