Itzhak Perlman Conducts the Juilliard Orchestra on Thursday, December 6, 2018; John Adams Returns to Conduct the Juilliard Orchestra on Monday, December 10, 2018

NEW YORK –– The Juilliard Orchestra concludes its fall semester with two concerts at Alice Tully Hall in December. On Thursday, December 6, 2018, at 7:30pm, Juilliard faculty member, violinist Itzhak Perlman conducts the Juilliard Orchestra in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 with cellist Zlatomir Fung and Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (Variations on an Original Theme).

On Monday, December 10, 2018, at 7:30pm, composer/conductor John Adams returns to lead the Juilliard Orchestra in Kaija Saariaho’s Ciel d’hiver (Winter Sky) (2013); his own composition Doctor Atomic Symphony (2007); and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98. Tickets for each concert are $30 ($15 for full-time students with a valid ID) and available at juilliard.edu/calendar. 

About Itzhak Perlman

Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music. Having performed with every major orchestra and at concert halls around the globe, Perlman was granted a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Obama in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003, a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000, and a Medal of Liberty by President Reagan in 1986. The 2018-19 season marks the 60th anniversary of Perlman’s U.S. debut and appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on November 2, 1958. This milestone was celebrated with a return to the Ed Sullivan Theater on November 2, 2018, in a special guest appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Highlights of this season include performances with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, and duo concerts with Evgeny Kissin in Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York. A documentary on Perlman, Itzhak, premiered in October 2017 as the opening night film of the 25th annual Hamptons International Film Festival. Directed by Alison Chernick, it was released theatrically in over 100 cinemas nationwide in March, with international releases following in the summer. Perlman’s recordings have garnered 16 Grammy Awards and regularly appear on the best-seller charts. In 2008 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in the recording arts, and he has also won four Emmy Awards and a Genesis Prize.

About Zlatomir Fung

Zlatomir Fung, a cellist of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage, won first prize at the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition and was awarded the competition’s sole performance engagement prize, a concert with Poland’s Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with many U.S. and European orchestras. As a first prize winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Fung makes his recital debuts in the 2018-19 Young Concert Artists Series at Merkin Concert Hall and Kennedy Center. He will perform Bloch’s Schelomo with Orchestra Iowa this season, and give recitals for the Cosmos Club, Hopkins Center, Port Washington Library, Aaron Copland School of Music/Queens College, Jewish Community Alliance, Colgate University, Patrons for Young Artists in Poughkeepsie, Salon de Virtuosi, Tryon Concerts, Chamber on the Mountain in Washington state, and the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Fung was a 2016 Presidential Scholar for the Arts, and won the 2017 Astral National Auditions as well as First Prizes at the George Enescu International Cello Competition in Romania, Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, Stulberg International String Competition, and the Irving Klein International Competition. He has participated at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Heifetz International Music Institute in Virginia, and the Aspen Music Festival.  He is a regular member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players for its 2018-2019 season, and has been featured on NPR’s radio show From the Top six times, as well as on Performance Today. He is a student of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy at Juilliard. He is the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. Zlatomir Fung plays on a 1705 Mattio Popella cello generously on load from Marc Pasciucco. 

About John Adams

John Adams’ works stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes. Works spanning more than three decades are among the most performed of all contemporary classical music, among them Harmonielehre, Shaker Loops, El Niño, Doctor Atomic, Nixon in China, and The Dharma at Big Sur. His stage works, all in collaboration with director Peter Sellars, have transformed the genre of contemporary music theater. His new opera about the California gold rush, Girls of the Golden West, premiered in 2017 in San Francisco. Nonesuch Records has recorded all of Adams’ music over the past 30 years: the latest are the premiere recording of the opera Doctor Atomic—conducted by Adams himself—and Scheherazade.2, a dramatic symphony for violin and orchestra written for Leila Josefowicz. Adams also leads the world’s major orchestras in repertoire from Beethoven and Mozart to Stravinsky, Ives, Carter, Zappa, Glass, and Ellington. Conducting engagements include the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and BBC Symphony Orchestra, as well as orchestras in Cleveland, Dallas, Cincinnati, Seattle, Miami, Baltimore, Barcelona, and Oslo. In 2017 Adams celebrated his 70th birthday with festivals of his music in Europe and the U.S., including retrospectives at London’s Barbican and Cité de la Musique in Paris, and in Amsterdam, New York, Geneva, Stockholm, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Born and raised in New England, Adams learned the clarinet from his father and played in marching bands and community orchestras during his formative years. He began composing at age ten and his first orchestral pieces were performed while just a teenager. He is creative chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has received honorary doctorates from Yale, Harvard, Northwestern, Cambridge, and Juilliard, and is visiting professor of composition at London’s Royal Academy of Music. He is the author of the autobiography Hallelujah Junction and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review.

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, Steve 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 Listings:

Thursday, December 6, 2018, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall

Juilliard Orchestra

Itzhak Perlman, conductor

Zlatomir Fung, cellist

 

DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104

ELGAR Enigma Variations, Op. 36 (Variations on an Original Theme)

 

Tickets are $30 ($15 for full-time students with a valid ID) and available at juilliard.edu/calendar.

 

Monday, December 10, 2018, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall

Juilliard Orchestra

John Adams, conductor

 

Kaija SAARIAHO Ciel d’hiver (Winter Sky) (2013)

John ADAMS Doctor Atomic Symphony (2007)

BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98

 

Tickets are $30 ($15 for full-time students with a valid ID) and available at juilliard.edu/calendar.