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Press Releases
Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony Launch Dynamic 2014–2015 Season
Seattle, WA – On the heels of a notable 2013–2014 season that included an appearance at Carnegie Hall, a Pulitzer Prize–winning commission and a launch of an in-house record label, Music Director Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony embark upon their fourth season together. In the coming season the Symphony will venture deeper into cross-genre concert presentations, further its commitment to supporting composers of our time, continue its prolific track record in the recording studio, dive into major symphonic repertoire and, above all, invest in the Puget Sound community with a wide spectrum of community and education initiatives.
COMMISSIONS and WORLD PREMIERES
The Seattle Symphony champions musical voices of our time, this season presenting a total of nine commissions or co-commissions. The Symphony’s commission Become Ocean by John Luther Adams won a Pulitzer Prize in Music earlier in 2014. During the 2014–2015 season, Mason Bates’ new Cello Concerto will receive its world-premiere performance on December 11 at the Seattle Symphony, one of three co-commissioners for the piece. On April 23, echoing a worldwide commemoration of WWI, Sebastian Currier’s “Divisions” will be performed for the first time by the Seattle Symphony, also a co-commissioner along with the Boston Symphony and National Orchestra of Belgium. Then on June 11, a new violin concerto by Julian Anderson, former classmate of Morlot at the Royal Academy of Music in London, will receive its U.S. premiere in Seattle. Co-commissioners for this composition are the Seattle Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Other commissions and co-commissions on this season’s programs include works by Colin Matthews, Yugo Kanno, Yann Robin, Angelique Poteat, Trimpin and Mike McCready.
REPERTOIRE HIGHLIGHTS IN 2014–2015
On January 29 and 30 Ludovic Morlot leads the Seattle Symphony in a performance of Charles Ives’ rarely heard Symphony No. 4, his moving and multifacted reflection on life, drawing on the full range of American musical styles. Then, on February 12 and 14 Morlot conducts the Seattle Symphony and Chorale in Berlioz’s magnificent Roméo et Juliette, with mezzo-soprano Sylvie Brunet Grupposo, tenor Kenneth Tarver and baritone Patrick Bolleire. The Symphony presents Shostakovich’s epic “Leningrad” Symphony on April 16, with guest conductor Andrey Boreyko at the helm. Morlot returns on June 18 to conduct Mahler’s majestic Third Symphony, with mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, Women of the Seattle Symphony Chorale, and Northwest Boychoir in performance.
Celebrate Asia, the signature annual event presented in partnership with Seattle’s Asian community, will once again explore the rich musical traditions of Asian countries alongside Western classical music. Celebrate Asia includes performances by up-and-coming Asian instrumentalists, Symphony-commissioned works by Asian composers, favorites of the Asian symphonic repertoire and a performance of the winning work from the Seattle Symphony’s annual Celebrate Asia Composition Competition. This year’s Celebrate Asia concert will be on March 1, 2015, with conductor Carolyn Kuan leading the Symphony in performances of works by A.R. Rahman, Tan Dun, as well as a Seattle Symphony commission and U.S. premiere by Yugo Kanno, a Japanese composer well-known for his soundtracks to TV series, movies, and animations.
MAJOR SIBELIUS CELEBRATION
In March the Symphony will embark on a three-week festival to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ birth. The Seattle Symphony will be the only orchestra in the United States to present Sibelius’ entire symphonic cycle this season. In addition the Symphony has partnered with area Scandinavian organizations, including the Nordic Heritage Museum, on various pre- and post-concert activities to further strengthen the narrative around the musical presentations and bring the great composer’s unique world to light. Guest speakers include Ruusamari Teppo, great-granddaughter of Jean Sibelius. Leading the Seattle Symphony will be Scandinavian conductor Thomas Dausgaard, in his inaugural year as Principal Guest Conductor.
SIGNATURE CROSS-GENRE CONCERT PRESENTATIONS
This season, the Symphony continues the tradition of its signature cross-genre concerts. On January 30 Ludovic Morlot leads the Symphony in another daring Sonic Evolution program, an annual concert inspired by Seattle’s deep and varied popular music tradition, from rock to jazz. This year’s concert will feature a new commission written by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, friend and frequent jam-session companion of Ludovic Morlot. Morlot’s interest in cross-genre presentations extends to the visual arts this season. In a new musical commission and site-specific installation in the Benaroya Hall lobby this May, Music Alive Composer in Residence Trimpin will explore using found objects to create an array of sculptural interactive instruments that will be featured at the concert hall, and engage the general public in an ongoing interaction with the instruments. The piece will be premiered by the orchestra on May 1 during a concert on the Symphony’s late-night contemporary music series, [untitled]. The 2014–2015 season will mark the second year in a three-year Trimpin residency at the Seattle Symphony. In addition to the commission, other aspects of Trimpin’s residency include working with the Symphony to mentor pre-college-age composers in the Seattle Symphony’s annual Merriman Family Young Composers Workshop, holding a social media contest to invite the community to invent instruments and visit his studio, and a community composition project with other area nonprofits in the 2015–2015 season.
NEW RECORDINGS FROM SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA
“The four CDs in its first batch testify both to its commercial enterprise and to its musical excellence.” – The Daily Telegraph
The Seattle Symphony has received rave reviews for the first four releases on its in-house record label from critics around the world. On November 11 the label’s fifth release will be the premiere recording of Alexander Raskatov’s powerful and captivating Piano Concerto, “Night Butterflies,” performed by Tomoko Mukaiyama. The piece, co-commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and Residentie Orkest, received its U.S. premiere in the 2013–2014 season. Also on the release will be Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, recorded live at Benaroya Hall in June 2014, as part of a memorable single-evening performance of the three great Stravinsky ballets that was one of the highlights of the 2013-14 season.
Later in the spring the Symphony continues its journey through recordings of the complete orchestral works of French composer Henri Dutilleux. Its second volume of Dutilleux’s music includes Métaboles, the Violin Concerto “L’arbre des songes” with Augustin Hadelich, and Symphony No. 2, “Le double.”
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WITH EXTENSIVE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Each year about 100,000 people in the Puget Sound region benefit from the Seattle Symphony’s major education and community engagement programs. Link Up: Seattle Symphony, a music curriculum and participatory concert experience serves over 7500 students in grades 3-5. In only its second season, 27 schools have been selected to participate in the Link Up residency program and over 70 schools have registered to participate in the concert. In addition, Seattle Symphony’s Soundbridge, one of the only dedicated education spaces amongst American symphony orchestras, hosts workshops for pre-schools and elementary schools weekly, including Musical Storytime, Songwriting, and Science of Sound. The Seattle Symphony’s Community Connections program for nonprofit organizations allows marginalized communities to attend Symphony performances for free, attend pre-concert workshops, and participate in in-depth creative projects, including the Lullaby Project in partnership with Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter for mothers and their children. In another in-depth project, in 2013 the Symphony premiered the “Potlatch Symphony” a co-created composition between the Symphony and local Salish tribes. For teens, the Seattle Symphony presents 2-3 side-by-side concerts with local high schools and accomplished composition students will write new works for Trimpin’s instrumental installation in May of 2015 through the Merriman Family Young Composer Workshop.
In addition, Ludovic Morlot has mentored the next generation of young conductors within the region. Since 2013, he has served as Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies in the University of Washington’s School of Music. In this capacity Morlot makes five to seven appearances at the University each year, leading classes and seminars in conducting. Students in the program also attend Seattle Symphony rehearsals throughout the season as part of their training under Morlot.
ABOUT THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Founded in 1903, the Seattle Symphony is one of America’s leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard live from September through July by more than 300,000 people. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community-engagement programs reach over 100,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season, including John Luther Adams’ recent Become Ocean, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The orchestra has made more than 140 recordings and has received 12 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media.
Delta Air Lines is the Sponsor of the Seattle Symphony’s Masterworks Season
CTI Biopharma is the Presenting Sponsor for Sonic Evolution
The commission of John Luther Adams’ Become Ocean and Angelique Poteat’s Much Difference was made possible with support from Brian and Lynn Grant.
Trimpin with the Seattle Symphony is made possible through Music Alive, a residency program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA. This national program is designed to provide orchestras with resources and tools to support their presentation of new music to the public and build support for new music within their institutions. Funding for Music Alive is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music and The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund.
Support for Celebrate Asia is provided by JP Morgan Chase and Acucela Inc.
The Yugo Kanno commission for Celebrate Asia is supported by Yoshi and Naomi Minegishi.
The Celebrate Asia Composition Competition is underwritten by Yoshi and Naomi Minegishi.
Tomoko Muyaikama’s performance was underwritten by The Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation
Trimpin is supported by Dorrit and Grant Saviers through the Seattle Symphony’s Guest Artists Circle.
Support for contemporary-music concert programming during the 2014–2015 season is provided by the Amphion Foundation.
Link Up is a national program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
The Seattle Symphony’s Family, School & Community programs are supported by 4Culture, The Boeing Company, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation, The Clowes Fund, Inc., Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Fales Foundation Trust, League of American Orchestras, Kjristine Lund, Elizabeth McGraw Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA, Peach Foundation, Peg and Rick Young Foundation, Richard and Francine Loeb, Schiff Foundation, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, Snoqualmie Tribe, Ten Grands Seattle, U.S. Bank Foundation, Wells Fargo, Wyman Youth Trust, and Peg and Rick Young Foundation.
Support for Seattle Symphony Media comes from Joan Watjen in memory of her husband Craig.
Media Contacts
Media requests for photos, interviews and other press items relating to the Seattle Symphony and all guest artists are welcome.
Kirshbaum, Demler & Associates
(212) 222 - 4843
info@kirshdem.com
Rel#1415-06
September 12, 2014
COMMISSIONS and WORLD PREMIERES
The Seattle Symphony champions musical voices of our time, this season presenting a total of nine commissions or co-commissions. The Symphony’s commission Become Ocean by John Luther Adams won a Pulitzer Prize in Music earlier in 2014. During the 2014–2015 season, Mason Bates’ new Cello Concerto will receive its world-premiere performance on December 11 at the Seattle Symphony, one of three co-commissioners for the piece. On April 23, echoing a worldwide commemoration of WWI, Sebastian Currier’s “Divisions” will be performed for the first time by the Seattle Symphony, also a co-commissioner along with the Boston Symphony and National Orchestra of Belgium. Then on June 11, a new violin concerto by Julian Anderson, former classmate of Morlot at the Royal Academy of Music in London, will receive its U.S. premiere in Seattle. Co-commissioners for this composition are the Seattle Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Other commissions and co-commissions on this season’s programs include works by Colin Matthews, Yugo Kanno, Yann Robin, Angelique Poteat, Trimpin and Mike McCready.
REPERTOIRE HIGHLIGHTS IN 2014–2015
On January 29 and 30 Ludovic Morlot leads the Seattle Symphony in a performance of Charles Ives’ rarely heard Symphony No. 4, his moving and multifacted reflection on life, drawing on the full range of American musical styles. Then, on February 12 and 14 Morlot conducts the Seattle Symphony and Chorale in Berlioz’s magnificent Roméo et Juliette, with mezzo-soprano Sylvie Brunet Grupposo, tenor Kenneth Tarver and baritone Patrick Bolleire. The Symphony presents Shostakovich’s epic “Leningrad” Symphony on April 16, with guest conductor Andrey Boreyko at the helm. Morlot returns on June 18 to conduct Mahler’s majestic Third Symphony, with mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, Women of the Seattle Symphony Chorale, and Northwest Boychoir in performance.
Celebrate Asia, the signature annual event presented in partnership with Seattle’s Asian community, will once again explore the rich musical traditions of Asian countries alongside Western classical music. Celebrate Asia includes performances by up-and-coming Asian instrumentalists, Symphony-commissioned works by Asian composers, favorites of the Asian symphonic repertoire and a performance of the winning work from the Seattle Symphony’s annual Celebrate Asia Composition Competition. This year’s Celebrate Asia concert will be on March 1, 2015, with conductor Carolyn Kuan leading the Symphony in performances of works by A.R. Rahman, Tan Dun, as well as a Seattle Symphony commission and U.S. premiere by Yugo Kanno, a Japanese composer well-known for his soundtracks to TV series, movies, and animations.
MAJOR SIBELIUS CELEBRATION
In March the Symphony will embark on a three-week festival to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ birth. The Seattle Symphony will be the only orchestra in the United States to present Sibelius’ entire symphonic cycle this season. In addition the Symphony has partnered with area Scandinavian organizations, including the Nordic Heritage Museum, on various pre- and post-concert activities to further strengthen the narrative around the musical presentations and bring the great composer’s unique world to light. Guest speakers include Ruusamari Teppo, great-granddaughter of Jean Sibelius. Leading the Seattle Symphony will be Scandinavian conductor Thomas Dausgaard, in his inaugural year as Principal Guest Conductor.
SIGNATURE CROSS-GENRE CONCERT PRESENTATIONS
This season, the Symphony continues the tradition of its signature cross-genre concerts. On January 30 Ludovic Morlot leads the Symphony in another daring Sonic Evolution program, an annual concert inspired by Seattle’s deep and varied popular music tradition, from rock to jazz. This year’s concert will feature a new commission written by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, friend and frequent jam-session companion of Ludovic Morlot. Morlot’s interest in cross-genre presentations extends to the visual arts this season. In a new musical commission and site-specific installation in the Benaroya Hall lobby this May, Music Alive Composer in Residence Trimpin will explore using found objects to create an array of sculptural interactive instruments that will be featured at the concert hall, and engage the general public in an ongoing interaction with the instruments. The piece will be premiered by the orchestra on May 1 during a concert on the Symphony’s late-night contemporary music series, [untitled]. The 2014–2015 season will mark the second year in a three-year Trimpin residency at the Seattle Symphony. In addition to the commission, other aspects of Trimpin’s residency include working with the Symphony to mentor pre-college-age composers in the Seattle Symphony’s annual Merriman Family Young Composers Workshop, holding a social media contest to invite the community to invent instruments and visit his studio, and a community composition project with other area nonprofits in the 2015–2015 season.
NEW RECORDINGS FROM SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA
“The four CDs in its first batch testify both to its commercial enterprise and to its musical excellence.” – The Daily Telegraph
The Seattle Symphony has received rave reviews for the first four releases on its in-house record label from critics around the world. On November 11 the label’s fifth release will be the premiere recording of Alexander Raskatov’s powerful and captivating Piano Concerto, “Night Butterflies,” performed by Tomoko Mukaiyama. The piece, co-commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and Residentie Orkest, received its U.S. premiere in the 2013–2014 season. Also on the release will be Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, recorded live at Benaroya Hall in June 2014, as part of a memorable single-evening performance of the three great Stravinsky ballets that was one of the highlights of the 2013-14 season.
Later in the spring the Symphony continues its journey through recordings of the complete orchestral works of French composer Henri Dutilleux. Its second volume of Dutilleux’s music includes Métaboles, the Violin Concerto “L’arbre des songes” with Augustin Hadelich, and Symphony No. 2, “Le double.”
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WITH EXTENSIVE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Each year about 100,000 people in the Puget Sound region benefit from the Seattle Symphony’s major education and community engagement programs. Link Up: Seattle Symphony, a music curriculum and participatory concert experience serves over 7500 students in grades 3-5. In only its second season, 27 schools have been selected to participate in the Link Up residency program and over 70 schools have registered to participate in the concert. In addition, Seattle Symphony’s Soundbridge, one of the only dedicated education spaces amongst American symphony orchestras, hosts workshops for pre-schools and elementary schools weekly, including Musical Storytime, Songwriting, and Science of Sound. The Seattle Symphony’s Community Connections program for nonprofit organizations allows marginalized communities to attend Symphony performances for free, attend pre-concert workshops, and participate in in-depth creative projects, including the Lullaby Project in partnership with Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter for mothers and their children. In another in-depth project, in 2013 the Symphony premiered the “Potlatch Symphony” a co-created composition between the Symphony and local Salish tribes. For teens, the Seattle Symphony presents 2-3 side-by-side concerts with local high schools and accomplished composition students will write new works for Trimpin’s instrumental installation in May of 2015 through the Merriman Family Young Composer Workshop.
In addition, Ludovic Morlot has mentored the next generation of young conductors within the region. Since 2013, he has served as Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies in the University of Washington’s School of Music. In this capacity Morlot makes five to seven appearances at the University each year, leading classes and seminars in conducting. Students in the program also attend Seattle Symphony rehearsals throughout the season as part of their training under Morlot.
ABOUT THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Founded in 1903, the Seattle Symphony is one of America’s leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard live from September through July by more than 300,000 people. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community-engagement programs reach over 100,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season, including John Luther Adams’ recent Become Ocean, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The orchestra has made more than 140 recordings and has received 12 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media.
Delta Air Lines is the Sponsor of the Seattle Symphony’s Masterworks Season
CTI Biopharma is the Presenting Sponsor for Sonic Evolution
The commission of John Luther Adams’ Become Ocean and Angelique Poteat’s Much Difference was made possible with support from Brian and Lynn Grant.
Trimpin with the Seattle Symphony is made possible through Music Alive, a residency program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA. This national program is designed to provide orchestras with resources and tools to support their presentation of new music to the public and build support for new music within their institutions. Funding for Music Alive is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music and The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund.
Support for Celebrate Asia is provided by JP Morgan Chase and Acucela Inc.
The Yugo Kanno commission for Celebrate Asia is supported by Yoshi and Naomi Minegishi.
The Celebrate Asia Composition Competition is underwritten by Yoshi and Naomi Minegishi.
Tomoko Muyaikama’s performance was underwritten by The Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation
Trimpin is supported by Dorrit and Grant Saviers through the Seattle Symphony’s Guest Artists Circle.
Support for contemporary-music concert programming during the 2014–2015 season is provided by the Amphion Foundation.
Link Up is a national program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
The Seattle Symphony’s Family, School & Community programs are supported by 4Culture, The Boeing Company, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation, The Clowes Fund, Inc., Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Fales Foundation Trust, League of American Orchestras, Kjristine Lund, Elizabeth McGraw Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA, Peach Foundation, Peg and Rick Young Foundation, Richard and Francine Loeb, Schiff Foundation, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, Snoqualmie Tribe, Ten Grands Seattle, U.S. Bank Foundation, Wells Fargo, Wyman Youth Trust, and Peg and Rick Young Foundation.
Support for Seattle Symphony Media comes from Joan Watjen in memory of her husband Craig.
Media Contacts
Media requests for photos, interviews and other press items relating to the Seattle Symphony and all guest artists are welcome.
Kirshbaum, Demler & Associates
(212) 222 - 4843
info@kirshdem.com
Rel#1415-06
September 12, 2014
WHO'S BLOGGING
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Career Advice by Legendary Manager Edna Landau
An American in Paris by Frank Cadenhead
FEATURED JOBS
RENT A PHOTO
