NEW YORK –– Juilliard faculty member Jeffrey Milarsky conducts the Juilliard Orchestra in Augusta Read Thomas’ Prayer Bells (2001); Bernstein’s Serenade (After Plato’s Symposium), in honor of the Bernstein centennial, with Juilliard violinist Brenden Zak; and Prokofiev’s Suite from Romeo and Juliet on Thursday, November 8, 2018, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall.
Tickets at $30 are available at juilliard.edu/calendar, through CenterCharge (212) 721-6500, or at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office. Full-time students with valid ID may purchase tickets for $15, only at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office.
Faculty member and alumnus Erik Ralske, principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, conducts the Juilliard Wind Orchestra on Sunday, November 11, 2018, at 3pm in Paul Hall in Brahms’ Serenade No. 2 in A Major, Op. 16, and Strauss' Sonatina No. 2 in E-flat Major, TrV291, “Happy Workshop.”
Tickets at $10 ($5 for full-time students) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar.
About Jeffrey Milarsky
American conductor Jeffrey Milarsky is the founding music director of AXIOM. Known for his innovative programming, he has been hailed for his interpretation of a wide range of repertoire, which spans from Bach to Xenakis. In recent seasons he has worked with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, MET Chamber Ensemble, Bergen Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New World Symphony, and the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra. In the United States and abroad, he has premiered and recorded works by many groundbreaking contemporary composers in venues such as Carnegie, Zankel, Alice Tully, Walt Disney, and Davies and Boston’s symphony halls as well at IRCAM in Paris.
Milarsky has a long history of premiering, recording, and performing music by American composers and in keeping with that, he was recently presented with the prestigious Ditson Conductor’s Award. His interest and dedication have brought about collaborations with such esteemed composers as Adams, Babbitt, Cage, Carter, Corigliano, Crumb, Davidovsky, Druckman, Gordon, Lang, Mackey, Rouse, Shapey, Subotnick, Wuorinen, and an entire generation of emerging composers.
A dedicated teacher, Milarsky serves on the conducting faculty at Juilliard and is a senior lecturer in music at Columbia University, where he is the music director and conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra.
An in-demand percussionist, Milarsky has been the principal timpanist for the Santa Fe Opera since 2005. In addition, he has performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has recorded extensively for Angel, Bridge, Teldec, Telarc, New World, CRI, MusicMasters, EMI, Koch, and London records.
At Juilliard, Milarsky received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding leadership and achievement in the arts.
About Brenden Zak
Violinist Brenden Zak is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in performance at Juilliard under the tutelage of Li Lin. He was a finalist in the 2016 Stulberg International String Competition and has soloed with the Ocean City Pops, Ambler Symphony, Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, Sinfonietta Nova, Temple University Orchestra, and Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra. Zak has participated in master classes with Robert Lipsett, Stefan Jackiw, Michelle Kim, David Kim, and Danielle Belen. His string quartet participates in the Juilliard Honors String Quartet Program. Zak has attended the Luzerne Music Festival where he worked with composers John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour and Tommie Haglund, and he also attended the Heifetz International Music Institute where he worked with Ilya Kaler, Nicholas Kitchen, and Elmar Oliviera. Zak attended the Perlman Music Program.
About Erik Ralske
On July 6, 2010, Erik Ralske was featured in a front-page article in The New York Times for having won principal horn positions with the Met Opera and Los Angeles Philharmonic in the same week. After a long and distinguished symphonic career (previously he held principal positions with the New York Philharmonic, Houston, Vancouver, Florida and Tulsa orchestras), he began his tenure as principal horn of the Met Opera Orchestra in the fall of 2010. Since that time, he has been in demand by leading orchestras as guest principal, notably with the Berlin Staatskapelle, Cleveland, and Philadelphia orchestras, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Ralske has been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic more than a dozen times on three continents, with former music directors Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. His live performance of Siegfried’s horn call was selected as a Met “Ringtone” and is available on iTunes.
He is a faculty member at Juilliard (his alma mater) and Mannes College of Music, in addition to teaching and performing at the Aspen Music Festival in the summers.
About the Juilliard Orchestra
Juilliard’s largest and most visible student performing ensemble, the Juilliard Orchestra, is known for delivering polished and passionate performances of works spanning the repertoire. Comprising more than 350 students in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, the orchestra appears throughout the season in concerts on the stages of Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, and Carnegie Hall.
The orchestra is a strong partner to Juilliard’s other divisions, appearing in opera and dance productions, as well as presenting an annual concert of world premieres by Juilliard student composers. The Juilliard Orchestra welcomes an impressive roster of world-renowned guest conductors this season including John Adams, Joseph Colaneri, Mark Elder, Barbara Hannigan, Anne Manson, Steven Osgood, and Peter Oundjian as well as faculty members Jeffrey Milarsky, Itzhak Perlman, Matthias Pintscher, and David Robertson.
The Juilliard Orchestra has toured across the U.S. and throughout Europe, South America, and Asia, where it was the first Western conservatory ensemble allowed to visit and perform following the opening of the People’s Republic of China in 1987, returning two decades later, in 2008.
Other ensembles under the Juilliard Orchestra umbrella include the conductorless Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Wind Orchestra, and the new-music groups AXIOM and New Juilliard Ensemble.
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Program Information:
Thursday, November 8, 2018, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall
Juilliard Orchestra
Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor
Brenden Zak, violin
August Read THOMAS Prayer Bells (2001)
Leonard BERNSTEIN Serenade (After Plato’s Symposium) with Brenden Zak
Sergei PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet
Tickets at $30 are available at juilliard.edu/calendar, through CenterCharge (212) 721-6500, or at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office. Full-time students with valid ID may purchase tickets for $15, only at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office.
Sunday, November 11, 2018, 3pm, Paul Hall
Juilliard Orchestra
Erik Ralske, conductor
Johannes BRAHMS Serenade No. 2 in A Major, Op. 16
Richard STRAUSS Sonatina No. 2 in E-flat Major, TrV 291, “Happy Workshop”
Tickets at $10 ($5 for full-time students) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar.
