The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Presents MOZART'S GREAT MASS with Masaaki Suzuki This Weekend

One of the world's leading 18th-century music specialists, Japan's Masaaki Suzuki, makes his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) debut leading the Orchestra in an all-Mozart program, tonight, March 12 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, March 13 at 8 p.m. andSaturday, March 14 at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Featuring the composer's Don Giovanni Overture and Violin Concerto No. 5, performed by young German violinist Augustin Hadelich, the concert culminates with Mozart's Mass in C minor, otherwise known as the "Great" Mass. Please see below for complete program details.

Throughout the 2014-2015 season, the BSO explores themes of spirituality and transcendence in eight programs. The seventh of these programs this season is Mozart's "Great" Mass. Written in gratitude to his young wife Constanze, after the birth of their first child, the piece occupies a very personal place in Mozart's canon. Suffused with melodies and intricate harmonic structures, there is an operatic quality to the music, with its dramatic settings and aria-like soprano solos. Although left unfinished because of upheaval in the composer's life, it is widely considered to be of the most revered examples of a mass, a pinnacle form in the world of sacred orchestral music. Featuring Masaaki Suzuki on the podium, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is joined by soprano Simona Šaturová, mezzo-soprano Joanne Lunn, tenor Nicholas Phan, bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen and the University of Maryland Concert Choir.

Masaaki Suzuki, conductor

Since founding Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as a leading authority on the works of Bach. His impressive discography on the BIS label includes all Bach's major choral works and the complete cycle of cantatas. He also conducts repertoire as diverse as Britten and Stravinsky with orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the New York Philharmonic and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Masaaki Suzuki is an active organist and harpsichordist having studied with Ton Koopman at the Sweelinck Conservatoryin Amsterdam. Founder and head of the early music department at the Tokyo University of the Arts, he also holds positions at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Augustin Hadelich, violin

Multiple performances with almost every major orchestra in the U.S. have confirmed Augustin Hadelich as one of the most important violinists of his generation; continuing to astonish audiences with his phenomenal technique, poetic sensitivity and gorgeous tone. Highlights of Mr. Hadelich's 2014-2015 season include debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Danish National Symphony and the London Philharmonic, as well as re-invitations to perform with the New York Philharmonic and the symphonies of Houston, Indianapolis, Liverpool, Saint Louis and Seattle.

In addition to his many performances in the U.S., Canada, and South America, Mr. Hadelich has appeared with the BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, NHK Symphony/Tokyo and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, to name a few. Augustin Hadelich's first major orchestral recording, featuring the violin concertos of Jean Sibelius and Thomas Adès with Hannu Lintu conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, was released to great acclaim in March 2014 and nominated for a Gramophone Award.

Simona Šaturová, soprano

Simona Šaturová, born in Bratislava, Slovakia, studied singing at the Bratislava Conservatory and attended various master classes, most notably with the Romanian soprano singer Ileana Cotrubas.

She regularly performs at the Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels and Aalto-Theatre Essen, e. g. as Violetta Valéry (La traviata), Sandrina (La finta giardiniera), Servilia (Titus), Gilda (Rigoletto), Konstanze (The Abduction from the Seraglio), and Elettra (Idomeneo). Besides of numerous performances at the Prague National Theatre she can also be heard on the stages of Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Opéra de Monte Carlo, Oper Frankfurt and in Athen`s Megaron Concert Hall.

Simona Šaturová has also earned an international reputation as a concert and oratorio singer. Conductors with whom the soprano singer has worked include Christoph Eschenbach, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir Neville Marriner, Ji?í B?lohlávek, Manfred Honeck, Tomáš Netopil, Kent Nagano, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Adam Fischer, Ivan Fischer and Christopher Hogwood.

Joanne Lunn, mezzo-soprano

Joanne Lunn studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where she was awarded the prestigious Tagore Gold Medal.

Joanne has performed with the OAE, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Concerto Köln and many others, at venues including the Conservatoire Royal (Brussels), Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow), Sage Gateshead, St Paul's Cathedral and at the Halle Handel Festival and the BBC Proms.

Engagements in 2014-2015 include regular appearances with the Dunedin Consort (John Butt) and New London Consort & Musicians of the Globe (Philip Pickett), as well as with Bach Collegium Japan (Masaaki Suzuki) across Europe and in the U.S. Future engagements include Nelson Mass in Moscow, Handel Cantatas with Musica Alta Ripa and a program of 16th-century Music at the Rhine Valley Music Festival with The Queen's Revels, a tour of L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed il Moderato with Rudolf Lutz.

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Nicholas Phan has appeared with many leading orchestras in North America and Europe, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and BBC Symphony. He has toured extensively throughout Europe with Il Complesso Barocco and appeared with the Oregon Bach, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Marlboro, and Edinburgh festivals and at the BBC Proms. In opera, Phan has appeared with the Houston Grand, Seattle, Glyndebourne, and Frankfurt operas and the Maggio Musicale in Florence. In recital, he has been presented by Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the University of Chicago. Phan's growing discography includes the Grammy-nominated Pulcinella with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and his solo albums Winter Words and Still Falls the Rain.

His many engagements this season include his return to Houston Grand Opera for Sweeney Todd, and concerts with the orchestras of Cleveland, San Francisco, Dallas, Cincinnati, Baltimore and Vancouver.

Kyle Ketelsen, bass-baritone

American bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen is in regular demand by the world's leading opera companies and orchestras for his vibrant, handsome stage presence and his distinctive vocalism. Mr. Ketelsen opens the 2014-2015 season as Leporello in a new production of Don Giovanni at Lyric Opera of Chicago, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and directed by Robert Falls. Other operatic highlights of Mr. Ketelsen's upcoming season include his return to Canadian Opera Company as Leporello in Don Giovanni and Cadmus in the company's production of Semele at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as performances of his acclaimed Escamillo in Carmen with the Minnesota Opera under the baton of Michael Christie and at the Chorégies d'Orange festival in France. Mr. Ketelsen's symphonic engagements include Mozart'sRequiem with Pinchas Zukerman and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

University of Maryland Concert Choir

Over the past decade, the University of Maryland Concert Choir has established itself as one of the premier symphonic choruses in the United States. Regular collaborations with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC in repertoire such as the Britten War Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, the Haydn Creation, the Bach St. Matthew Passion and B minor Mass, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Handel's Messiah have been met with acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Performances at the University's College Park campus have included the Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, the Verdi Requiem and the Beethoven Ninth Symphony. Student singers are chosen by audition from the School of Music as well as from across the University's various disciplines. Under the direction of Edward Maclary, the UMD Concert Choir strives to meet the highest professional standards while providing its membership a joyful educational and social experience.

Photo Courtesy of the BSO

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