RPO 2013–14 SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE AUG. 26: Highlights include Tyzik’s Twentieth, Beethoven’s Ninth & Carnegie Hall

For Immediate Release: August 23, 2013
Media Contacts: Sally Cohen, 585-749-1795, sally@sallycohenpr.com, @PR4Arts
RPO Info: rpo.org, facebook.com/SuperRPO, twitter.com/SuperRPO, rpo-land.blogspot.com

Rochester, NY – Single tickets for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO)’s complete 2013–14 season go on sale Monday, August 26 at 10 a.m. 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. Tickets start at $22, with $10 student tickets available.

The orchestra’s 91st season features a balance of classic and contemporary works, world-renowned guest artists and RPO soloists, top guest conductors, Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik’s 20th anniversary season, and a performance at Carnegie Hall. 

“We couldn’t be more excited to continue the important work of this orchestra – enlightening, educating, entertaining and enhancing the greater Rochester community,” says RPO President and CEO Charles Owens. “This season will also be a rare opportunity for audiences to see some of the top conductors in the world, as we continue our search for a new music director.”

Opening Weekend: Mahler’s First Symphony (Thursday, September 26 and 28 at 8 p.m.) features guest conductor Jun Märkl, formerly music director of Orchestre National de Lyon and Symphony Orchestra Leipzig as well as permanent conductor of the Bavarian State Opera. Violinist Jennifer Koh, called “fiercely gifted and intelligent” and “brilliant” by the New York Times, guests on Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor. In addition to Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” the program also includes Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis’ New Era Dance.

Opening weekend coincides with this year’s First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival (Sept. 19-28), and the RPO will hold its Season Opening Celebration on Thursday, September 26 from 5-7 p.m. in the Fringe’s Magic Crystal Spiegeltent on the corner of Gibbs and Main Streets, across from Eastman Theatre. Tickets are $75, available in person at the Eastman Theatre Box Office or by phone at (585) 454-2100, and include complimentary beer, wine and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

Other debuting and returning guest conductors (complete bios at rpo.org) bring an anticipatory energy to the 2013-14 Philharmonics Series: Bernhard Gueller (Phils 2: Brahms & Bartók/Oct. 17 & 19),  Larry Rachleff (Phils 3: Appalachian Spring/Oct. 24 & 26), Christoph Campestrini (Phils 4: Mozart & Tchaikovsky/Nov. 7 & 9), Junichi Hirokami (Phils 5: Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony/Nov. 14 & 16), Nir Kabaretti (Phils 6: Beethoven’s Pastoral/Nov. 21 & 23), James Feddeck (Phils 7: Bach & Respighi/Dec. 12 & 14), Hugh Wolff (Phils 8: Beethoven’s Ninth/Jan.16 & 18), Fabien Gabel (Phils 9: An Evening in Paris/Jan. 30 & Feb. 1), Michael Morgan (Phils 10: Gershwin & Ellington/Feb. 6 & 8), Michael Christie (Phils 12: Carnegie Hall Preview: Howard Hanson’s Merry Mount/April 10 & 12), Thomas Wilkins (Phils 13: Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony/May 22 & 24) and Michael Francis (Phils 14: Holst’s The Planets/May 29 & 31). RPO Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman will return for Phils 11: Berlioz, Beethoven & Bruckner/March 6 & 8.

Additional renowned guest artists include 32-year-old pianist Jonathan Biss (Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1/Phils 2), cellist Edward Arron (Haydn’s First Cello Concerto/Phils 6), violinist Philippe Quint (Saint-Saëns/Phils 9) and pianists Barry Snyder (Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23/Phils 4), Joyce Yang (Gershwin Piano Concerto/Phils 10) and Jon Kimura Parker (Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2/Phils 11).

The RPO continues to shine the spotlight on its own luminaries as well:  Concertmaster Juliana Athayde, The Caroline W. Gannett & Clayla Ward Chair (Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons/Phils 3), Principal Oboe Erik Behr, The Dr. Jacques M. Lipson Chair (R. Strauss’ Oboe Concerto/Phils 5) and Principal Trumpet Douglas Prosser, The Elaine P. Wilson Chair (Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto/Phils 13). 

RPO’s 2013-14 Philharmonics season includes a balanced mix of popular classical compositions and outstanding works by America’s leading contemporary composers. Major symphonic works include the season opener, Mahler’s Symphony No. 1; Bartok’s signature Concerto for Orchestra; and three celebrated Russian symphonies: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. The list continues with three acclaimed works by Beethoven – his “Choral” symphony, Symphony No. 9; his Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral;” and his piano Concerto No. 2 – as well as Holst’s The Planets, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite. America’s leading composers, including Aaron Jay Kernis (New Era Dance), Jennifer Higdon (City Scape: Skyline), Kevin Puts (Inspiring Beethoven), Joseph Schwantner (New Morning for the World) and James Beckel (Toccata for Orchestra) will be featured. Notable works from canonic composers Bach and Mozart, to important compositions by Ellington, Gershwin, Florence Beatrice Price, Piazzolla, Ravel, Strauss, Walton, Respighi and Debussy, further complement the wide range of repertoire to be presented.

Of particular note is a concert performance of former Eastman School of Music Director (from 1924-1964) Howard Hanson’s only opera, Merry Mount, at the Spring For Music Festival at Carnegie Hall on May 7, 2014. Loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Maypole of Merry Mount,” Richard Stokes’ libretto has been compared to Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. It was commissioned by and made its well-received stage debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1934, but has been performed rarely since. The RPO, Maestro Michael Christie, and the Eastman-Rochester Chorus (William Weinert, dir.) and singers from the Eastman School of Music present Carnegie Hall Preview: Howard Hanson’s Merry Mount on April 10 and 12.

The RPO Pops Series kicks off with The Midtown Men: 4 Stars from the Original Cast of Jersey Boys on Friday and Saturday, October 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. Four stars from the original cast of Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys sing favorite ’60s hits from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Motown, the Four Seasons, and more. Guest conducting will be native Australian conductor Ron Spigelman, current principal pops conductor for the Fort Worth Symphony and music director for the Lake Placid Sinfonietta.

The 10-program series celebrating Jeff Tyzik’s 20th season continues with Tyzik conducting Disney’s Fantasia – with scenes from both of the classic 1940 and 2000 films – on November 1 and 2, as well as the 20th anniversary edition of his Gala Holiday Pops on December 20 and 21. Cirque de la Symphonie returns (Cirque Returns) by popular demand on January 10 and 11, 2014, followed by Dancin’ and Romancin’ – The Best of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and tenor Doug LaBrecque on January 24 and 25. Former RPO conductor Peter Bay guest conducts Singin’ in the Rain on February 14 and 15 as the timeless romantic comedy plays on the big screen, and singer/songwriter/actress Ann Hampton Callaway Sings Streisand on February 28 and March 1. On March 21 and 22, Tyzik’s Twentieth Season Celebration marks the Grammy Award winner and Rochester Music Hall of Famer’s 20th anniversary as RPO Principal Pops Conductor with special guest, trumpeter Allen Vizzutti and some surprise guests. Curtis Stigers: Let’s Fall in Love features the jazz vocalist/saxophonist on April 25 and 26, and The Music of John Williams – conducted by Rochester native and former RPO Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Bob Bernhardt – closes next season’s Pops Series on May 9 and 10.  

Sunday Afternoons at Hochstein opens its Musical Connections series with Music and Art on October 6 at 2 p.m.  Principal Education and Outreach Conductor Michael Butterman (The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Chair) explores music inspired by visual art, including Jeff Tyzik’s Images:  Musical Impressions of an Art Museum and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Also in the series: Music and Dance (March 2), and Music and Literature (May 25). The second Sunday Afternoons at Hochstein series, Baroque Sundays, opens on November 3 at 2 p.m. with Baroque and More, featuring guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk and conductor Mark Scatterday. Also in this series: Bach and the Boys with RPO Concertmaster Juliana Athayde (Jan. 12), and Fireworks with Allen Vizzutti (March 23). 

The 2013-14 OrKIDStra Series begins with Orchestra Games on Sunday, October 13 at 2 p.m. at the Performance Hall at Hochstein. Maestro Butterman conducts composer Greg Smith’s exploration of orchestra instruments, with narration by Samuel Krall. The series continues with Tales of Russia (Jan. 26), Lemony Snicket: The Composer is Dead (March 16) and Picardy Penguin:  Let’s Build the Tower of Music! (April 6).

Special Events of the season include the return of The Nutcracker with Rochester City Ballet on November 29 – December 1, 2013. The 20th annual Gala Holiday Pops has special matinee performances on December 21 and 22, and a special matinee performance of Beethoven’s Ninth with the Rochester Oratorio Society takes place on Sunday, January 19, 2014.

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 19-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.

Media please note:  High-resolution images for Phils 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.