Yo-Yo Ma News

Reigning violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman will perform his first New York solo recital since 2007 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday, December 3, 2014, at 7:30 PM, presented by IMG Artists. Pianist Rohan De Silva, Perlman's longtime recital partner, joins the violinist for a program to include Vivaldi's Sonata in A Major for Violin and Continuo, Op. 2 RV 31; Schumann's Fantasiestucke, Op. 73; Beethoven's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 18; and Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in G Major, as well as additional works to be announced from the stage.

Arguably two of the most celebrated roots musicians of their generation, Aoife O'Donovan (Crooked Still) and Noam Pikelny (Punch Brothers) have been crossing paths at venues and festivals for the last decade.

The Sphinx Virtuosi, led by the Catalyst Quartet, considered one of the nation's most dynamic professional chamber orchestras, will embark on its 7th annual tour, launching at Miami's New World Center today, Sept. 30 at 7:30pm.

—“Cathedrals of Sound,” the first Music Unwound concert of Pacific Symphony's season, offers an evening of inspiration, awe and ambience, bathed in waves of sound and reminiscent of the unique spiritual journey taken in 2010, when world-renowned organist Paul Jacobs and the remarkable Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey made their first appearance together with the orchestra. In 2014, the Fathers return to fill the hall with their splendid, sonorous and worshipful voices, and Jacobs performs on the William J. Gillespie Concert Organ for this all-new program. The concert opens with a rarely performed and powerful work of the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, his “Church Windows.” Inspired by stained glass artistry, it is a work that Pacific Symphony recorded in 1983 with founding music director, Keith Clark. Plus, the rich voices of the Fathers perform the Gregorian chants that inspired Maurice Duruflé—whose transcendent “Requiem” concludes the program and features vocalists mezzo-soprano Elise Quagliata, baritone William Berger and Pacific Chorale (Artistic Director John Alexander).

To celebrate its 40th anniversary this season, Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) turned to works that have been favorites among its musicians and audiences as the starting point for its Chamber Music Series programs. For the season-opening concerts in late October at The Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum, the genesis of the program was the Schubert Octet, a work beloved and frequently performed by St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble throughout its history.

The Sphinx Virtuosi, led by the Catalyst Quartet, considered one of the nation's most dynamic professional chamber orchestras, will embark on its 7th annual tour, launching at Miami's New World Center on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 7:30pm.

DETROIT, Mich.— The Sphinx Virtuosi, led by the Catalyst Quartet, considered one of the nation's most dynamic professional chamber orchestras, will embark on its 7th annual tour, launching at Miami's New World Center onTuesday, Sept. 30 at 7:30pm. Comprised of 18 of the nation's top Black and Latino classical soloists, these alumni of the internationally renowned Sphinx Competition come together each fall as cultural ambassadors to reach new audiences. This unique ensemble earned rave reviews from The New York Times during their highly acclaimed debut at Carnegie Hall in December 2004. Allan Kozinn described their performance as “first-rate in every way” and raved that “the ensemble produced a more beautiful, precise and carefully shaped sound than some fully professional orchestras that come through Carnegie Hall in the course of the year.” The Sphinx Virtuosi is an ensemble of The Sphinx Organization, a national nonprofit founded by Aaron P. Dworkin, with Yo-Yo Ma serving as Special Artistic Advisor.

Orange County, Calif.—Aug. 28, 2014—Pacific Symphony launches Music Director Carl St.Clair's landmark 25th-anniversary “season of giants” with classical music superstar, violinist Joshua Bell, plus two orchestral showpieces, a West Coast premiere and festivities fit for the grand occasion. Bell returns for his fifth performance with the Symphony (he last performed with the Symphony in May 2010) to celebrate the maestro and captivate audiences with the exciting, breakneck theme and stunning Romanticism of Alexander Glazunov's Violin Concerto. Interview Magazine may have summed up the remarkable violinist's playing best by saying, Bell “does nothing less than tell human beings why they bother to live.” The violinist's artistry is exemplified in his new music directorship of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, his release of 40 CDs since the age of 18, multiple television appearances and countless accolades.

SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY APPOINTS San Francisco Symphony violists to performance FACULTY

Music Director Alan Gilbert will launch the New York Philharmonic's 2014-15 subscription season with the U.S. Premiere of Unsuk Chin's Clarinet Concerto -- a New York Philharmonic co-commission with the Gothenburg Symphony, WDR Symphony, Philharmonia, and Barcelona Symphony orchestras -- performed by Kari Kriikku in his Philharmonic subscription debut, as well as Mahler's Symphony No. 1, tonight, September 23, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, September 26 at 11:00 a.m.; Saturday, September 27 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's (CSO) fourth CSO Resound recording with Music Director Riccardo Muti, Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet, will be released internationally on Tuesday, September 23, the same date that iTunes will begin its exclusive pre-order in the U.S. While scheduled to be released for sale via retail and download outlets in the U.S. on October 14, the CD will be available exclusively in the CSO's Symphony Store, at 220 S. Michigan Ave., at the CSO's Symphony Center home, beginning September 16.

Leonard Slatkin will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct the New York Premiere of The Marie-Josee Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto, with Principal Flute Robert Langevin as soloist; Copland's El Salon Mexico; Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit (orchestrated by Marius Constant), marking the Philharmonic's first time performing the complete work; and Ravel's Bolero, Thursday, October 30, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, October 31 at 7:30 p.m. (performed without intermission); and Saturday, November 1 at 8:00 p.m.

The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF) takes pride in announcing the 2014-15 Arts and Ideas Season; an exciting line-up of today's acclaimed writers, food experts, renowned scientists and thinkers, as well as fascinating entertainers. Theatrical and musical highlights in the first half of the season include The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt, rock icon Amanda Palmer and actor Richard Chamberlain.

FirstWorks and the City of Providence announce the final line-up of artists from across the globe for the FirstWorks Urban Carnevale. The Urban Carnevale is a celebratory evening of music, spectacle, art, and food capping four days of activities celebrating FirstWorks 10th Anniversary. The free public celebration brings the world to Providence with awe-inspiring performances from Australia, Italy, Morocco, Mali, and Rhode Island tonight, September 20, 2014, starting at 5:00 PM in the Providence Rink and surrounding parks, Kennedy Plaza, downtown Providence.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in Barto?k's Piano Concerto No. 3, with Yefim Bronfman as soloist, and Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 (Ed. Nowak, 1890), Thursday, October 23, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, October 24 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, October 25 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m.

On October 2, 4 and 5, global violin sensation Sarah Chang joins the Houston Symphony for a performance of Barber's intensely lyrical Violin Concerto. The Korean-American violinist has been touted by The New York Times as “technically brilliant, lively and characterful' and has been captivating audiences since her New York Philharmonic debut at age eight.

Internationally renowned artists Steve Aoki and Pink Martini have joined the Honorary Committee for the 13 th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days, a global network of performances organized by the Daniel Pearl Foundation.

The next edition of their three-time Emmy-nominated HBO Family Documentary Special will be Joshua Bell: A YoungArts MasterClass. Filmed in New York City and London, the program features internationally acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell as he mentors, travels, and performs alongside nine talented young string musicians.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic in a one-night-only all- Mozart program featuring the Piano Concertos Nos. 17 and 24, with Lang Lang as soloist, and Overture to The Magic Flute, Tuesday, October 21, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.

The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera and Local 80 of the American Federation of Musicians have agreed to a two-year contract covering the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons with no cuts in the size or scope of the orchestra and with an increase in musician wages. The agreement maintains the number of rehearsals and performances and the number of musicians as in previous years. Musicians will receive approximately 2% in wage increases over the two-year agreement. It is the first contract to cover more than one year since 2008.