Santa
Rosa Symphony Announces 2006-2007 Season
News Release
Contact: Sara
Obuchowski, (707)
546-7097 ext 218
May
8, 2006
— Bruno Ferrandis named Santa Rosa
Symphony Music Director
— Guest soloists include: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Maya Beiser, Nicola
Benedetti
— Guest conductors: Joana Carneiro, Daniel Hege, Edward Gardner, George
Thomson
— "Sacred Music in Sacred Spaces" holiday concert: Monteverdi
Vespers
— SRS presents 4-concert Festival Series öThe Early Romantics: Loss
and Transcendence
— 50th Anniversary Celebration honoring Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brown
(SANTA ROSA, CA) — The Santa Rosa Symphony
enters its 79th season by welcoming new music
director Bruno Ferrandis of Paris, France.
Overwhelmingly favored for the position by
orchestra musicians, the selection committee
and board of directors, the 45-year-old Ferrandis
has twenty years of conducting experience,
beginning at Juilliard and continuing through
appearances with some of the world's
great opera companies and the finest orchestras
of Europe and Asia. He takes the podium three
times during the Symphonyâs 2006-2007
season, and will relocate to the Bay Area prior
to the opening of the 2007-2008 season.
SRS Executive Director Alan Silow characterized
the selection of Bruno Ferrandis as "an
inspired choice bringing world-class conducting
skills, a profound sense of collegial music-making,
and a passionate and creative commitment to
community outreach."
With characteristic enthusiasm, Maestro Ferrandis
responded to his new position: "I am
thrilled about this life-changing appointment!
I embrace the opportunity to work with such
an ensemble of capable musicians, and with
them to present a strong vision and the highest
quality of music making."
(Complete biography of Bruno Ferrandis later
in this release)
2006-2007 Season
Offerings
CORE
REPERTOIRE
A strong international thread weaves through
the seven sets (three concerts each) of the
Classical Series: an all-Russian opening program,
a French-themed program in November and an
English-themed program in March. In January,
Santa Rosa Symphony pays tribute to the icons
of American music by presenting Gershwinâs
An American in Paris and Leonard Bernsteinâs
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. SRS
also presents contemporary works by some of
the most respected composers living today.
The offerings of Bright Sheng and academy award-winner
Tan Dun÷Tibetan Swing and Crouching
Tiger Concerto respectively÷promise
to mesmerize audiences. Fantasia on an Ostinato
by John Corigliano, composer of the academy
award-winning soundtrack for The Red Violin,
rounds out the December program.
Beloved masterworks are also well represented
in the 2006-2007 season. Bruno Ferrandis and
the orchestra celebrate his debut as music
director in October with the irrepressible
Fourth Symphony of Tchaikovsky. SRS honors
the 150th anniversary of Schumannâs death
with Schumannâs dazzling piano concerto
and Third Symphony as well as featuring his
chamber works on March 31 during the Early
Romantics Festival.
Other
concerto and symphonic masterpieces include
a Beethoven piano concerto, Elgarâs
cello concerto and Tchaikovskyâs concerto
for violin, Dvorakâs 6th Symphony,
Rachmaninoffâs Symphonic Dances and
some hidden gems, such as Englishman William
Waltonâs poignant Symphony No. 1.
STELLAR GUEST SOLOISTS
A stunning line-up of guest virtuosi join
the SRS in the new season. Pianist Joyce
Yang, who performs Prokofievâs Piano Concerto
No. 2 in the October 14-15, 2006 concerts,
has been described by the San Antonio Express
News as ãa colorist with a seemingly
endless palette.ä
BBC Young Musician of the Year, 18-year-old
Nicola Benedetti performs both a Saint-Sa‘ns
piece and Chaussonâs Poeme for Violin
in the Nov. 11-13, 2006 concerts. Leonard Bernstein
Award winner Jonathan Biss plays a Schumann
Piano Concerto on our December 9-11 program.
In January, the passionate Israeli-born cellist
Maya Beiser, called by the New York Times,
ãbrightly voiced and musically attentive
everywhereä plays the Crouching Tiger
Concerto. Shai Wosner, winner of a 2005 Avery
Fisher Career Grant and a 2005 Borletti-Buitoni
Trust Award, is featured in Beethovenâs
Piano Concerto No. 3 on our February 10-12
program.
German-born cellist and Tchaikovsky Competition
winner Johannes Moser performs Elgarâs
Cello Concerto on March 17-19. And finally, ãa
master musician at the height of her powersä Nadja
Salerno-Sonnenberg takes the stage in Santa
Rosa for the second time since her debut here
at the age of 17. She plays Tchaikovskyâs
Concerto for Violin in the May 12-14 concert
set.
CONDUCTORS AND MORE CONDUCTORS
Music Director Bruno Ferrandis conducts the
opening concerts in October, the January program
and the season-ending concerts in May. The
following guest conductors take the podium
for the rest of the Classical Series dates:
Daniel Hege, music director of the Syracuse
Symphony and formerly assistant conductor of
the Baltimore Symphony, appears in November,
conducting Faurˇ, Chausson, Saint-Sa‘ns
and Schumann.
Assistant
conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic, Joana
Carneiro, who performed to great acclaim
in Santa Rosa in February 2005, returns in
December 2006, to present the holiday choral
program which includes Vaughan-Williams Dona
Nobis Pacem and features soprano Jenni Samuelson
and baritone Philip Lima.
The February concerts feature Conductor Emeritus
Corrick Brown, conducting Brahms, Beethoven
and Dvoř‡k. The set is crowned
by a grand celebration of Brownâs 50th
anniversary with the Santa Rosa Symphony on
Sunday, February 11, 2007.
Edward Gardner, recently named music director
of the English National Opera, appears in March
2007, conducting Beethovenâs Leonore
Overture and the works of fellow Englishmen
Elgar and Walton.
George Thomson, associate conductor of the
Berkeley Symphony, conducts Berliozâs
Symphonie fantastique, the finale of the Early
Romantics Festival on April 28.
MAGNUM OPUS
SRS enters its fourth season of participation
in the Magnum Opus Project, one of the largest
commissioning projects of new symphonic works
in the United States. Sponsored by Kathryn
Gould through Meet the Composer, Inc., this
project allows the Santa Rosa, Marin and Oakland
East Bay symphonies to jointly commission,
premiere and give repeat performances of nine
new works over the course of multiple seasons.
In
the May 12-14 season-concluding concerts,
music director Ferrandis conducts a Magnum
Opus commission by Latvian composer Peteris
Vasks. Vasksâs music contains archaic-folkloristic
elements of Latvian music ãprogrammed
in conjunction with an idea, a moral and
an emotional frame of reference.ä His
previous compositions have dealt with the
relation between humans and nature, the beauty
of life and the threatening ecologic and
moral destruction of these values.
FAMILY DISCOVERY SERIES OPEN REHEARSALS
The SRS presents a Discovery Series of full-length
open rehearsals for the seven Classical Series
concerts. These informal, Saturday afternoon
rehearsals include commentary from the conductor
as well as performances by each guest artist
and an opportunity to see the inner-workings
of an orchestra. Discovery Series concert dates
are: October 14, November 11, December 9, 2006;
January 20, February 10, March 17 and May 12,
2007. Reduced ticket prices for the seven rehearsal
series are $60 adults, $40 youth. Single tickets
for individual performances are $10 adults
and $6 youth.
Specials· Beyond
the Classical Series
SACRED
MUSIC IN SACRED SPACES: MONTEVERDIâS
VESPERS
The Sonoma County Bach Choir, under the
direction of Robert Worth, and members
of the Santa Rosa Symphony present Monteverdiâs Vespers
in three Sonoma County churches. Six outstanding
guest soloists (sopranos Jenni Samuelson and
Carol Menke; tenors Brian Staufenbiel and Scott
Whitaker; basses Hugh Davies and Boyd Jarrell)
join the vocal ensemble. This production places
Monteverdiâs festive music within a Vespers
celebrating the angelâs annunciation
to the Virgin Mary, and is perfect for the
Christmas season. The concerts take place Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, December 1-3 in Petaluma,
Santa Rosa and Windsor.
THE EARLY ROMANTICS FESTIVAL: LOSS AND TRANSCENDENCE
(Tickets for the festival series will
not be available until Fall 2006)
This Festival series takes place over the course
of four months with three chamber music concerts
at Sonoma County Day Schoolâs Jackson
Theater, and a symphonic finale at the Wells
Fargo Center for the Arts. Juilliard-trained
Mack McCray is the featured pianist for all
the chamber concerts of the Early Romantics
Festival. This transcendent musical journey
begins with a full evening of Schubert, including
the Trout Quintet, on January 27; continues
with a full evening of Mendelssohn, including
his Songs Without Words and Sextet for Piano
and Strings on February 24; and on March 31,
showcases the compositions of Schumann, Chopin
and Liszt in a side-by-side illustration of
the individualism so prized by the Romantics.
The Festival Finale explores Symphonie fantastique with
a theatrical, multi-media presentation hosted
by UCLA musicologist Robert Winter, followed
by a complete performance of Berliozâs
revolutionary masterpiece÷a symphony
which epitomized the imagination and angst
of the Romantic era.
GOOD AS GOLD: A 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
HONORING
CONDUCTOR EMERITUS CORRICK BROWN
Corrick Brown was Music Director of the Santa
Rosa Symphony from 1957 until 1994, and is
now Conductor Emeritus. In appreciation for
his leadership, and for the contributions of
Corrick and his wife, pianist Norma Brown,
to the cultural life of this community, the
Santa Rosa Symphony is hosting a special golden
anniversary celebration on Sunday, February
11, 2007, at the new Vintnerâs Inn Event
Center in Santa Rosa. At the ãGood as
Goldä event honoring Corrick Brown, friends
will roast him and toast him, musicians will
play for him, an elegant dinner will be served
and the event will wrap up with a Symphony
benefit auction.
SYMPHONY POPS IS BACK
The Symphony Pops Series, Santa Rosa Symphonyâs
collaboration with Wells Fargo Center for the
Arts, returns for a second season of popular
entertainment. These Sunday matinee shows begin
on October 29, 2006, with Michael Berkowitz
conducting a ãBig Band Salute,ä continue
on February 18, 2007, with Asher Raboy conducting
ãGershwin on Broadwayä and conclude
on April 15 with Michael Krajewski conducting
a blockbuster performance of the ãMovie
Magic of John Williams.ä Subscriptions
and single tickets for the Symphony Pops will
be available only through the Wells Fargo Center
for the Arts box office: (707) 546-3600 www.wellsfargocenterarts.com
beginning in August.
SRS Season at
a Glance
CLASSICAL SERIES
October 14, 15 & 16, 2006
Bruno Ferrandis, conductor
Joyce Yang, piano
Shostakovich : Festival Overture
Prokofiev : Piano Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky : Symphony No. 4
November 11, 12 & 13, 2006
Daniel Hege, conductor
Nicola Benedetti, violin
Faurˇ: Pellˇas et Mˇlisande Suite
Saint-Sa‘ns: Introduction and Rondo
Capriccioso
Chausson: Po¸me for Violin
Schumann: Symphony No. 3
December 9, 10 & 11, 2006
Joana Carneiro, conductor
Jonathan Biss, piano
Jenni Samuelson, soprano
Philip Lima, baritone
Corigliano: Fantasia on an Ostinato
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem
January 20, 21 & 22, 2007
Bruno Farrandis, conductor
Maya Beiser, cello
Sheng: Tibetan Swing
Dun: Crouching Tiger Concerto
Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side
Story
Gershwin: An American in Paris
February 10, 11 & 12, 2007
Corrick Brown, conductor
Shai Wosner, piano
Brahms: Academic Festival Overture
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Dvoř‡k: Symphony No. 6
March 17, 18 & 19, 2007
Edward Gardner, conductor
Johannes Moser, cello
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3
Elgar: Cello Concerto
Walton: Symphony No. 1
May 12, 13 & 14, 2007
Bruno Ferrandis, conductor
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin
Vasks: TBA (Magnum Opus Commission)
Brahms: Violin Concerto
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
MONTEVERDIâS VESPERS
Robert Worth, conductor
Sonoma County Bach Choir
Friday, December 1, 2006
St. Vincent De Paul Church, Petaluma
Saturday, December 2, 2006
St. Eugeneâs Cathedral, Santa Rosa
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Windsor
EARLY ROMANTICS FESTIVAL
Saturday, January 27, 2007 ö 5:30pm*
Mack McCray, piano
Vocalist - TBA
Santa Rosa Symphony Chamber Players
All Schubert Program:
Die Forelle
Shepherd on the Rock
Trout Quintet
Notturno
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 5:30pm*
Sonoma Country Day School
Mack McCray, piano
Santa Rosa Symphony Chamber Players
All-Mendelssohn Program:
Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor
Sextet for Piano and Strings
Songs Without Words
Saturday, March 31, 2007- 5:30pm*
Sonoma Country Day School
Mack McCray, piano
Santa Rosa Symphony Chamber Players
Schumann: String Quartet No. 2 in F major
Schumann: Piano Trio No.1 in D minor
Solo piano works by Chopin and Liszt
*At Sonoma Country Day School, Jackson
Theater
Early Romantics Festival Finale!
Saturday, April 28, 2007 8pm
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
George Thomson, conductor
Santa Rosa Symphony
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
with musicologist Robert Winter
SYMPHONY POPS
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
Oct. 29,
3 p.m. — Michael Berkowitz
conducts "Big Band Salute"
Feb. 18, 3 p.m. — Asher Raboy conducts
"Gershwin on Broadway"
April 15, 3 p.m. — Michael Krajewski
condusts
ãMovie Music Magic of John Williamsä
About Music
Director Bruno Ferrandis
Versatile
and highly-acclaimed French conductor Bruno
Ferrandis started "solf¸ge" ear-training
studies at age 5-¸ and piano at 6 at
the Nice Conservatory of Music under the
guidance of world-renowned organist of Notre
Dame de Paris Cathedral, Pierre Cochereau.
Ferrandis studied contrabass and conducting
at the age of 15, and gave his first concert
at 17.
He has studied with great maestros such as:
Pierre Dervaux in Nice, France, Franco Ferrara
in Siena, Italy (Academia Chiggiana), Sixten
Ehrling in New York, Seiji Ozawa at Tanglewood
and at Fontainebleau School and The Juilliard
School seminars and master classes with Leonard
Bernstein. Ferrandis is a graduate of the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama (London, England)
and has a masterâs degree in conducting
from The Juilliard School in New York City.
His breadth of musical experience includes
not only the genres of symphony and opera,
but also the standard and avant-garde repertoires,
including ballet, musical theater, and cinema-accompanying
music.
Ferrandis has also collaborated with a wide
variety of entertainment artists such as the
actors and movie directors John Neville, Atom
Egoyan, Colm Feore, Robert Lepage, Fran¨ois
Girard, Stephen Wadsworth and choreographer
Martha Clark.
Conducting credits include modern and classical
ballet companies in New York City, France and
Italy. He has conducted the bulk of symphonic
repertoire with great success on several continents
and with a diversity of orchestras. In Asia,
he conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic and
the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, The Seoul Philharmonic,
and worked with the Tokyo New National Theater.
In Israel, he conducted the Jerusalem Symphony
Orchestra; in Eastern Europe, the Polish Radio
Orchestra, the Prague State Theater Orchestra,
the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra; in Great
Britain, the BBC Northern Orchestra; in Germany
and Austria: the LŸbeck Hanseatic Orchestra,
the Mainz Bach Chor, the Wien Klang Forum;
in Italy, the Orchestra Regio di Torino, the
Opera of Genoa Orchestra, the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia
Orchestra; in Spain, the Pamplona Sarasate
Orchestra, the Madrid Radio-Television Orchestra,
the Seville Symphony Orchestra, the Valencia
Orchestra. In France, he has conducted in all
the major cities including Bordeaux and the
Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ferrandis has been conductor of the Juilliard
Pre-College Orchestra, guest conductor of the
Juilliard Opera Center and has conducted numerous
concerts with the Aspen Festivals Orchestras.
He co-founded the New Music Ensemble
ãMusic Mobileä in New York City.
In Toronto, he conducted major opera works
at the Canadian Opera Company and served as
resident conductor there from 1991 to 1997.
He is regularly invited to conduct by the Radio
France Orchestra, and with them has recorded
three compact discs (two under the MFA label
and one under the Naxos label). In 1997 he
received a ãCriticâs Grand Prizeä for
his conducting of Wozzeck by Manfred Gurlitt.
Bruno Ferrandis speaks his native French, as
well as English, Italian, Spanish, German,
and Russian. When time permits, he studies
ancient Hebrew and ancient Greek to allow reading
of the great texts of biblical and mythological
times.
Performance
Times and Locations
The
Santa Rosa Symphony offers a Saturday, Sunday
or Monday series of seven classical subscription
concerts at the Wells Fargo Center for the
Arts. The WFCA is located 2 miles north of
Santa Rosa just off Highway 101. Saturday
and Monday performances begin at 8 p.m. and
Sunday performances at 3 p.m. Discovery Series
open rehearsals begin at 2 p.m. on Saturdays,
also at the WFCA.
In Santa Rosa Symphonyâs popular pre-concert
conversations, the conductors discuss the musical
program and answer questions from the audience.
Sponsored by Quivira Estate Vineyards, Conversations
with the Conductor begin one hour prior to
subscription performances in the main theater.
The Early Romantics Festival concerts take
place at 5:30 p.m. on the following Saturdays:
January 27, February 24 and March 31, 2007,
at Sonoma Country Day Schoolâs Jackson
Theater, 4400 Day School Place, off Aviation
Boulevard in Santa Rosa. The Saturday, April
28, 2007 concert is at the Wells Fargo Center
for the Arts at 8:00 p.m.
Subscription
Information
ð
Seven-concert Classical Series subscription
prices range from $112* - $322, offering
significant savings over single ticket
prices. Subscriptions are now available
at the SRS Box Office located at 50 Santa
Rosa Avenue, ground floor, in Santa Rosa
or by phone 707-54-MUSIC (707-546-8742).
- The Early Romantics subscription prices
are $118 for Premier seating and $93 for
Reserved seating.
- ð Discovery Rehearsal Series subscription
prices are $60 for adults and $40 for youth
under 21.
- Come As You Can subscription prices
are $272. Buy 8 vouchers for Classical Series
concerts and use them for the concerts of
your choice.
- Pick Three Mini-Series subscription
prices are $45* - $129. Subscribe for 3 Classical
concerts of your choice.
Current subscribers have until June
2, 2006, to renew their present seats or
request a move to a different location. New
subscriptions will be processed in the order
received once the deadline has passed for
current subscriber renewals.
*Specially discounted prices for students
and seniors (age 65 and over)
CONCERT BROADCASTS
The SRS subscription concerts will be broadcast
for the 12th season on Public Radio KRCB
90.9 FM and 91.1 FM (Rohnert Park), scheduled
for noon on the second Sunday following the
performances.
The Santa Rosa Symphony Box Office:
50 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95404.
Phone: 707.546.8742
Fax: 707.546.0460
TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE: www.santarosasymphony.com
Programs and artist subject to change. Artistsâ
photos available on request. *****
List of Works
2006-2007 Season
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side
Story
Brahms: Academic Festival Overture
Chausson: Poeme for Violin
Corigliano: Fantasia on an Ostinato
Dvoř‡k: Symphony No. 6
Dun: Crouching Tiger Concerto
Elgar: Cello Concerto
Fauré: Peléas et Mélisande
Suite
Gershwin: An American in Paris
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor
Mendelssohn: Sextet for Piano and Strings
Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words
Prokofiev : Piano Concerto No. 2
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Saint-Sa‘ns: Introduction and Rondo
Capriccioso
Schubert: Die Forelle
Schubert: Shepherd on the Rock
Schubert: Trout Quintet
Schubert: Notturno
Schumann: Piano Quartet in C minor
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Schumann: String Quartet No. 2 in F major
Schumann: Symphony No. 3
Sheng: Tibetan Swing
Shostakovich: Festival Overture
Tchaikovsky : Symphony No. 4
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Vasks: TBA (Magnum Opus Commission)
Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem
Walton: Symphony No. 1
WORKS RECEIVING THEIR FIRST SRS PERFORMANCES
Chausson: Poeme for Violin
Corigliano: Fantasia on an Ostinato
Dun: Crouching Tiger Concerto
Gershwin: An American in Paris
Monteverdi: Vespers
Sheng: Tibetan Swing
Vasks: TBA (Magnum Opus Commission)
Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem
Walton: Symphony No. 1 |
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