Mahan Esfahani Debuts Julian Grant's Harpsichord Concerto with Princeton Symphony

Leading harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani will perform the world premiere of a new concerto by Princeton-based composer Julian Grant at Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) concerts March 7-8. The work, titled Vaudeville in Teal, is a co-commission of the PSO and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

Curated by Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the upcoming program showcases additional soloists through Viet Cuong's Extra(ordinarily) Fancy featuring PSO principal oboe Lillian Copeland and oboist Erin Gustafson, and the full version of Igor Stravinsky's neo-classical ballet Pulcinella featuring soprano Aubry Ballarò, tenor Nicholas Nestorak, and bass-baritone Hunter Enoch. The maestro will conduct both performances at Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University.

Milanov said, “I'm thrilled to be offering audiences the excitement of this world premiere performance. Julian Grant is a gifted composer with ties to Princeton and our orchestra, and Mahan is an incredible artist who has single-handedly brought the harpsichord into the modern age. I played the oboe in my youth, so Viet Cuong's imaginative work for two oboes is something I look forward to personally, and I've been wanting to conduct the complete Pulcinella here for some time. There is much to love in this joyful program!”

Viet Cuong recalls his love of Baroque-era oboe concertos and explores the instrument's unique sound possibilities with Extra(ordinarily) Fancy. Julian Grant's Vaudeville in Teal for harpsichord and small orchestra was written with Mahan Esfahani in mind, and is the third of Grant's works to be performed by the PSO. Stravinsky wrote his 21-movement ballet Pulcinella, based on a commedia dell'arte figure who was a notorious trickster, to uplift a war-weary, post-World War I audience.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Julian Grant has composed 20 operas of various lengths and sizes which have been performed by English National Opera, The Royal Opera, Almeida Opera, Mecklenburgh Opera and Tétè-a-Tétè. He has won the National Opera Association of America's New Opera prize and been nominated for an Olivier Award. In 2012, his Cultural Olympiad commission Hot House, devised by Gareth Malone, was premiered at the Royal Opera House. His chamber opera, with librettist Mark Campbell The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare, a co-commission with Music Theatre Group and Boston Lyric Opera, premiered in Boston November 2017, and was nominated for an International Opera Award in 2018. During the pandemic he wrote a Suite for Solo Viola, a commission from the Harvard Musical Association for the 50th anniversary of Emmanuel Music - Salt,and Scarlatti in Soweto, a further commission from Buskaid after the widely performed Sancho's Dance Mix (2014). Jump Cuts was premiered by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in 2022, and he recently completed Vaudeville in Teal, for harpsichord and small orchestra for Mahan Esfahani. He was Director of Music at St. Paul's Girls' School, London, a post previous occupied by Gustav Holst and Vaughan-Williams.

Mahan Esfahani has established himself as a new pioneer of his instrument, the harpsichord. Following studies in musicology and history at Stanford University he completed his studies with Zuzana Růžičková in Prague. He was the first and only harpsichordist to be a BBC New Generation Artist (2008-2010), a Borletti-Buitoni prize winner (2009), and a nominee for Gramophone's Artist of the Year (2014, 2015, and 2017). His richly-varied discography includes ten critically-acclaimed recordings for Hyperion and Deutsche Grammophon – garnering one Gramophone award, two BBC Music Magazine Awards, a Diapason d'Or and “Choc de Classic” in France, and two ICMAs. For BBC Radio 3, Esfahani recently recorded a three-part series entitled The Alternative Bach exploring rare recordings and interpretations of JS Bach's music. This goes alongside his ongoing cycle at the Wigmore Hall in which he performs the entire collection of JS Bach's works for keyboard. In 2022, he became the youngest recipient of the Wigmore Medal, in recognition of his significant contribution and longstanding relationship with the Hall. Born in Tehran in 1984 and raised in the United States, he lived in Milan and then London for several years before taking up residence in Prague.

Lillian Copeland holds The Cynthia & Robert Hillas Principal Oboe Chair with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. She is a New York-based freelancer who plays with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, among others. She holds the position of principal oboe with the Des Moines Metro Opera and the Northeastern Philharmonic Orchestra, and recently served as guest principal with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, CA. Lillian maintains a private teaching studio and is on faculty at Mannes Prep and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division.

Oboist Erin Gustafson enjoys an active freelance career in New York City, appearing regularly with the American Symphony Orchestra and New Jersey Symphony, New York City Ballet, as well as The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Opera, and American Ballet Theater, and has formerly held positions with the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Oregon, and Grand Rapids. She can also be seen performing with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in The Richard Tucker Gala on Live From Lincoln Center from 2012. A sought-after chamber musician, Ms. Gustafson is a member of the award-winning Ariel Winds, who tour extensively throughout the United States, and has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, and Merkin Hall.

Aubry Ballarò made her European debut as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor in 2022 with State Opera Stara Zagora in Bulgaria, and later that season sang the role of Madame Herz in Mozart's The Impresario with the Princeton Festival. In 2023, Ms. Ballarò returned to State Opera Stara Zagora for her debut as Violetta Valéry in La Traviata. Soon after, she joined Opera Columbus to debut the role of Gilda in Rigoletto, and reprised the role in August of 2023 with Opera in the Park, Portland. In 2024, she returned to Columbus for Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor with the Columbus Symphony, made a house and role debut with Opera Grand Rapids as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and returned to the Princeton Festival to perform the role of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. With an expanding repertoire that bridges Bel Canto, lyric roles, and concert works, she continues to establish herself as a versatile and compelling artist on international stages.

Nicholas Nestorak is a tenor on the rise since joining the Metropolitan Opera roster in 2021 and making his highly anticipated Met début as Pang in their lavish production of Turandot. Also at The Met, he has covered Pang, Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Bardolfo in Falstaff. He returned to The Met last season to cover Spoletta in Tosca. Engagements also included Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Opera Grand Rapids, Prunier in La rondine with Opera on the James, Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Opera San Antonio, and Pang with Opera Delaware. In 2025, Nestorak joined the Princeton Symphony Orchestra's Princeton Festival to sing Spoletta in Tosca.

Bass-baritone Hunter Enoch is making his mark on stages across the United States with his “big, ringing voice and magnetic stage presence.” Last season, Mr. Enoch made his début with San Diego Opera singing Germont in La traviata. He returned to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for The Ring Cycle under the baton of Maestro Fabio Luisi, singing Donner in Das Rheingold and covering Mark Delavan's Wotan in performances of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Siegfried after singing Donner and covering Wotan in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre the previous spring. He also made his role début as Sweeney Todd with Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera, performed as the bass soloist for Mozart's Requiem and Solemn Vespers at Carnegie Hall, and joined D.C. Choral Arts at the Kennedy Center for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This season, Mr. Enoch joins Opera on the James to sing Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and the South Dakota Symphony for Messiah.