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Press Releases
Atlantic Classical Orchestra Announces Release of First Recording
Recorded live March 5, 2012 at Lynn University’s Wold Performing Arts Center in Boca Raton, Florida, the CD includes a bonus track, a 20 plus- minute conversation on the Schumann Violin Concerto with Elmar Oliveira and Stewart Robertson.
Executive Director Anne Berquist stated, “Atlantic Classical Orchestra has proven itself to be a performing arts organization of the highest level over the past two decades. As we move toward our 25th anniversary in Florida’s Treasure Coast, it brings me great pleasure to be able to share the unique sound of this orchestra with an even wider audience.”
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Stewart Robertson said, “This is a wonderful opportunity for ACO as the organization continues to grow. It was a truly enjoyable endeavor to record these works with one of America’s renowned violinists, Elmar Oliveira, who has appeared as a guest artist on our concert season in the past. We are also deeply grateful to Artek and Naxos for working with us to make the recording available to the public.”
The CD is available for purchase and/or download through Naxos (http://www.naxos.com) and http://www.classicsonline.com.
In celebration of the release, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra is hosting a two CD Release Parties: March 3, 2013 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the River Club at Carlton, 1401 Old Winter Beach Road, Vero Beach, Florida, and March 4, 2013 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at The Lyric’s Flagler Center, 201 SW Flagler Avenue, Stuart, Florida. For more information please call 772.460.0850. Mr. Oliveira and Maestro Roberston will be present to sign CDs, which will be available for purchase.
About Elmar Oliveira
Unsurpassed in his combination of elegance and impeccable artistry, Elmar Oliveira is one of the most distinguished violinists in the world today. His commitment to a wide spectrum of the violin world manifests itself in numerous ways, such as consistently expanding repertoire boundaries as a champion of both contemporary music and rarely-heard works of the past, devoting considerable energy to the development of younger artists, and enthusiastically supporting the efforts and art of modern violin makers.
A familiar and much-admired figure at the world's foremost concert venues, Mr. Oliveira has performed with many of the world's great orchestras. He has also made extensive recital tours of North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East.
Mr. Oliveira's repertoire is among the most diverse of any of today's preeminent artists. Hailed for his performances of the standard violin literature, he is also a much sought-after interpreter of the music of our time. He has premiered works by such distinguished composers as Morton Gould, Aaron Kernis, Ezra Laderman, Benjamin Lees, Andrzej Panufnik, Krysztof Penderecki, Joan Tower and Charles Wuorinen. He has also performed seldom-heard concerti by Alberto Ginastera, Joseph Joachim and Einoujuhani Rautavaara, among others.
A prodigious recording artist, Elmar Oliveira's discography on Artek, Angel, SONY Masterworks, Vox, Delos, IMP, Naxos, Ondine, and Melodiya covers a wide range of works from the Baroque period to the present. His best-selling recording of the Rautavaara Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic (Ondine) won a Cannes Classical Award and has appeared on Gramophone's “Editor's Choice” and other “Best Recordings” lists around the world. He was also a Grammy nominee for his CD of the Barber Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony.
Elmar Oliveira remains the only American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow's prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition. He was also the First Prize winner at the Naumburg International Competition and the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. http:elmaroliveira.com/
About Stewart Robertson
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Atlantic Classical Orchestra since 2004, Glasgow, Scotland native Stewart Robertson is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music. He studied piano in London with Denis Matthews, conducting with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna, and with Otmar Suitner at the Mozarteum, Salzburg, where he was a finalist in the Austrian Radio Conductor’s Competition. Robertson thrives on a wide range of musical interests. He has become particularly associated with the music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Benjamin Britten and his close involvement with new music has led him to having conducted over 100 orchestral and operatic world premieres. Robertson is also Music Director Emeritus of Glimmerglass Opera in New York.
Robertson gained his early experience at the opera houses of Cologne and Zurich and at Scottish Opera, where he was Music Director of the touring company. Subsequently he became Music Director of the San Bernardino Symphony and the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra where he was a champion of new music and a frequent broadcaster on National Public Radio. Additionally, he has enjoyed two highly successful periods as Artistic Director of Opera Omaha and Music Director of Florida Grand Opera in Miami as well as his now legendary two decades at the helm of Glimmerglass Opera.
Equally at home in opera as in the concert hall, Robertson has led performances with orchestras as diverse as The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, The Hong Kong Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Netherland Symphony Orchestra, Mecklenburg Staatskapelle, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Sicily Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nacional of Mexico, the North German Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Highlights include performances at the Lille Festival in France with the Orchestra of Maastricht, Igor Oistrakh, soloist, and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the Ukraine State Philharmonic. He has also led this orchestra both in Kiev and on tour in Holland and has recorded with them symphonies of Shostakovitch, and Prokofiev. Recently Robertson made a highly successful debut with the Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic and the chorus of the Maggio Musicale Florence conducting the closing concert of Italy’s famed Festival of the Nations in Citta di Castello, Umbria.
In the realm of opera Robertson’s appearances include New York City Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, the companies of Montreal, Detroit, Philadelphia, Opera Theater of St Louis, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Duesseldorf, The Norwegian National Opera, the Jesi Festival in Italy, the Wexford Festival, Opera Ireland and the Fort Worth Opera Festival.
Robertson’s performances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Ukraine State Philharmonic and Glimmerglass Opera can be heard on the Chandos, Naxos, New World and Verdi/EMI labels. His recording of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett’s opera, The Mines of Sulphur, was nominated for a Grammy award. His world premiere recording of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina has recently been released on the Signum label and his interpretation of Puccini’s La Boheme at the Puccini Festival in the composer’s home town of Torre del Lago is available on DVD. In the USA Robertson’s performances have been televised by PBS on both the ‘Great Performances’ and ‘Live from Lincoln Center’ series.
About Atlantic Classical Orchestra
Now in its 23rd season, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra (ACO) has developed a reputation as a world –class performing arts organization dedicated to presenting performances of both orchestral and chamber music in the rapidly growing urban communities on Florida’s eastern seaboard north of Miami. While its core repertory is based in the late 18th and early 19th century, the orchestra has developed an active commitment to the rediscovery of much unjustly neglected music from the Romantic era, written for an orchestra of classical proportions alongside championing the best and most accessible of contemporary music with a special emphasis on the younger generation of American composers.
The ACO is composed of members drawn not only from Florida’s principal musical organizations, but also major orchestras throughout the USA. The orchestra’s artistic vision, high caliber of playing and variety of works performed have resulted in such acclaim by the press as, “What a remarkable group the Atlantic Classical Orchestra has become....under Grammy- nominated Music Director, Stewart Robertson, it has become an ambitious and poised group that could claim an honored place in even the most culturally rich communities”. -The Palm Beach Post.
First led by conductor Andrew McMullan, in 2004, the ACO baton was passed to Grammy-nominated Maestro Stewart Robertson, the second and current Music Director of the ACO. Bringing with him experience gained from his two decade tenure as Music Director of the internationally acclaimed Glimmerglass Opera and an equally successful stint as Music Director of the Florida Grand Opera, Maestro Robertson continued the phenomenal artistic growth begun by Andy McMullan.
The only resident performing arts organization of Florida’s Treasure Coast, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra’s educational and outreach efforts include am ongoing relationship with the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony. In 2009, a new partnership garnered spectacular results- teaming with Miami’s Dranoff International Two Piano Competition, members of the ACO and prizewinning piano duos from the Dranoff performed special education programs in schools throughout South Florida, culminating in two free Family Concerts featuring the full ACO in performances of Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals.
Guest artists for the ACO’s 2013 season include violinists Caroline Goulding and Marina Lenau, harpist Bridget Kibby and pianists Vladimir Feltsman and Tao Lin. For more information about the ACO, its upcoming CD signing and concerts this season, please visit the orchestra’s web site at http://www.atlanticclassicalorchestra.com /
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