Last modified: Tuesday, June 29, 2010
IU Summer Symphonic Series includes world-renowned conductors, distinguished Jacobs faculty, guests
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- With four of the world's best conductors on the podium and a number of renowned instrumentalists in their midst, the IU Summer Music Festival Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra once again bring world-class music to the Midwest in a series of five upcoming concerts in Bloomington.
Xian Zhang, the first-ever woman to be named conductor of an Italian symphony orchestra, will travel to Bloomington to conduct the Jacobs School of Music's 2010 Festival Orchestra on July 1.
Xian Zhang, Lawrence Renes and Giancarlo Guerrero will conduct the 2010 Festival Orchestra, which is composed of Jacobs School of Music faculty, students and invited guests and is considered one of the finest ensembles of its kind. Cliff Colnot will return to Bloomington to conduct two concerts by the Jacobs Student Symphony Orchestra.
On July 1, Zhang will conduct the Festival Orchestra series kickoff, featuring Chen Yi's Ge Xu (Antiphony), Britten's Four Sea Interludes and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2. Zhang is music director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, the first woman to be named music director of an Italian symphony orchestra.
Marking the anniversary of her first Bloomington performance since her appointment to the Jacobs School faculty, Jorja Fleezanis will serve as concertmaster for the opening concert. She also served as concertmaster for the series' kickoff last year.
Through his work with many of the world's finest orchestras, Lawrence Renes has established a reputation for innovative programming and dynamic performance. He will lead the orchestra on July 22 in Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, Mahler's Totenfeier (Funeral Feast), Wagner's Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin and Richard Strauss's Tod und Verklärung.
Timothy Lees, concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will serve as concertmaster for the second concert in the series.
Costa Rican conductor and new music champion Guerrero will direct the final Festival Orchestra performance of the season on Aug. 5, featuring Respighi's The Fountains of Rome, Beethoven's Symphony No. 1, Roberto Sierra's Sinfonia No. 4 and Manuel de Falla's Suite No. 2 from the Three-Cornered Hat. Guerrero became music director of the Nashville Symphony following a seven-year tenure as music director of Oregon's Eugene Symphony.
Jacobs faculty member Alexander Kerr will assume concertmaster duties for the final Festival Orchestra concert. Kerr was concertmaster of both the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and is now principal guest concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Other Jacobs faculty members filling principal positions include Kathryn Lukas and Thomas Robertello sharing flute; Howard Klug, clarinet; Carl Lenthe, trombone in the opening and closing concerts; Dan Perantoni, tuba in the first two concerts; Kevin Bobo, percussion; and John Tafoya, timpani.
Edmund Cord, John Rommel and Joey Tartell will take turns as principal trumpet, while Kathleen McLean will serve as principal bassoon in the first concert, and Eric Kim will fill the principal cello slot in the closing Festival Orchestra performance.
Colnot, principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's contemporary MusicNOW series and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, will return to lead the Symphony Orchestra on July 13 and Aug. 10.
The July 13 concert will feature Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6. The final concert of the 2010 Summer Symphonic Series will include Haydn's Symphony No. 104, Liadov's The Enchanted Lake and Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Festival Overture.
Each of the symphonic events will take place at 8 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center. The three performances by the Festival Orchestra cost $15 each for the general public and $8 for any full-time student. The two Symphony Orchestra performances are free.
Tickets are available at the MAC Box Office (information: 812-855-7433), online at www.music.indiana.edu/summer or through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. The box office is located on Jordan Avenue between Third and Seventh streets, and is open Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
