Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra Opens 2016-2017 Concert Season with Bronfman Plays Tchaikovsky 2

    KALAMAZOO, MI, September 08, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of its Music Director Raymond Harvey, will open their 96th season with a program featuring Schelle, Hindemith and Tchaikovsky.

Internationally renowned, and Grammy Award-winning, pianist Yefim Bronfman will be performing Tchaikovsky's 2nd Piano Concerto. Bronfman is recognized as one of today's most acclaimed pianists; his commanding technique, power, and exceptional lyrical gifts will be on full display in Tchaikovsky's second piano concerto. Mr. Bronfman was also a guest artist for the 2016 Gilmore Keyboard Festival.

Maestro Harvey will open the evening's performance with the music of Michael Schelle and Paul Hindemith. Schelle dedicates each movement of Spirits to an "infamous Hoosier"--Rev. Jim Jones and James Dean. Paul Hindemith's masterpiece Mathis der Maler draws inspiration from Grunewald's Isenheim Altarpiece and explores the role of the artist within society.

This concert will also serve as the much anticipated unveiling of the KSO's new Steinway D Concert Grand piano, which was made possible by the incredible generosity of an anonymous donor. The KSO is proud to announce that Steinway & Sons President & CEO, Ron Losby, will be present for the inauguration of the new piano and will make an appearance on stage.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Raymond Harvey
For more than 35 years, Raymond Harvey has made a significant impact as an American conductor of great skill and insight. Born in New York City, he studied piano and conducting, receiving Bachelor's and Master's degrees in choral conducting from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music; and then studied orchestral conducting at the Yale School of Music, earning Master's and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.

This season Maestro Harvey celebrates 18 years as Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. He previously held the top post at the Fresno Philharmonic (California), Springfield Symphony (Massachusetts), and El Paso Opera (Texas).

Maestro Harvey has appeared as guest conductor with many of America's leading orchestras, including those of Philadelphia, Atlanta, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Detroit, New Orleans and Minnesota, as well as the New York Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts and the Boston Pops. He has also had engagements with the Maggio Musicale Orchestra of Florence, Italy, the Pusan Symphony of South Korea, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. He regularly performs as a pianist, both in chamber music and as pianist/conductor in works of Gershwin, Mozart, and Rachmaninoff.

In addition to his commitment to Kalamazoo, Dr. Harvey has been named an Associate Professor at the University of Houston, where he serves as Music Director of the Moores School of Music opera department. His operatic repertoire is extensive, including favorites such as Carmen, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Turandot, and Aida; as well as the more rarely performed The Consul, The Rape of Lucretia, and Samson and Delilah.

The Kalamazoo community continues to embrace Raymond Harvey through appreciation of his compelling performances and engaging lectures.

Yefim Bronfman
Internationally recognized as one of today's most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors and recital series. His commanding technique, power and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike.

At the center of this season is a residency with the Staatskapelle Dresden which includes all the Beethoven concerti conducted by Christian Thielemann in Dresden and on tour in Europe. Mr. Bronfman will also be performing Bartok concerti with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev in Edinburgh, London, Vienna, Luxembourg, and New York. Recital performances will capture audiences with the cycles of the daunting complete Prokofiev sonatas over three programs in Berlin, New York's Carnegie Hall, and Cal Performances, Berkeley.

As a regular guest, Mr. Bronfman will return to the Vienna, New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, Mariinsky, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, as well as the symphonies of Boston, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco and Seattle. Following the success of their first US tour last spring, Mr. Bronfman will rejoin Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lynn Harrell in May for a European tour that takes them from Madrid to Berlin, Moscow and Milan.

Mr. Bronfman was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1991, and the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in piano performance from Northwestern University in 2010. He has been nominated for three GRAMMY Awards, one of which he won with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for their recording of the three Bartok Piano Concerti.

Born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union on 10 April 1958, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973.

CALENDAR LISTING
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra presents

Symphonic Series
Bronfman Plays Tchaikovsky 2
Raymond Harvey, Conductor
Yefim Bronfman,Piano

For their opening concert of the 2016-17 Symphonic Series, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Raymond Harvey, presents internationally renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman performing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Maestro Harvey rounds out the program with the music of Michael Schelle and Paul Hindemith.

Friday, September 16, 2016
Miller Auditorium

Tickets: $60 - $24
Student & Veteran discounts available.
$5 Student Rush tickets, and $10 Harvey's Hideaway seating available at the box office the night of the concert.

For tickets, visit www.kalamazoosymphony.com, call the KSO Box Office at (269) 349-7759 or call Miller Auditorium Ticket Office at (269) 387-2300.

Visit www.kalamazoosymphony.com for up-to-date information, details and schedules. Prices, artists, dates, time and program are subject to change without notice.

The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra receives major support from the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra also receives generous support from other local, state and national foundations, as well as private and corporate support. For more information, visit www.kalamazoosymphony.com.

Founded in 1921, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra is Southwest Michigan�s premier musical organization, providing musical enrichment to over 80,000 adults and youth per year.

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