David Robertson Conducts the Juilliard Orchestra in Messiaen’s "Turangalîla-Symphonie" on Friday, May 3, 2019, at 7:30pm in David Geffen Hall

NEW YORK –– David Robertson, director of conducting studies, leads the Juilliard Orchestra, Juilliard pianist Tengku Irfan, and ondes martenot player Cynthia Millar in Messiaen’s rarely performed Turangalîla-Symphonie on Friday, May 3, 2019, at 7:30pm in David Geffen Hall.

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

Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie was commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Leonard Bernstein conducted the premiere in Boston on December 2, 1949. At the premiere, the piano soloist was the composer’s second wife, Yvonne Loriod, and the ondes martenot was played by Ginette Martenot, the daughter of the instrument’s inventor. The title of the work is derived from two Sanskrit words: Turanga means ‘time’ or the movement of time; Lîla signifies life, movement, creation, and destruction on a cosmic scale and most importantly, love. Messiaen described Turangalîla as a “hymn to joy” and “a song of love.”

About David Robertson

David Robertson is a sought-after figure in the worlds of opera, orchestral music, and new music. A champion of contemporary composers and an advocate for his art form, Robertson is the chief conductor and artistic director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and recently completed a 13-year tenure as music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He has served as artistic leader to many musical institutions, including the Orchestre National de Lyon, and—as a protégé of Pierre Boulez—Ensemble Intercontemporain. With frequent projects at the world’s leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Théâtre du Châtelet, and San Francisco Opera, he is also a frequent guest with the leading orchestras of the world: New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Amsterdam, Berlin, Beijing, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, where he served as principal guest conductor. Devoted to supporting young musicians, Robertson became Juilliard’s director of conducting studies, distinguished visiting faculty, in September 2018. He has received numerous awards and in 2011 was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France.

About Cynthia Millar

Cynthia Millar has recently performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, and BBC Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms. This season includes returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and NHK Symphony Orchestra. She performed the ondes martenot part specially written for her by Thomas Adès in his opera The Exterminating Angel at its Salzburg Festival premiere; and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Metropolitan Opera; and Royal Danish Opera. The 2016-17 season featured a tour of Turangalîla-Symphonie with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel, beginning in Caracas and ending at Carnegie Hall. Millar studied the ondes Martenot with John Morton in England and Jeanne Loriod in France. Since her first performance at the 1986 BBC Proms with the National Youth Orchestra under Mark Elder, she has played Turangalîla around 200 times with conductors including Simon Rattle, Sakari Oramo, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Franz Welser-Möst, Susanna Mälkki, Andrew Davis, and Mariss Jansons. She has recorded Turangalîla with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra for Juanjo Mena and the Trois petites liturgies twice: with the Seattle Symphony for Ludovic Morlot and London Sinfonietta for Terry Edwards. She has played in more than 100 film and television scores and has written music for film, television, and theater, including for directors Robert Wise, Arthur Penn, Martha Coolidge, and Peter Yates.

About Tengku Irfan

Malaysian pianist, composer, and conductor Tengku Irfan made his debut at age 11 performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto WoO4, improvising his own cadenzas with Claus Peter Flor and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed as soloist with orchestras worldwide under conductors Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, Robert Spano, George Stelluto, and Jeffrey Milarsky, among others. He has performed with AXIOM, MDR Sinfonieorchester, and the Singapore Symphony, São Paulo State Youth, Estonian National Symphony, and Peoria Symphony orchestras. He won the 2013 Aspen Music Festival Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 Competition and for four consecutive years was pianist for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. Irfan received the ASCAP Charlotte Bergen Award in 2012 and the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award in 2012, 2014, and 2017. His compositions have been premiered by the New York Philharmonic, MDR Sinfonieorchester, New York Virtuoso Singers, MusicaNova, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Peoria and Singapore Symphony orchestras. Irfan made his conducting debut with the MusicaNova Orchestra in 2015, and conducted the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra during its 20th anniversary gala. At Juilliard he is a double major in piano and composition with Veda Kaplinsky and Robert Beaser, respectively, and studies conducting with George Stelluto and Jeffrey Milarsky. Irfan was recently appointed as Youth Ambassador of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.

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, Marin Alsop, Joseph Colaneri, Mark Elder, Barbara Hannigan, Steve Osgood, and Gil Rose 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, and also 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 Listing:

Friday, May 3, 2019, 7:30pm, David Geffen Hall

Juilliard Orchestra

David Robertson, Conductor

Tengku Irgan, Piano

Cynthia Millar, Ondes Martenot

 

Olivier MESSIAEN Turangalîla-Symphonie

 

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