Ring in the New Year with Cirque de la Symphonie

For Immediate Release: December 12, 2013 (please note changes*)
Media Contacts:   Sally Cohen, 585-749-1795, sally@sallycohenpr.com
RPO Info:  rpo.org, facebook.com/SuperRPO, twitter.com/SuperRPO, rpo-land.blogspot.com

Rochester, NY – If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get out more instead of hibernating this winter, then the RPO’s chock-full January 2014 concert schedule should make keeping that resolution the easiest on your list.

Last here to open the RPO’s 2011-12 season, Atlanta-based Cirque de la Symphonie is back by popular demand to help Rochester ring in the New Year. Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik leads the all-new Cirque Returns in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre on Friday and Saturday, January 10 & 11 at 8 p.m. Designed to bring the magic of cirque to the music hall, Cirque de la Symphonie is the only cirque company in the world that performs exclusively with symphony orchestras – more than 100 worldwide so far. This jaw-dropping but elegant spectacle showcases the artistry of aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers and balancers – some of whom are world-record holders, gold-medal winners and Olympians.

Sunday, January 12 at 2 p.m. at the Performance Hall at Hochstein, Music of Bach and Handel (*change of title) will feature guest conductor Daniel Meyer in a program that includes Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, plus music by his sons Carl Phillip Emmanuel and Johann Christian. Concertmaster Juliana Athayde (The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair) is featured on J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, and Handel’s Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 5 completes the program. Tickets are $25/$10 students.

Beethoven’s Ninth is sure to lift winter spirits on Thursday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, January 18 at 8 p.m., with a special matinee on Sunday, January 19 at 2 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. Guest conductor Hugh Wolff, the Rochester Oratorio Society (Eric Townell, director) and guest soloists Kelley Nassief (soprano), Rebecca Ringle (mezzo-soprano), Vale Rideout (tenor) and Jan Opalach (baritone) will perform Beethoven’s glorious Symphony No. 9, “Choral,” with its triumphant Ode to Joy. The concert opens with Psalm 130, a masterpiece by French composer Lili Boulanger, the first woman to win the coveted Prix de Rome.

On Friday and Saturday, January 24 and 25 at 8 p.m., Broadway and Hollywood combine for a romantic and entertaining evening of song and dance inspired by Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly and Eleanor Powell.  Dancing and Romancing features two song-and-dance veterans of the Broadway stage, Joan Hess and Kirby Ward, along with singer Debbie Gravitte and guest conductor Sean O’Loughlin. (*Title and other aspects of this program have changed.)

The RPO’s 2013-14 OrKIDStra series continues at 2 p.m. on Sunday, January 26 at the Performance Hall at Hochstein with Russian Fairy Tales. Principal Conductor for Education and Outreach Michael Butterman (The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Chair) conducts a program of narrated Russian fairy tale favorites – the Snow Maiden, Sadko the sailor, and the Tsar Saltan – woven together with the descriptive music of Rimsky-Korsakov and others. Tickets are $15/$10 children/$40 family four-pack.

Closing out January in Rochester is a musical escape to the City of Lights:  An Evening in Paris on Thursday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.  Along with Paris-born guest conductor Fabien Gabel, the program will feature internationally-renowned, Russian-American violinist Philippe Quint, about whom The Chicago Tribune proclaimed: “Here is a fiddle virtuoso whose many awards are fully justified by the brilliance of his playing.” In addition to Quint playing Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concert No. 3 and Ravel’s Tzigane, the program includes Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Ravel’s Une barque sur l’océan (A Boat on the Ocean), and Stravinsky’s fantastic Firebird Suite (1919).

Tickets (except those previously mentioned) start at $22, with $10 student/child tickets available. All tickets may be purchased in person at the Eastman Theatre Box Office (433 East Main Street) and at all Wegmans That’s T.H.E. Ticket! locations, by phone at (585) 454-2100, or online at rpo.org. 

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music since its founding in 1922. The RPO presents up to 150 concerts a year, serving nearly 200,000 people through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. Notable former music directors include Eugene Goossens, José Iturbi, Erich Leinsdorf, David Zinman, and Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman; Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik has earned a national reputation for excellence in pops programming during his 20-year tenure with the RPO. With Michael Butterman as Principal Conductor for Education and Outreach (The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Chair) – the first position of its kind in the country – the RPO reaches 14,000 children through its specific programs for school-aged children. The RPO’s 2013-14 season highlights include Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik’s 20th anniversary celebration, and a performance at Carnegie Hall on May 7, 2014, as part of the Spring For Music festival.

Media please note:  High-resolution images for Philharmonics concerts are available at docs.google.com/folder; high-res photos for Pops and other concerts are available at docs.google.com/folder/d. More details are available at rpo.org and upon request. Interviews, as well as photo and footage opportunities, can also be arranged.