Palm Beach Symphony Announces 21-22 Masterworks Series Season

Palm Beach Symphony has announced its upcoming 2021-22 Season featuring many of today's most celebrated musicians as pianists Hélène Grimaud, Yefim Bronfman, Maria João Pires, violinist Midori and clarinetist Jon Manasse join Music Director Gerard Schwarz at the podium and the Symphony in a season of five Masterwork Series concerts that for the first time will all be performed at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.

"Our successful current season that we are presenting via livestream to audiences in more than a dozen states as well as abroad has continued to build our momentum and encouraged us to create an ambitious 2021-22 season," said Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont. "Our acclaimed Music Director Gerard Schwarz has designed captivating programs and recruited many of his past collaborators and other renowned artists to welcome live audiences back to the concert hall."

Internationally recognized for his moving performances, innovative programming and extensive catalogue of recordings, Maestro Schwarz is also the Music Director of the All-Star Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival and Mozart Orchestra of New York. Also in South Florida, he is the Distinguished Professor of Music, Conducting and Orchestral Studies at University of Miami's Frost School of Music and Music Director of the Frost Symphony Orchestra. His considerable discography of more than 350 albums showcases his collaborations with some of the world's greatest orchestras and, in 2017, Naxos released The Gerard Schwarz Collection, a 30-CD box set of previously unreleased or limited release works spanning his entire recording career. In addition to being the first American named Conductor of the Year by Musical America, his hundreds of honors and accolades include seven Emmy Awards, 14 GRAMMY nominations, eight ASCAP Awards and the Ditson Conductor's Award from Columbia University.

"Returning to performing before live audiences is something of a rebirth and we have put together a Renaissance season," said Maestro Schwarz. "The season celebrates the enduring power of many of the great masterworks, including an entire concert devoted to Mozart's brilliant compositions in the last year of his life, while we also rejoice in being together again with the shared thrill of discovery in seldom heard works."

Five-concert Masterworks Series subscription packages begin at $100 and go on sale Monday, May 17. Subscriptions will be available online at PalmBeachSymphony.org; by phone at (561) 281-0145; or by visiting the Palm Beach Symphony Box Office, Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The Kravis Center is located at 701 Okeechobee Blvd in West Palm Beach.

Masterworks Series #1

Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 3 p.m.
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL

Guest Artist:
Hélène Grimaud, piano

Program:

Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

Valerie Coleman: Umoja (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, TH. 29

In a birthday performance for the guest artist, virtuoso pianist Hélène Grimaud performs Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor to open Palm Beach Symphony's 48th season. The Dallas Morning News reported of her performance of the piece earlier this year, "In the dramas of the composer's Piano Concerto he had his match in the French pianist Hélène Grimaud...There wasn't a dull moment." Palm Beach Symphony performs its first work by a living African American woman with Valerie Coleman's Umoja, a joyful piece with folk influences that takes its name from the word for "unity" in Swahili and that the Philadelphia Inquirer called "a powerhouse of emotional directness and bold orchestration." The Symphony closes the concert with one of Tchaikovsky's most beloved works and a showcase for virtuosity, his fifth symphony.

Grimaud gave her well-received debut recital in Tokyo in 1987, the same year renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim invited her to perform with the Orchestre de Paris marking the launch of a musical career characterized by concerts with most of the world's major orchestras and celebrated conductors. Later this season her schedule includes performances of the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony as well as a solo recital of music by Schumann, Brahms and Silvestrov at Carnegie Hall. Her recordings have received numerous accolades including the Cannes Classical Recording of the Year, Choc du Monde de la musique, Diapason d'or, Grand Prix du disque, Record Academy Prize (Tokyo), Midem Classic Award, Echo Klassik Award and inclusion in iTunes Classical Essentials series. Inducted by the French government into the Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur for her contribution to and impact on the world of classical music, she has also established herself as a writer, committed wildlife conservationist and compassionate human rights activist.

Masterworks Series #2

Thursday, December 2, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL

Guest Artists:

Jon Manasse, clarinet; Robyn Marie Lamp, soprano; Robynne Redmon, mezzo-soprano,

Jason Ferrante, Tenor; Richard Ollarsaba, Bass

Guest Chorus:

Master Chorale of South Florida

Program:

Mozart's Last Year

Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622

Requiem in D minor, K. 626 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

Overture to The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote), K. 620

Books, plays and movies have mined the drama of Mozart's Last Year of life and now Maestro Schwarz leads the Symphony in unveiling the passion, brilliance and wonder of that musical genius in his final days. Guest clarinetist Jon Manasse performs what would be Mozart's last instrumental composition: Clarinet Concerto K. 622, and the Symphony underscores the playfulness of Mozart's music as well as its hidden secrets with the fun and fanciful Overture to The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte) K. 620. To perform the emotional masterwork that haunted his last year, the Symphony is joined by soprano Robyn Marie Lamp, mezzo-soprano Robynne Redmon, tenor Jason Ferrante, bass Richard Ollarsaba and The Master Chorale of South Florida in Requiem in D minor, K. 626. A more intimate, but no less impactful work ends the program, as the Master Chorale of South Florida and the Symphony pay tribute to Mozart in his final sacred work, Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618.

As one of the nation's most highly sought-after wind players, Manasse is internationally recognized for his uniquely glorious sound and charismatic performing style and will be performing the work with which he made his London debut in a Barbican Centre performance with Maestro Schwarz and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, he was also appointed in 2008 principal clarinetist and Ensemble Member of the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York City. In addition to the premiere performances of Lowell Liebermann's Clarinet Concerto, which was commissioned for him, Manasse has also presented the world premieres of James Cohn's Concerto for Clarinet & Strings and Steven R. Gerber's Clarinet Concerto. American Record Guide reported, "Jon Manasse is a wonderful clarinetist. He is almost unbelievably fluent, has a gorgeous tone, and imparts genuine feeling into all of this music. If there is a better clarinetist around, I have not heard him."

Masterworks Series #3

Monday, January 10, 2022 at 7:30 pm

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL

Guest Artist:

Yefim Bronfman, piano

Program:

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

Liadov: Kikimora, Op. 63 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as "a fearless pianist for whom no score is too demanding," guest pianist Yefim Bronfman performs what has been called one the most challenging pieces for a pianist: Rachmaninov's Piano Concert No. 3. Palm Beach Symphony gives a nod to Bronfman's native county with Liadov's Kikimora, Op. 63 that brings to life the Russian folk tale of a mischievous and vengeful spirit and Shostakovich's commanding Symphony No. 5, the work of such undeniable brilliance that it restored his favor and safety with the Soviet authorities for a brief time.

Internationally recognized as one of today's most acclaimed and admired pianists, Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by conductors, orchestras, festivals and recital series. Known for his commanding technique, power and exceptional lyrical gifts, he has been nominated for six Grammy® awards, winning in 1997 with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for their recording of the three Bartok Piano Concerti. His concert schedule this year includes performances in Spain, Germany, Paris, Zurich and London while in North America he can be heard in recital in San Francisco, La Jolla and Aliso Viejo and with orchestras in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Montreal. The Los Angeles Times reported, "Bronfman is well known as a powerhouse pianist with a tone of crystalline clarity. When he turns the volume down, each note stands out like a perfectly shaped pearl. When he doesn't, look out. You might get hit by flying chords."

Masterworks Series #4

Monday, March 7, 2022 at 7:30 pm

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL

Guest Artist:

Maria João Pires, piano

Program:

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G Major (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

Palm Beach Symphony's Masterworks Series #4 program delivers all the passion, poetry and drama of classical music in two masterworks that also offer a showcase for the virtuosity of its musicians. Maria João Pires, one of the most revered pianists of Beethoven and Mozart, joins the Symphony to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, performed initially by the composer as the first work written for the latest piano technology of the time. The Symphony adds Mahler's Symphony No. 4 to its repertoire with its sleigh bells of childhood gaiety, dramatic tension and ultimately serene heavenly deliverance.

In addition to her concerts, Pires has made recordings for Erato for 15 years and Deutsche Grammophon for 20 years. Of her performance of Beethoven's third piano concerto with Kent Nagano conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, The New York Times reported she is "...an elegant technician and probing interpreter without a trace of flashiness. Her playing of the Beethoven concerto showed that a performance can be both refined and bracing." Since the 1970s, she has devoted herself to reflecting the influence of art in life, community and education, trying to discover new ways of establishing this way of thinking in society. In 1999, she created the Belgais Centre for the Study of the Arts in Portugal and, in 2012, she initiated two complementary projects in Belgium: the Partitura Choirs, a project which creates and develops choirs for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the Partitura Workshops.

Masterworks Series #5

Sunday, April 10, 2022 at 3 p.m.

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL

Guest Artist:

Midori, violin

Program:

Korngold: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

William Schuman: New England Triptych (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)

One of the day's preeminent violinists joins Palm Beach Symphony as Midori performs Korngold's Violin Concerto in D Major in a season finale of three Palm Beach Symphony premieres. As a famous Jewish composer, Korngold found a safe haven in Hollywood during WWII and this lush symphonic work contains all of his Viennese romanticism as he vividly interweaves music from four of his film scores. The emotionally evocative program also features the melodious, cheerful and upbeat Symphony No. 8 by Dvořák and William Schuman's New England Triptych with its spirited homage to the 18th century American composer William Billings and his countrymen and women who founded our nation.

As a leading concert violinist for over 35 years, Midori regularly transfixes audiences around the world, bringing together graceful precision and intimate expression. She has performed with, among others, the London, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. She has collaborated with such outstanding musicians as Claudio Abbado, Emanuel Ax, Leonard Bernstein, Jonathan Biss, Constantinos Carydis, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Yo-Yo Ma, Susanna Mälkki, Joana Mallwitz, Antonello Manacorda, Zubin Mehta, Donald Runnicles, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Omer Meir Wellber.

The current 2020-21 season concludes with guest pianist Alexander Toradze on Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be broadcast digitally in high-quality video and audio which can be viewed for an entire week following the concert on computers, tablets, smartphones and TVs. Virtual passes are $30 and available at www.palmbeachsymphony.org and by phone at (561) 281-0145.

All dates, times, programs, artists and venues are subject to change without notice.

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