David Robertson Conducts the Juilliard Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, at 8pm at Carnegie Hall

Program Also Includes Steven Mackey’s Beautiful Passing With Juilliard Violinist Stephen Kim

NEW YORK –– David Robertson, director of conducting studies and distinguished visiting faculty at Juilliard, makes his annual appearance leading the Juilliard Orchestra on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, at 8pm at Carnegie Hall. The program features Steven Mackey’s violin concerto Beautiful Passing (2008) with soloist Stephen Kim, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor.

Grammy Award winner Steve Mackey is regarded as one of the leading composers of his generation, with compositions ranging from orchestral and chamber music to dance and opera. He is professor of music and former chair of the department of music at Princeton University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1985. Violinist Leila Josefowicz premiered Beautiful Passing in 2008 with the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Juraj Valcuha. The work is in two halves, separated by a violin cadenza. Mackey writes: “The governing metaphor of the work has to do with the violin gaining control of its own destiny, competing with, commanding and ultimately letting go of the orchestra. This metaphor arises from my experience, during the composition of the piece, watching my mother gain control of her destiny to the point of predicting the day she would let go, predicting the day of her death. Her last words to me were ‘Please tell everyone I had a beautiful passing.’”

Mahler wrote his Symphony No. 5 mostly during 1901 and 1902 at his summer villa in Maiernigg on the shore of the Wörthersee in southern Austria. The symphony premiered in 1904 in Cologne with the composer conducting the Gürzenich Orchestra. The symphony is in five movements, which are grouped into three sections. The fourth movement, the Adagietto, is the most frequently performed movement from any of Mahler’s symphonies.

Tickets at $30 (parquet, first tier, second tier) and $15 (dress circle) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office. Full-time students with a valid ID may purchase tickets at $15 (parquet, first tier, second tier) and $7.50 (dress circle), only at the Carnegie Hall Box Office.

About David Robertson
David Robertson conducts opera, orchestral music, and new music. Building upon his association with the Metropolitan Opera, Robertson conducted the Met’s 2019-20 production of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, directed by James Robinson, and featuring Eric Owens and Angel Blue. Robertson also returned to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to complete his 2019 valedictory season as chief conductor and artistic director, and he will continue to conduct the orchestra in future seasons as Sydney undertakes a major renovation of its opera house. Robertson also 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 Met 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.

In fall 2019, David Robertson joined the newly formed Tianjin Juilliard Advisory Council, an international body created to guide the Chinese campus of Juilliard, complementing his role as director of conducting studies, distinguished visiting faculty. This season, Robertson continues his collaboration with composer John Adams, conducting performances of his opera-oratorio El Niño with the Houston Symphony. He returns to the Staatskapelle Dreden and Czech Philharmonic, and conducts the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic. Robertson has received numerous awards and in 2011 was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

About Stephen Kim
Violinist Stephen Kim, a native of Cupertino, Calif., gained international recognition with his recent third prize win at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, third prize at the 2018 Premio Paganini International Violin Competition, and second prize at the 2016 Sendai International Violin Competition. Presented in venues across North America, Europe, and Asia, recent seasons included seven performances of Brahms’ Violin Concerto during a two-week tour in Belgium, a two-month tour across the U.S., performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, and multiple concert tours in Korea, Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macao as well as performances at the Verbier Festival Academy, Stradivari Society recital series, and Kingston Chamber Music Festival. In Seoul, Kim gave a free performance for disabled young musicians and led master classes, to inspire and spread a passion for music. As a teen, he won major prizes at the 2015 Seoul International Violin Competition and 2014 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, and he was the first person in the Aspen Music Festival’s history to win all three of the festival’s violin competitions. Kim studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Joseph Silverstein, and Aaron Rosand. Recipient of the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Fellowship, he was awarded the school’s 2018 Curtis/Milka Violin Artist Prize. Kim studies in the master’s degree program at Juilliard with Hyo Kang. He plays the 1725 “ex-Moller” Guarnerius del Gesù, on generous loan from the Samsung Foundation of Culture of Korea and the Stradivari Society of Chicago. He holds a Syril H. and Walter A. Frank Scholarship and is supported by the Irene Diamond Graduate 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 Elim Chan, Nicholas McGegan, alumnus Jörg Widmann, and alumna Keri-Lynn Wilson.

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.

Program Listing:
Tuesday, February 25, 2020, 8pm, Carnegie Hall
Juilliard Orchestra
David Robertson, Conductor
Stephen Kim, Violin

Steven Mackey         Beautiful Passing (2008)
Gustav Mahler          Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor

Tickets at $30 (parquet, first tier, second tier) and $15 (dress circle) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office. Full-time students with a valid ID may purchase tickets at $15 (parquet, first tier, second tier) and $7.50 (dress circle), only at the Carnegie Hall Box Office.