Back to Press Release List > 09/17/2007 - Orchestra of St. Luke's, 10/28/07

Carnegie Hall presents the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, led by Roberto Abbado, in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage on Sunday, October 28 at 2:00 p.m. The orchestra, with featured soloist Joshua Bell, presents the world premiere of 16-year-old composer Jay Greenberg’s Violin Concerto (commissioned by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s), in a program that also includes Barber’s Violin Concerto, Haydn’s Symphony No. 93, and Joan Tower’s In Memory. This concert marks the first performance of Mr. Greenberg’s music at Carnegie Hall.

This program opens the Orchestra of St. Luke’s 2007–2008 series of performances at Carnegie Hall. The ensemble returns Sunday, February 3 with conductor Xian Zhang and pianist Hélène Grimaud in a performance of works including the New York premiere of Thomas Adès’ Three Studies from Couperin for Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, as part of his season-long Carnegie Hall Perspectives series, Bobby McFerrin will lead the orchestra on Sunday, April 6.

Celebrating its 33rd season the Orchestra of St. Luke’s performs approximately 100 orchestral, chamber, and educational concerts throughout New York each year, all showcasing the hallmark collaborative spirit that has garnered consistent critical acclaim for its vibrant music-making. In addition to its series of concerts in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s continues a 20-year collaborative relationship with Carnegie Hall that currently includes participation in such Carnegie events as the Choral Workshop, Family Concerts, and concert presentations of musical theater, including the recent presentation, recording, and telecast of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, and others. The Orchestra has also been engaged throughout the year in a number of artistic collaborations, including the U.S. premiere of Paul McCartney’s Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall, and serves each summer as orchestra-in-residence at the Caramoor Festival.

In addition to the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Roberto Abbado performs regularly with such orchestras as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra and maintains continuing relationships with the San Francisco, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Houston symphony orchestras. Notably, his most extensive relationship is currently with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, becoming last season one of its first "Artistic Partners." Mr. Abbado made his North American conducting debut in 1991, conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center, and has since established himself on the continent as a leading interpreter of both orchestral and operatic repertoire. A champion of new music, Mr. Abbado is a particularly strong advocate of contemporary Italian composers, including Luciano Berio, Niccolò Castiglioni, and most recently, Fabio Vacchi, whose opera Teneke Mr. Abbado conducts this month at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.

For over two decades, violinist Joshua Bell has been captivating audiences worldwide with his poetic musicality. In concerts and on recordings, his bold, charismatic artistry has brought a fresh voice to the most venerable masterpieces while also uncovering lesser known gems and new works, as with the Fall 2007 CD release of The Red Violin Concerto by John Corigliano. An exclusive Sony Classical artist who has created a richly varied catalogue of recordings and received many Grammy award nominations and awards, recently released is The Essential Joshua Bell, while Voice of the Violin continues to soar on the heels of Romance of the Violin which Billboard named the 2004 Classical CD of the Year, and Bell the Classical Artist of the Year. His live recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto continues to win critical acclaim. Mr. Bell made his recording debut at age 18 and is the recipient of the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize.

Born in 1991 in New Haven, composer Jay Greenberg began playing the cello when he was three years old, and later taught himself how to play the piano. His first formal lessons in theory and composition began when he was seven; three years later he enrolled as a scholarship student in both the college and pre-college divisions of the Juilliard School of Music. Mr. Greenberg came to public attention in 2004 following an appearance on 60 Minutes, and, in 2006, Sony Classical released his first CD, featuring the premiere recordings of his Symphony No. 5—with José Serebrier conducting the London Symphony Orchestra—as well as his Quintet for Strings, with the Juilliard String Quartet and cellist Darrett Adkins. A second SONY CD, featuring Mr. Greenberg’s Orchestral Suite “Intelligent Life” recorded by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, is scheduled for release in 2008.

Program Information
Sunday, October 28 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S
Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Joshua Bell, Violin

JOAN TOWER In Memory
SAMUEL BARBER Violin Concerto, Op. 14
JAY GREENBERG Violin Concerto (World Premiere)
JOSEPH HAYDN Symphony No. 93 in D Major
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Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S
Xian Zhang, Conductor
Hélène Grimaud, Piano

THOMAS ADÈS Three Studies from Couperin for Chamber Orchestra (New York Premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60
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Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S
Bobby McFerrin, Conductor
Dominique Labelle, Soprano
Nathan Gunn, Baritone
Morgan State University Choir
Eric Conway, Director

SERGEI PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25, "Classical"
MAURICE RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin
BOBBY MCFERRIN A Cappella Improvisations
GABRIEL FAURÉ Requiem, Op. 48

Perspectives: Bobby McFerrin

Perspectives concerts are made possible, in part, by a generous grant from The Alice Tully Foundation.
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