Arild Remmereit Begins His Inaugural Season With the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
ROCHESTER, NY – The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) begins its 89th Season with the inaugural concerts of eleventh Music Director Arild Remmereit on Friday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 1, 2011 at 8 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.
The RPO will celebrate opening night of the 2011-2012 Season with a Red Carpet Spectacular on Friday, September 30. This special event features a pre-concert dinner in the Eastman East Wing Recital Hall, the annual Red Carpet Walk with RPO musicians, and the concert, followed by a Rooftop After Party on top of the East End Garage.
Remmereit’s desire to bring new and innovative programming to Rochester is evident in the repertoire he has selected for his inaugural concerts. The program includes musical greetings from his homes—Norway; Vienna; Austria; and now, the United States. These greetings combine his love of music from around the world with his desire to “create classics.”
The concert begins with Amy Beach’s “Gaelic” Symphony. The “Gaelic” Symphony, which received its first performance in 1896 in Boston, is the first work of its kind by an American woman to be performed by an American orchestra. Remmereit chose this symphony in recognition of Susan B. Anthony’s role in obtaining voting rights for American women.
“Throughout my first season with the RPO, there is a theme of works by women composers. This is important to me, not only as I make my home in Rochester—an area greatly affected by the women’s rights movement—but also because of the impact these works have on audiences and musicians alike. One of my passions is searching for under-appreciated or overlooked pieces that trigger in me an immediate emotional connection—works which, while unknown, are ones I believe musicians will love to play and audiences will love to hear. This is what I mean by ‘creating classics’,” remarked Remmereit.
Remmereit continues the program with musical greetings from Norway—Johann Svendsen’s Romance for Violin featuring RPO Concertmaster Juliana Athayde and Johan Halvorsen’s Entry March of the Boyars—as well as Viennese pieces by Johann Strauss, Jr.
To purchase tickets (concert only: $15 – $90; student tickets are $10) to this or other RPO events, visit the Eastman Theatre Box Office, call 454.2100, go online to www.rpo.org, or visit area Wegmans locations. Red Carpet Spectacular tickets ($100 and $220) can be purchased by calling 454-7311 x 231.
Editors Please Note:
Friday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m.*
Saturday, October 1 at 8:00 p.m.
Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
The pre-concert chat (Saturday night only) begins one hour prior to the performance for all ticket holders.
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Arild Remmereit, conductor
Juliana Athayde, violin
The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair
BEACH Symphony No. 2, “Gaelic”
HALVORSEN Entry March of the Boyars
SVENDSEN Romance for Violin
J. STRAUSS, JR. Where the Citrons Bloom
J. STRAUSS, JR. Light as a Feather
*Note: Philharmonics Series performances are Thursdays and Saturdays, with the exception of September 30. This change is in observance of Rosh Hashanah.
