Violinist Leila Josefowicz Returns for an Evening of Emotion
Rochester, N.Y., Feb. 6, 2006 – Join conductor Christopher Seaman and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for the return engagement of violinist Leila Josefowicz on Thursday, February 16 and Saturday, February 18 at 8 p.m. in the Eastman Theatre. Of her last appearance with the RPO, Democrat and Chronicle Music Critic John Pitcher noted, “Still in her mid-20s, Josefowicz plays with an extraordinary mixture of youthful exuberance and absolute technical assurance.”
This time Ms. Josefowicz will delight audiences with a virtuosic performance of Shostakovich’s emotional Violin Concerto No. 1. Mr. Seaman says “the brooding opening movement, the wild scherzo, the heroic, tragic mood of the passacaglia and the double-edged, almost manic cheerfulness of the finale will be well equaled by Leila’s incredible virtuosity and emotional projection.” He hosts the Pre-concert chat at 7 p.m. each evening.
Other pieces featured on the program include Elgar’s ceremonious Pomp and Circumstance No. 4 and Delius’s Brigg Fair, a set of variations on an English folk-song. The concert will conclude with a suite from the ballet Miraculous Mandarin by Bartók.
Tickets for these performances are $22-$52, available online 24/7 at www.rpo.org, by phone (454-2100) and in person from the RPO Box Office, and at all Wegmans Video Departments. RPO Box Office Hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (non-concert Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.). The Wegmans Video Department is open seven days a week, 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. A convenience fee may apply.
The Philharmonics Series is sponsored by Eastman Kodak Company and Bausch & Lomb. This concert is made possible in part by Zimmer Sales and Services Corp. The RPO gratefully acknowledges PAETEC Communications Inc. for the PAETEC Philharmonic Partners program, which offers discounted Philharmonics Series tickets to local college students.
Violinist Leila Josefowicz has won the hearts of audiences around the world with her honest, fresh approach to the repertoire and her dynamic virtuosity. She has appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the Boston and Chicago symphonies, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. A recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994, Ms. Josefowicz is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Jaime Laredo and Jascha Brodsky. She studied chamber music at Curtis with Felix Galimir and participated in several Marlboro Music Festivals. In recent seasons she has collaborated with artists such as Martha Argerich, Thomas Hampson, Jaime Laredo, Sylvia McNair, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida and André Watts.
Celebrating its 83rd season in 2005-06, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s mission is to perform and present a broad range of quality music; attract, entertain and educate audiences with superior musical performances; maintain and build the Orchestra’s national reputation; and enhance the reputation of the Rochester community as a place in which to live, work, play, visit and learn.
RPO performances are made possible in part with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; the State of New York; the County of Monroe; the City of Rochester; and American Airlines, the official airline of the RPO.
