James Conlon conducts the Juilliard Orchestra in the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Symphony No. 5: Concerto for Orchestra and Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor on Monday, October 27 at 8 PM at Carnegie Hall

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich begins her 70th birthday with Juilliard world premiere

The Juilliard Orchestra makes its first of two Carnegie Hall appearances on Monday, October 27 at 8 PM with conductor James Conlon, performing the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Symphony No. 5: Concerto for Orchestra. The Symphony was commissioned by Juilliard with support from the Trust of Francis Goelet. Ms. Zwilich, who is an alumna of Juilliard, marks her 70th birthday season in 2008-09; she celebrates her 70th birthday on April 30, 2009. Mr. Conlon conducts the Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor to conclude the program. He is in the second season of his 2-year residency, Recovered Voices, that highlights the works of composers lost or exhiled during WWII.

On composing Symphony No. 5, Ms. Zwilich remarked: “Two very personal reflections also affected the nature of this piece: for one, the special importance of Juilliard in my life. I not only received my doctorate at Juilliard, I found my voice as a composer while there. And I loved writing for the Juilliard Orchestra knowing the dedication, skill and artistry of these performers. Also, I have been moved by James Conlon’s dedication to the music of composers who were politically silenced. It was a special pleasure to write knowing that he would be the conductor to bring my work to life.” 
      
Tickets for Carnegie Hall concerts are $25 (parquet, 1st and 2nd tiers) and $10 (dress circle and balcony) and go on sale beginning September 29 through the Carnegie Hall Box Office, through CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, or online at www.carnegiehall.org. Half-price tickets for students and seniors are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office.
       
Ms. Zwilich’s new work is in four movements: Prologue, Celebration, Memorial, and Epilogue. In describing Symphony No. 5: Concerto for Orchestra, Ms. Zwilich said: “Like most of my large-scale works, the long line of the work grows from material in the opening movement – sometimes in clearly recognizable motives and variations, but most frequently in more subtle evolutions. The second movement was written in celebration of the vibrant energy of the young virtuoso orchestra, and the third movement was written in remembrance of composers whose voices were silenced by tyranny. The entire work treats the orchestra like a huge chamber ensemble, in which each player or section can be a brilliant soloist one moment and a sensitive partner the next.” 
     
Mr. Conlon returns to Juilliard in November to lead a master class featuring Juilliard singers in Verdi’s Falstaff and other opera repertoire on Thursday, November 6 at 4 PM in The Peter Jay Sharp Theater. He also conducts the Juilliard Opera Center and Juilliard Orchestra in Trilogy: three rarely performed one-act portraits of marriage, conceived and conducted by Mr. Conlon, realised by Darko Tresnjak and directed by James Marvel on November 12, 14, and 16, 2008. For further information, call the Juilliard Box Office at (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu/calendar.

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is a composer whose music is among the most-performed of any of her American colleagues. She has written 56 works since 1971 (almost half of which have been recorded), has received more than 35 awards and distinctions, including a Pulitzer Prize, the first Carnegie Hall Composer’s Chair, and Musical America’s 1999 Composer of the Year, and has been commissioned by artists and ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras, and Itzhak Perlman. She marks her 70th birthday season in 2008-09 with the world premiere of her Symphony No. 5: Concerto for Orchestra at Juilliard and a Septet for Piano Trio and String Quartet for the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinston Trio and the Miami String Quartet. Ms. Zwilich celebrates her 70th birthday on April 30, 2009. A disc of three of Ms. Zwilich’s works performed by artists from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is slated for release by Koch Records later this season.
       
One of today’s preeminent conductors, James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire, and developed enduring relationships with many of the world's most prestigious symphony orchestras and opera houses. Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974, Mr. Conlon has appeared as guest conductor with virtually every major North American and European orchestra and has been a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for over thirty years. Mr. Conlon is Music Director of Los Angeles Opera, Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and celebrates his 30th season as Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival in 2009.  Mr. Conlon served as Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera (1995-2004); General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989-2002); and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983-1991).  
       
During the 2008-09 season at L.A. Opera, Mr. Conlon conducts his first Ring cycle in the U.S., beginning this season with the first two installments of the cycle; Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. He also continues his Recovered Voices series, a multi-year project during which he brings the music of composers suppressed by the Nazi regime to the LA Opera stage, with the company premiere of Walter Braunfels’ The Birds (Die Vögel). He will conduct Puccini’s Il Trittico directed by Woody Allen and William Friedkin; Robert Wilson’s production of Madama Butterfly; and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.  
      
Mr. Conlon also continues his two-year residency at The Juilliard School, during which he works with the school’s young artists in a cross-genre educational project consisting of performances, symposia, master classes, and coaching. He will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival where he is Music Director, and he will guest conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic in the U.S., and in Europe the NDR Sinfonieorchester in Hamburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and National Philharmonic of Russia in Moscow.

In an effort to raise public consciousness to the significance of works of composers whose lives and compositions were suppressed by the Nazi regime, Mr. Conlon has devoted himself to extensive programming of this music in North America and Europe. At both the Ravinia Festival and L.A. Opera he continues to program works of these composers, including Alexander von Zemlinsky, Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Kurt Weill, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Karl-Amadeus Hartmann, Erwin Schulhoff, and Ernest Krenek. His residency at Juilliard also focuses in part on the study and performance of these works. 
       
Mr. Conlon has recorded extensively for EMI, SONY Classical, ERATO, CAPRICCIO, and TELARC, for which he has received numerous citations. He has been featured on DVDs for DECCA, and has appeared in several television series on PBS. 
       
Mr. Conlon’s recent awards include the Medal of the American Liszt Society for his distinctive performances of the composer’s works, Italy’s Premio Galileo 2000 Award for his significant contribution to music, art and peace in Florence, and the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for his efforts in championing the works of composers silenced by the Third Reich. He is one of five first recipients of the Opera News Award given in recognition for distinguished achievement in opera, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree by The Juilliard School. He received the Zemlinsky Prize for his efforts in bringing the composer’s music to international attention. He was named an Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 1996, and in 2004 was promoted to Commander. In 2002, James Conlon received France’s highest distinction from the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac—the Légion d’Honneur.

FOR LISTINGS:
Monday, October 27, 8 PM
Carnegie Hall
James Conlon, conductor
(Part of Mr. Conlon’s Recovered Voices project at Juilliard.)
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Symphony No. 5: Concerto for Orchestra
       (world premiere, commissioned by Juilliard)
Mahler    Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor

Tickets for Carnegie Hall concerts are $25 (parquet, 1st and 2nd tiers) and $10 (dress circle and balcony) and are available beginning September 29 at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, through CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, or purchased online at www.carnegiehall.org. Half-price tickets for students and seniors are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office.

JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES – FALL 2008
Thursday, November 20, 8 PM
The Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Juilliard, 155 West 65th Street
David Atherton, conductor
(Piano soloist to be announced on October 25.)
Stravinsky  Scherzo à la russe (both original and symphonic version will be performed)
Stravinsky  Petrushka
Ginastera  Piano Concerto No. 1 (soloist to be announced)

FREE tickets are available beginning November 6 from the Juilliard Box Office, 155 West 65th Street, open Monday through Friday, from 11 AM to 6 PM. For further information,
call (212) 769-7406 or visit www.juilliard.edu.

Monday, November 24, 7:30 PM
Avery Fisher Hall
Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Oratorio Society of New York
Young People’s Chorus of New York
Samuel Pisar, narrator
Beethoven  Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 (“Eroica”)
Bernstein  Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”)

Tickets are Avery Fisher Hall concerts are $25 (orchestra level) and $10 (all tiers) and are available at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, through CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500, or purchased online at www.lincolncenter.org, approximately 5 weeks prior to the performance. Beginning on October 20, FREE tickets for students and seniors will be available at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office.
Friday, December 12, 8 PM
Carnegie Hall
James DePreist, conductor
(Violin soloist to be announced on November 12.)

Enesco   Romanian Rhapsody No. 2
Prokofiev Concerto No. 2 in G Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 63
John Corigliano  Symphony No. 1

Tickets for Carnegie Hall concerts are $25 (parquet, 1st and 2nd tiers) and $10 (dress circle and balcony) and are available beginning November 14 at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, through CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, or purchased online at www.carnegiehall.org. Half-price tickets for students and seniors are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office.