Jaime Laredo to Celebrate 20th New York String Orchestra Anniversary with Concerts at Carnegie Hall, 12/24 & 28

The New York String Orchestra, an ensemble of young players ages 16-23 from around the world, who come together each year for a seminar of rehearsals and performance preparation, celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Music Director Jaime Laredo with two annual concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. In addition, the New York String Orchestra Seminar celebrates its 45th anniversary.

On Tuesday, December 24 at 7:00 p.m., the orchestra is joined by violinist and New York String Orchestra Seminar alumnus Bella Hristova for Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64. Also on the program is Mozart's Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, and Symphony No. 31 in D Major, K. 297, "Paris."

The second program, on Saturday, December 28 at 8:00 p.m., includes Elgar's Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47, with the Johannes String Quartet, of which all four members are alumni of the New York String Orchestra Seminar. The program also includes Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 53 featuring Leon Fleisher. In addition, twenty New York String Orchestra Seminar alumni will join the orchestra on-stage for Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, "Pathétique," in commemoration of Jamie Laredo's 20th anniversary as music director. Participating alumni include violinists Zachary DePue, Celeste Golden, Dennis Kim, Soovin Kim, and Josef Spacek; violists CJ Chang and Teng Li; cellist Sophie Shao; and bassists Jeffrey Beecher and Kurt Muroki.

In the New York String Orchestra Seminar's 45-year history, there has never been an application fee, and all those invited to participate receive full scholarships to this acclaimed national program. This season, 480 students applied, representing fourteen different countries in addition to the United States, of which applicants came from 41 states. Auditions were held in seven cities across the country-Bloomington, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York-ensuring that as many students as possible could audition without incurring travel costs. The young musicians selected hailed from seven countries, and twenty different states in the U.S.

About the Artists
Acclaimed for her passionate, powerful performances, beautiful sound, and compelling command of her instrument, violinist Bella Hristova is a young musician with a growing international career as a soloist and recording artist. Her talent was recently recognized with a prestigious 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Recent career highlights include the 2013 release of her newest recording, Bella Unaccompanied, a CD of works for solo violin, and performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, at the Young Concert Artists Gala Concert at Alice Tully Hall, and with the Mississippi Symphony, City of London Sinfonia, Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Korea's Cheongju Symphony Orchestra, as well as concerts at the Cerritos Center for the Arts, Free For All at Town Hall, Shanghai International Music Festival, and Seoul National University. In addition to the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Hristova is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including First Prize in the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, First Prize of the 2007 Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand, and Laureate of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Ms. Hristova currently holds the John French Violin Chair of Young Concert Artists. Born in Pleven, Bulgaria in 1985, Ms. Hristova began violin studies at the age of six. In 2003, she entered The Curtis Institute of Music, and she received her Artist Diploma with Jaime Laredo at Indiana University in 2010. Ms. Hristova plays a 1655 Nicolò Amati violin, once owned by the violinist Louis Krasner.

The Johannes String Quartet is comprised of the first American to win the Paganini Violin Competition in 24 years, Soovin Kim; a Concert Artists Guild Competition winner, violinist Jessica Lee; the Principal Violist of The Philadelphia Orchestra, C.J. Chang; and the Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Peter Stumpf. Their collaboration was forged at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, and shaped and mentored by the Guarneri String Quartet, whose style was influenced by the Budapest String Quartet decades before. In addition to its recent broadcasts on Performance Today and St. Paul Sunday and a triumphant Carnegie Hall debut, the Johannes String Quartet has had great success with both audiences and critics in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington DC, among others. Past season engagements have included collaborations with the legendary Guarneri String Quartet in a program featuring William Bolcom's Octet: Double Quartet written for them and commissioned by the Music Accord consortium of presenters, as well as a newly commissioned string quartet, Homunculus, written for the ensemble by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Pianist Leon Fleisher represents the gold standard of musicianship and, at 85, he continues to impart his life-affirming artistry throughout the world, thriving in a sustained career as conductor and soloist, recitalist, chamber music artist, and master class mentor. Mr. Fleisher made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1944, and in 1952, became the first American to win the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium competition, establishing himself as one of the world's premier classical pianists. At the height of his success, he was suddenly struck at age 36 with a neurological affliction later identified as focal dystonia, rendering two fingers on his right hand immobile. Rather than end his career, Mr. Fleisher began focusing on repertoire for the left hand only, conducting and teaching. Not until some forty years later was he able to return to playing with both hands after undergoing experimental treatments using a regimen of Rolfing and botulinum toxin injections. Highlights of Mr. Fleisher's 2013-2014 season include performances as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Kazushi Ono, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with James Conlon. As a conductor, he will appear with The Cleveland Orchestra and Mitsuko Uchida, and as a conductor/soloist with the Naples Philharmonic. His chamber music highlights include performances at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas with the Juilliard Quartet, in the Peoples' Symphony Concerts series in New York with the Dover String Quartet, and at the Eastman School of Music with the Ying Quartet. A recipient of numerous honors and awards, Mr. Fleisher received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in 2007. In 2006, he was the subject of the 2006 Oscar and Emmy-nominated documentary film Two Hands. His recent memoir, My Nine Lives: A Memoir of Many Careers in Music, which he co-wrote with Washington Post music critic Anne Midgette, is published by Doubleday.

For over five decades, Jaime Laredo has excelled in the multiple roles of soloist, conductor, recitalist, pedagogue, and chamber musician. Since his stunning orchestral debut at the age of eleven with the San Francisco Symphony, he has won the admiration and respect of audiences, critics, and fellow musicians with his passionate and polished performances. At the age of seventeen, Jaime Laredo won the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition, launching his rise to international prominence. In the 2013-2014 season, Mr. Laredo tours as conductor, soloist, and member of the award-winning Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. Mr. Laredo has recorded close to one hundred discs, including a Grammy Award-winning disc of Brahms Piano Quartets with Emanuel Ax, Isaac Stern, and Yo-Yo Ma. Mr. Laredo's stewardships of the annual New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall and the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis have become beloved educational pillars of the musical community. The year 2012 marked the beginning of his tenure at The Cleveland Institute of Music. He concurrently holds director posts with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati's Linton Chamber Music, and was Artistic Director of the Chamber Music at the 92Y series in New York for forty years.

The New York String Orchestra Seminar, founded in 1969 by arts administrator Frank Salomon for the late conductor and violinist Alexander Schneider, is a professional education program that has prepared over 2,000 young musicians for careers as chamber, orchestral, and solo artists. A project of Mannes College The New School for Music's Concerts department; the seminar brings 62 young musicians ages 15-22 from around the world to New York City in December for a ten-day seminar of rehearsals and performance preparation led by violinist and conductor Jaime Laredo, along with three hours a day of chamber music study with distinguished chamber artists. In 1993, Mr. Laredo, Mr. Schneider's personal choice for successor, became artistic director and conductor of the seminar. All of the students invited to participate do so on full scholarship.

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