Edward Gardner Conducts the Juilliard and Royal Academy of Music Orchestra at the BBC Proms in London and at Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Aldeburgh in July 2019

James Ehnes Is the Soloist in Britten’s Violin Concerto

Proms Concert to Include U.K. Premiere of Thorvaldsdottir’s Metacosmos Alongside Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring

NEW YORK –– The Juilliard School and London’s Royal Academy of Music orchestra join forces for two concerts in London in July at the legendary BBC Proms and at Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Aldeburgh with British conductor Edward Gardner and Canadian violinist James Ehnes, a Juilliard alumnus and Royal Academy of Music visiting professor, as soloist. Juilliard’s 45 orchestral musicians will arrive in London on July 14 for rehearsals at the Royal Academy of Music.

On Sunday, July 21, 2019, at 4pm, Edward Gardner will conduct the combined orchestra at Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Aldeburgh in a program featuring Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasie, Britten’s Violin Concerto with James Ehnes, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

The BBC Proms program on Monday, July 22, 2019, at 7:30pm in Royal Albert Hall features the U.K. premiere of Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s tone poem Metacosmos (2017), Britten's Violin Concerto with James Ehnes, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s writes: “Metacosmos is constructed around the natural balance between beauty and chaos–how elements can come together in (seemingly) utter chaos to create a unified, structured whole. The idea and inspiration behind the piece, which is connected as much to the human experience as to the universe, is the speculative metaphor of falling into a black hole – the unknown – with endless constellations and layers of opposing forces connecting and communicating with each other, expanding and contracting, projecting a struggle for power as the different sources pull on you and you realize that you are being drawn into a force that is beyond your control.” The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Society with the generous support of the Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music. It was premiered by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, on April 4, 2018 at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall. The European premiere was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Juilliard alumnus Alan Gilbert, in January 2019. The 14-minute work is in one movement.

This is the third appearance for the combined Juilliard and Royal Academy of Music Orchestra at the BBC Proms. They performed together in 2012 with conductor John Adams and in Juilliard’s centennial season in 2005-06 with Colin Davis.

Funding for the tour comes from Juilliard's Creative Enterprise programming initiative, which is generously supported by Jody and John Arnhold.

About Edward Gardner

Chief conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic since 2015, Edward Gardner has led the orchestra on multiple international tours, including performances in Berlin, Munich, and Amsterdam as well as at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival.

Highlights of the 2018-19 season include returning to conduct the Chicago Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra–the latter for concerts in London and New York. Debuts include dates with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Wiener Symphoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre Nazionale Sinfonica della RAI, and a new production of Káťa Kabanová at the Royal Opera House.

Gardner also continues his longstanding collaborations with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where he was principal guest conductor from 2010 to 16, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which he has conducted at both the first and last nights of the BBC Proms.

Former music director of English National Opera (2006-15), Gardner has conducted productions of Carmen, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther at the Metropolitan Opera. He has also conducted at La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Paris. Concert presentations of opera continue to be a part of his programming with the Bergen Philharmonic, which include Peter Grimes at the Bergen and Edinburgh International festivals.

A passionate supporter of young talent, Gardner founded the Hallé Youth Orchestra in 2002 and regularly conducts the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He has a close relationship with Juilliard, and with the Royal Academy of Music, which appointed him the inaugural Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Chair in 2014. 

Gardner is an exclusive Chandos recording artist and his award-winning discography includes music by Grieg, Bartók, Sibelius, Janáček, Elgar, Mendelssohn, Walton, Lutosławski, Britten, Berio, and Schoenberg. 

Born in Gloucester in 1974, Gardner was educated at Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music. He went on to become assistant conductor of the Hallé and music director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera. He was named Royal Philharmonic Society Award Conductor of the Year (2008), received an Olivier Award for outstanding achievement in opera (2009), and was named an OBE for services to music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2012).

About James Ehnes

James Ehnes (Pre-College ’91; BM ’97, violin), one of the most sought-after violinists on the international stage, has worked with many of the world’s most respected conductors including Ashkenazy, Alsop, Davis, Denève, Elder, Fischer, Paavo Järvi, Mena, Noseda, Robertson, and Runnicles. Ehnes’ long list of orchestras includes the Boston, Chicago, London, NHK and Vienna symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles, New York, Munich and Czech Philharmonic orchestras; and the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Philharmonia and DSO Berlin orchestras.

Recent and future orchestral highlights include the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall with Noseda, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Shelley, Orchestre National de France with Gardner, San Francisco Symphony with Janowski, Frankfurt Radio Symphony with Orozco-Estrada, Hong Kong Philharmonic with van Zweden and Gothenburg Symphony with Nagano as well as his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Lincoln Center Great Performers series, on April 15) and a residency with the Minnesota Orchestra last season.

Ehnes maintains a busy recital schedule, performing regularly at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center Chicago, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Ravinia, Montreux, Chaise-Dieu, White Nights Festival in St Petersburg, Verbier Festival, and Festival de Pâques in Aix. In 2009 he debuted at the Salzburg Festival performing the Paganini Caprices. In 2016, Ehnes undertook a Canadian recital tour, performing in each of the country’s provinces and territories, to celebrate his 40th birthday.

Ehnes has an extensive discography and has won many awards for his recordings, including a Grammy (2019) for his live recording of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot, and a Gramophone Award for his live recording of the Elgar Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Andrew Davis. His recording of the Korngold, Barber and Walton violin concertos won a Grammy for ‘best instrumental soloist performance’ and a JUNO award for best classical album of the year. Ehnes’s recent recording of the Bartók concertos was nominated for a Gramophone Award. Recent releases include recordings of sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy, Elgar and Respighi, and concertos by Britten, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Walton as well as the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze, which was released in 2017 (Onyx Classics).

Ehnes began violin studies at age 4, became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin at 9, made his orchestral debut with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal at 13, and graduated from Juilliard in 1997, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in music. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and in 2010 was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Ehnes plays the “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715.

About The Juilliard School and the Royal Academy of Music

Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. With its world-renowned faculty, the school’s mission is to provide the highest caliber of education for gifted dancers, actors, and musicians from around the world so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens.

The Royal Academy of Music has been training musicians to the highest professional standards since its foundation in 1822. Every year, some of the most talented young musicians from more than 50 countries go there to study, attracted by renowned teachers and a rich culture that broadens musical horizons, develops professional creativity and fosters entrepreneurial spirit.

Juilliard and the Academy have enjoyed a strong collaboration since 2001 and have joined forces on a series of major transatlantic projects, including a composers’ exchange, the co-commissioning of Peter Maxwell Davies’ opera, Kommilitonen!, and concerts at the BBC Proms, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall with Elton John, Colin Davis, and John Adams. They have also worked together recently on early music projects, including a Bach Cantatas tour in 2015 with Masaaki Suzuki and a recording of Gabrieli for Brass: Venetian Extravaganza, released on the Linn Records label in March 2018.

# # #

 

Program Listings:

Sunday, July 21, 2019, 4pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Aldeburgh

Juilliard and Royal Academy of Music Orchestra

Edward Gardner, Conductor

James Ehnes, Violinist

 

TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasie

BRITTEN Violin Concerto

STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring

 

Monday, July 22, 2019, 7:30pm, Royal Albert Hall, London

BBC Proms

Juilliard and Royal Academy of Music Orchestra

Edward Gardner, Conductor

James Ehnes, Violinist

 

Anna THORVALDSDOTTIR Metacosmos (2017, U.K. premiere)

BRITTEN Violin Concerto

STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring