Last modified: Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Laredo and Robinson to solo with Indianapolis Symphony in Bloomington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 31, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Following its acclaimed performance last year, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will return to Bloomington in November with a program featuring Indiana University Jacobs School of Music faculty members Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson.
Laredo (violin) and Robinson (cello) will perform the popular Double Concerto in A Minor by Johannes Brahms. The free offering on Sunday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center will be conducted by the ISO's Music Director Mario Venzago.
The program will include Brahms' Academic Festival Overture and Concerto in A Minor for violin, cello, and orchestra; Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 7. in C Major; and Giuseppe Verdi's Overture to La forza del destino.
The 2006-07 season bears special significance for Robinson and Laredo, who are commemorating their 30th wedding anniversary, as well as the 30th anniversary of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. The trio was named Musical America's "Ensemble of the Year" in 2002.
Presented by the IU Jacobs School of Music, the concert is free and open to the public. Tickets are required, though, and can be secured in advance at the MAC Box Office, 812-855-7433. The ISO and IU enjoy a close relationship with 25 Jacobs alumni musicians currently in the orchestra's membership.
About Jaime Laredo
Jaime Laredo has been acclaimed as one of the master musicians of our time and "a violinist whose art goes deeper than virtuosity" (Miami Herald).
In his 40 years before the public, Laredo has enraptured millions with passionate and polished performances of rare style and elegance. As a soloist, he has played with more than 100 international orchestras, including the Boston and Chicago symphonies, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, the London Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic, with Barenboim, Mata, Mehta, Ormandy, Slatkin, Stokowsky and Szell.
Born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Laredo began playing the violin at the age of 5 and gave a full recital at age 8. Three years later, he made his orchestral debut with the San Francisco Symphony, prompting the San Francisco Examiner to proclaim, "In the 1920s it was Yehudi Menuhin; in the 30s it was Isaac Stern; and last night it was Jaime Laredo." Over the next few years he studied with Josef Gingold and Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute of Music and with the great conductor George Szell. In May 1959, at the age of 17, Laredo won first prize in the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels, becoming the youngest winner in the history of this prestigious competition.
About Sharon Robinson
Winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award and a Grammy nominee, Sharon Robinson is recognized worldwide as a dynamic artist and one of the most outstanding cellists of our time. Whether as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra or a member of the renowned Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, critics, audiences and fellow musicians worldwide respond to what the New York Times called "an artistic personality that vitalizes everything she plays." Her guest appearances with orchestra include the National Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and San Francisco symphonies. She has also appeared in Europe with the London Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Zürich's Tonhalle Orchestra and the English, Scottish and Franz Liszt chamber orchestras.
Robinson divides her time between teaching, performing with Jaime Laredo and touring with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. To celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, Robinson and Laredo commissioned a new work from composer Andy Stein, as well as a new double concerto from Richard Danielpour, both to be premiered this season. In addition, Naxos will release the Double Concerto by Ned Rorem, also written for Laredo-Robinson, with the Irish Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Michael Stern.
About Mario Venzago
Mario Venzago is in his fourth season as music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He is also the newly appointed principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden.
Venzago has previously held posts as music director of the Basel Symphony Orchestra (1997-2003), the Basque Euskadi National Orchestra in Spain (1998-2001), the Graz Opera House (1990-1995), the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie in Frankfurt/Bremen (1989-1992) and the Heidelberg Opera (1986-1989).
A regular visitor to Europe's leading orchestras and opera houses, Venzago's distinguished conducting career has included engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Komische Oper, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic and the Munich Bavarian Radio Orchestra, London Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, Vienna Symphony and the NHK Symphony in Tokyo. He has also conducted at several prestigious festivals, including the Salzburg Festival and the Lucerne Festival.
In North America, Venzago has appeared with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Ottawa and the Florida Philharmonic. In March 1995, he conducted the Baltimore Symphony on short notice, a success leading to a close relationship with that orchestra, including subscription concerts each year since 1995. From 2000 to 2003, he served as artistic director of the Summer Music Fest with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
