Violinist Jennifer Koh Joins The Houston Symphony To Perform Esa-Pekka Salonen's Violin Concerto

The Houston Symphony announces today that violin star Jennifer Koh is stepping in to perform Esa-Pekka Salonen's Violin Concerto with the Houston Symphony under the baton of former music director Christoph Eschenbach this weekend: 8 p.m., Feb. 28 & March 2, and 2:30 p.m. March 3 at Jones Hall. Koh replaces the previously announced Leila Josefowicz, who is forced to withdraw from the performances due to illness.

Known for her broad and eclectic repertoire, the Chicago-born American violin star Jennifer Koh is known for expanding the standard concert repertoire by commissioning new works, and has premiered more than 70 works written expressly for her. This season alone, she performs the Salonen Violin Concerto (with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra), Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 2, and Ligeti's Violin Concerto (with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), as well as Bernstein's Serenade (with the Philadelphia Orchestra), Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 1 (with the Los Angeles Philharmonic), and Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and top prize winner at Moscow's International Tchaikovsky Competition, Koh was named Musical America's 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year. She records for the Cedille Records label, her most recent of 12 recordings being devoted to the work of contemporary Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, whose music Koh has long championed.

In addition to the Salonen Violin Concerto, this weekend's concerts also feature former Houston Symphony music director Christoph Eschenbach leading the orchestra in Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, Romantic. Bruckner's Fourth Symphony is full of lyrical melodies, intense harmonies, and thundering climaxes inspired by the imagery of medieval romance, including vivid images of knights riding forth from castles and the sounds and sights of nature.

Eschenbach Conducts Buckner, sponsored by Rand Group, takes place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston's Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday-Saturday, 12-6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.

About the Houston Symphony

During the 2018-19 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its fifth season with Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada and continues its second century as one of America's leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $33.9 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony's four Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 900 community-based performances each year, reaching thousands of people in Greater Houston.

The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Naxos, Koch International Classics, Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics and, most recently, Dutch recording label PENTATONE. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg's Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.

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