Chicago Symphony Orchestra to Lauch Eighth Tour to Far East in January 2016

By: Nov. 19, 2015
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CHICAGO-The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Music Director Riccardo Muti take their first trip to Asia together in January 2016, marking the Orchestra's eighth trip to the Far East in its distinguished history.

This tour-being undertaken as part of the Orchestra's 125th anniversary season in 2015/16-includes 10 performances from January 15-29, 2016, in Taiwan, Japan, China and South Korea. Muti leads the CSO at the Concert Hall of the National Theater & Concert Hall, National Performing Arts Center in Taipei, Taiwan, on January 15 and 16; the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Japan, on January 18 and 19; the Shanghai Oriental Art Center on January 22 and 23 in Shanghai, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China on January 25 and 26; and at the Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, South Korea on January 28 and 29 to conclude the tour.

Riccardo Muti said, "Since my debut in Japan with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1975, I have conducted more than 150 performances in the Far East. I have experienced firsthand the wonderful public in Taiwan, Japan, China and Korea and I am proud to return to these countries-ones that I love and respect-with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which I am honored to serve as music director."

Repertoire for this tour includes two programs: Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony, Hindemith's Concert Music for String Orchestra and Brass and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 on one program, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 paired with Mahler's Symphony No. 1 on the other.

In addition to the full orchestra performances during the tour, CSO musicians will lead master classes for music students and give community chamber performances in the tour cities.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has a remarkable legacy of touring that began nearly 125 years ago in 1892. Since then, the Orchestra has embarked on 58 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents.

The CSO's last tour to Asia, in 2013, included the Orchestra's debut appearances in Taipei and Seoul. The Orchestra has appeared in Shanghai and Beijing twice-in 2009 and in 2013. The CSO has performed in Tokyo six times since its debut there in 1977; its most recent concerts in Tokyo were in 2009.

Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. ITW is the generous sponsor of the January 23 concert in Shanghai.

Riccardo Muti (www.RiccardoMutiMusic.com)
Born in Naples, Italy, Riccardo Muti is one of the preeminent conductors of our day. In 2010, when he became the tenth music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), he had more than forty years of experience at the helm of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (1968-1980), the Philharmonia Orchestra (1972-1982), the Philadelphia Orchestra (1980-1992), and Teatro alla Scala (1986-2005).

Muti studied piano under Vincenzo Vitale at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella in his hometown of Naples, graduating with distinction. He subsequently received a diploma in composition and conducting from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, also graduating with distinction. His principal teachers were Bruno Bettinelli and Antonino Votto, principal assistant to Arturo Toscanini at La Scala. After he won the Guido Cantelli Conducting Competition-by unanimous vote of the jury-in Milan in 1967, Muti's career developed quickly. In 1968, he became principal conductor of Florence's Maggio Musicale, a position that he held until 1980.

Herbert von Karajan invited him to conduct at the Salzburg Festival in Austria in 1971, and Muti has maintained a close relationship with the summer festival and with its great orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, for more than forty-five years. When he conducted the philharmonic's 150th anniversary concert in 1992, he was presented with the Golden Ring, a special sign of esteem and affection, and in 2001, his outstanding artistic contributions to the orchestra were further recognized with the Otto Nicolai Gold Medal. He also is a recipient of a silver medal from the Salzburg Mozarteum for his contribution to the music of W.A. Mozart. He is an honorary member of Vienna's Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of the Friends of Music), the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Vienna State Opera.

Muti succeeded Otto Klemperer as chief conductor and music director of London's Philharmonia Orchestra in 1973, holding that position until 1982. From 1980 to 1992, he was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in 1986, he became music director of Milan's Teatro alla Scala. During his nineteen-year tenure, in addition to directing major projects such as the Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy and Wagner's Ring cycle, Muti conducted operatic and symphonic repertoire ranging from the baroque to the contemporary, also leading hundreds of concerts with the Filarmonica della Scala and touring the world with both the opera company and the orchestra. His tenure as music director, the longest of any in La Scala's history, culminated in the triumphant reopening of the restored opera house with Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta, originally commissioned for La Scala's inaugural performance in 1778.

Muti has received innumerable international honors. He is a Cavaliere di Gran Croce of the Italian Republic, Officer of the French Legion of Honor, and a recipient of the German Verdienstkreuz. Queen Elizabeth II bestowed on him the title of honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship, and Pope Benedict XVI made him a Knight of the Grand Cross First Class of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great-the highest papal honor. Muti also has received Israel's Wolf Prize for the arts, Sweden's prestigious Birgit Nilsson Prize, Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, and the gold medal from Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for his promotion of Italian culture abroad. He has received more than twenty honorary degrees from universities around the world.

Passionate about teaching young musicians, Muti founded the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra in 2004 and the Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy in 2015 to pass on the Italian opera tradition to young conductors and répétiteurs. Through Le vie dell'Amicizia (The paths of friendship), a project of the Ravenna Festival in Italy, he has conducted in many of the world's most troubled areas in order to bring attention to and advocate for civic and social issues.

Riccardo Muti's vast catalog of recordings, numbering in the hundreds, ranges from the traditional symphonic and operatic repertoires to contemporary works. He also has written two books, Verdi, l'italiano and Riccardo Muti: An Autobiography: First the Music, Then the Words, both of which have been published in several languages.

www.riccardomutimusic.com
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra: www.cso.org and www.csosoundsandstories.org/
Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Since 2010, the preeminent conductor Riccardo Muti has served as its 10th music director. Pierre Boulez is the CSO's Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus, Yo-Yo Ma is its Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, and Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek are its Mead Composers-in-Residence.

From baroque through contemporary music, the CSO commands a vast repertoire. Its renowned musicians annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in Chicago and, each summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. They regularly tour nationally and internationally. Since 1892, the CSO has made 58 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents.

People around the globe listen to weekly radio broadcasts of CSO concerts and recordings on the WFMT radio network and online at cso.org/radio. Recordings by the CSO have earned 62 Grammy Awards, including two in 2011 for Muti's recording with the CSO and Chorus of Verdi's Messa da Requiem (Muti's first of four releases with the CSO to date). Find details on these and many other CSO recordings at www.cso.org/resound.

The CSO is part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, which also includes the Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, Director and Conductor) and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a training ensemble for emerging professionals. Through its prestigious Symphony Center Presents series, the CSOA presents guest artists and ensembles from a variety of genres-classical, jazz, world, and contemporary.

The Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO offers community and education programs that annually engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Through the Institute and other activities, including a free annual concert with Muti and the CSO, the CSO is committed to using the power of music to create connections and build community.

The CSO is supported by thousands of patrons, volunteers and institutional and individual donors. Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. The CSO's music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. The Negaunee Foundation provides generous support in perpetuity for the work of the Negaunee Music Institute.



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