Concert: Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra – DVOŘÁK’S NEW WORLD
Jeffrey Kahane, conductor and piano
Performances: Sunday, April 1 at 4 p.m.
Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m.
Program: BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
DVOŘÁK: Symphony o. 9 in E-minor, “From the New World”
Tickets: Tickets start at $30 from Hawai‘i Symphony Box Office: (808) 593-9468.
Please note, service fees apply.
Student Tickets: $10 student tickets are available to full-time students with I.D. two-hours prior to each concert at the Ward Avenue Box Office. Student tickets are also available for purchase from the Hawai‘i Symphony Box Office.
Concert Location: Neil S. Blaisdell Concert Hall
999 S. King Street at the intersection of King Street and Ward Avenue
HONOLULU (March 21, 2012) – Critically-acclaimed conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane joins the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra for two extraordinary concerts of classical music blockbusters featuring Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” on Sunday, April 1 at 4 p.m. and Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Concert Hall. Kahane will perform and conduct Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in this much-anticipated spring concert. Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now at the Hawai‘i Symphony Box Office: (808) 593-9468. Student tickets are $10.
“I’m delighted to be returning to Honolulu to perform two of the most beloved works in the symphonic repertoire,” said Kahane. “The Fourth Concerto of Beethoven is the concerto I have played more than any other, and after more than three decades it remains one of the concertos closest to my heart, a work that never ceases to move and inspire me. It is truly one of the most revolutionary works in the concerto form, and it is an especially wonderful experience for me to conduct it from the piano.”
With dramatic poetry and intensity, Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto is simply tremendous. Beethoven’s last appearance as a concerto soloist was at this Concerto’s inauspicious premiere in 1808. Fortunately for contemporary audiences, the Concerto gained much-deserved critical praise and popularity when a young pianist named Felix Mendelssohn rescued it from obscurity years after Beethoven’s death.
Then, musicians and concertgoers alike will journey from the Blaisdell Concert Hall to the “New World” with Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony. With an incredible spirit of freshness and innovation, it has justly earned its reputation as one of the most popular masterworks in the repertoire.
“The Dvořák ‘New World’ Symphony is another work I deeply love, and while it is certainly one of the most familiar of all symphonies, it is a piece that is particularly meaningful to anyone who cares about the history of music in America,” continued Kahane. “From its very first performance in 1893 at Carnegie Hall, this work has been beloved by audiences and musicians everywhere, but it is particularly important to us because it was the first great symphony actually written about America and inspired by American indigenous music.”
For more information about the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, visit www.hawaiisymphonyorchestra.org.
About Jeffrey Kahane
Equally at home at the keyboard or on the podium, Jeffrey Kahane has established an international reputation as a truly versatile artist, recognized by audiences around the world for his mastery of a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Gershwin, Golijov and John Adams.
Since making his Carnegie Hall debut in 1983, Kahane has given recitals in many of the nation’s major music centers including New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta. He appears as soloist with major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and is a popular figure at summer festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Blossom, Mostly Mozart and the Hollywood Bowl.
Kahane made his conducting debut at the Oregon Bach Festival in 1988. Since then, he has guest conducted orchestras such as the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Philadelphia Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin’s in the Fields, and the Chicago, Baltimore, Dallas and New World symphonies, among others. Currently in his 14th season as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Kahane concluded his tenure as music director of the Colorado Symphony in June 2010 and was also music director of the Santa Rosa Symphony for ten seasons.
Recent and upcoming performance highlights include appearances at the Aspen, Mostly Mozart and Oregon Bach festivals; play/conduct programs with the New York Philharmonic and the San Francisco, National and Indianapolis symphonies; a U.S. recital tour with violinist Daniel Hope; an appearance with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; and a European tour with the Camerata Salzburg as conductor and soloist.
Kahane’s recordings include works of Gershwin and Bernstein with Yo-Yo Ma for SONY, Paul Schoenfield’s Four Parables with the New World Symphony conducted by John Nelson for Decca/Argo, and the complete Brandenburg Concerti (on harpsichord) with the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra under Helmuth Rilling on the Haenssler label.
A native of Los Angeles and a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Kahane’s early piano studies were with Howard Weisel and Jakob Gimpel. First Prize winner at the 1983 Rubinstein Competition and a finalist at the 1981 Van Cliburn Competition, he was also the recipient of a 1983 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the first Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award in 1987. To learn more, visit www.cmartists.com/artists/jeffrey-kahane.htm.