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Press Releases
Robert DeGaetano and the St. Petersburg State Symphony with Maestro Vladimir Lande
New York, NY–PARMA Recordings is pleased to announce the New York Premiere of Robert DeGaetano’s Piano Concerto No. 1, on January 12 at 8pm at Town Hall with the composer at the piano, featuring the St. Petersburg State Symphony under the direction of Naxos recording artist Vladimir Lande. The performance also features Rimsky-Korsakov’s stunning Scheherazade. Tickets are available at The Town Hall Box Office 123 West 43rd Street (between 6th Avenue & Broadway), or online at: www.thetownhall.org.
A Steinway Artist, DeGaetano’s playing has been hailed by the New York Times as “robust, precise, chiming, and propulsive.” DeGaetano’s Piano Concerto No. 1, which was commercially released on Navona in 2013, has been described by Christina Petrowska Quilico in the WholeNote Magazine, “Virtuosic technique blazes through [DeGaetano’s] concerto. Scintillating runs and octaves are spectacular,” while Audiophile Audition hails it as “refreshingly indescribable.”
About his Piano Concerto No. 1, Mr. DeGaetano writes, "The piano concerto turned out to be an autobiographical work of my early years as an artist growing up and studying in New York. The entire work reflects different periods of my life up to the time I wrote it and on a more psychological level, and perhaps deeper spiritual level, periods I’m still going through. The first movement basically introduces my world, which includes the entire universe. My understanding of the possibility of other civilizations, etc. The second movement reflects New York and America in modern times, from mid-20th century on. The third movement is a song of the heart and all the emotion connected to life as we know it as a species. The fourth movement is a celebration of my Italian heritage, basically a happy dance. The piece ends with a coming together of all life’s experiences, simultaneously heard as a new resonance."
DeGaetano's Piano Concerto No. 1 will receive its European premiere on February 6 in Vienna at the Musikverein Golden Hall.
About the Artists:
A native of New York City, pianist Robert DeGaetano enjoys a widely esteemed career as both a virtuoso interpreter of the great keyboard repertoire and a composer of striking originality and communicative intensity. Robert DeGaetano is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Adele Marcus and Rosina Lhevinne. He was the first musician ever to be awarded a Rotary International Scholarship, enabling him to live in Paris and continue his studies with Alexis Weissenberg. Upon the recommendation of world-renown musicians David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter, DeGaetano embarked on an active concert career under the auspices of the legendary Sol Hurok. DeGaetano made his New York recital debut at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Alice Tully Hall and his orchestra debut with the San Antonio Symphony. Since then, his touring schedule has taken him to all fifty states as well as the major music capitals of Europe. In addition to recitals, DeGaetano has been a frequent guest soloist with orchestras across the United States, including those of Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, San Diego and the Boston Pops. DeGaetano made his Carnegie Hall recital debut in February 1999. Also in 1999, as guest soloist with the famed Goldman Memorial Band in a special Memorial Day concert at Brooklyn's historic Green-Wood Cemetery, he played Louis Moreau Gottschalk's L'Union and The Banjo near the gravesite of the composer. In 1986, DeGaetano emerged as a composer and performed the New York City and domestic and international tour premieres of his own first Piano Sonata. As a result of the overwhelming critical praise for this work, he was commissioned by Michigan's Jackson Symphony Orchestra to compose his first Piano Concerto, which he premiered in March 1989 to equally enthusiastic response. The Challenger, DeGaetano's suite for solo piano written in tribute to the seven astronauts killed in the 1986 space shuttle tragedy, was commissioned by Miss Alice Tully. The world premiere occurred in the presence of the astronauts' families in November, 1987 at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, with the composer at the piano. This performance of DeGaetano's moving musical portraits was filmed live for television and featured on a special segment of "CBS Sunday Morning" with Charles Kurault. Subsequently broadcast over WQXR in New York City and radio stations nationwide, The Challenger was played on concert tours across three continents. DeGaetano is currently represented on CD by nine acclaimed albums - devoted to the music of Chopin, Beethoven, DeGaetano, Gottschalk, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and 20th century composers - all on the Crystonyx label. His latest album is the premiere recording of his Piano Concerto No.1 and the Chopin Piano Concerto #1 in E Minor with the Moravian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra presented on the Navona label and distributed by Naxos. www.degaetano.com
Vladimir Lande is the Principal Guest Conductor of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra (Russia). He is a guest conductor of the National Gallery Orchestra in Washington D.C.; Music Director of the COSMIC Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Soloists Chamber Orchestra in Washington D.C., and Johns Hopkins University Chamber Orchestra. He regularly appears as Conductor with the Donetsk Ballet Company in Europe and the United States. In the U.S., Vladimir has appeared as guest conductor with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Vladimir’s recent tours have taken him to New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom (including a performance in Cathedral St. Martin’s in the Field, London), Italy, Russia, and most of the United States. During the 2014-2015 Season, Vladimir will lead the St. Petersburg Symphony on their tour of the United States, Mexico, and South America.As conductor with the St. Petersburg Symphony, Vladimir has released recent recordings on the Navona, Naxos, Arabesque, and Marquis labels. www.naxos.com/person/Vladimir_Lande/132114.htm
The St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra was established in 1967 and until 1985 was known as the Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music. Renowned soloists and conductors including Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Sviatoslav Richter, and many others, have performed with the orchestra. In 1988, the orchestra began holding concerts in the Mirror Hall of the famous Princes Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace in the very heart of St Petersburg. Since 1990, the orchestra has been successfully touring in China, Japan, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Spain, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France and Belgium. Its repertoire is limitless thanks to a well-considered policy of performing music of every epoch, genre and style, with particular attention afforded to the music of living composers. In 2008, Vladimir Lande became the orchestra’s principal guest conductor. Under his leadership, the orchestra has undertaken a number of bright creative projects in St. Petersburg; a series of concert tours in the United States, Latin America and South Korea, and records for albums that are released on the world’s leading classical labels. spb-orchestra.ru/
PARMA Recordings is a New England-based music company specializing in orchestral, chamber, choral, and commercial recording as well as distribution, product design, strategic marketing, and licensing/publishing. Our work spans classical, jazz, rock, experimental, and more, and features artists such as Grammy-winner Richard Stoltzman, Pulitzer Prize-winner Lewis Spratlan, Pete Townshend of The Who, renowned percussionist Steve Gadd, and New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow among others. PARMA Recordings is the production company behind the Navona, Ravello, and Big Round label imprints. PARMA’s music has been featured in projects and programming from CBS, ABC, Fox, PBS, C-SPAN, National Geographic, A&E, Showtime, Microsoft, and numerous other media outlets, and we are dedicated to creating the highest quality music and presenting it in unique, innovative, and engaging recorded and live formats. www.parmarecordings.com
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A Steinway Artist, DeGaetano’s playing has been hailed by the New York Times as “robust, precise, chiming, and propulsive.” DeGaetano’s Piano Concerto No. 1, which was commercially released on Navona in 2013, has been described by Christina Petrowska Quilico in the WholeNote Magazine, “Virtuosic technique blazes through [DeGaetano’s] concerto. Scintillating runs and octaves are spectacular,” while Audiophile Audition hails it as “refreshingly indescribable.”
About his Piano Concerto No. 1, Mr. DeGaetano writes, "The piano concerto turned out to be an autobiographical work of my early years as an artist growing up and studying in New York. The entire work reflects different periods of my life up to the time I wrote it and on a more psychological level, and perhaps deeper spiritual level, periods I’m still going through. The first movement basically introduces my world, which includes the entire universe. My understanding of the possibility of other civilizations, etc. The second movement reflects New York and America in modern times, from mid-20th century on. The third movement is a song of the heart and all the emotion connected to life as we know it as a species. The fourth movement is a celebration of my Italian heritage, basically a happy dance. The piece ends with a coming together of all life’s experiences, simultaneously heard as a new resonance."
DeGaetano's Piano Concerto No. 1 will receive its European premiere on February 6 in Vienna at the Musikverein Golden Hall.
About the Artists:
A native of New York City, pianist Robert DeGaetano enjoys a widely esteemed career as both a virtuoso interpreter of the great keyboard repertoire and a composer of striking originality and communicative intensity. Robert DeGaetano is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Adele Marcus and Rosina Lhevinne. He was the first musician ever to be awarded a Rotary International Scholarship, enabling him to live in Paris and continue his studies with Alexis Weissenberg. Upon the recommendation of world-renown musicians David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter, DeGaetano embarked on an active concert career under the auspices of the legendary Sol Hurok. DeGaetano made his New York recital debut at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Alice Tully Hall and his orchestra debut with the San Antonio Symphony. Since then, his touring schedule has taken him to all fifty states as well as the major music capitals of Europe. In addition to recitals, DeGaetano has been a frequent guest soloist with orchestras across the United States, including those of Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, San Diego and the Boston Pops. DeGaetano made his Carnegie Hall recital debut in February 1999. Also in 1999, as guest soloist with the famed Goldman Memorial Band in a special Memorial Day concert at Brooklyn's historic Green-Wood Cemetery, he played Louis Moreau Gottschalk's L'Union and The Banjo near the gravesite of the composer. In 1986, DeGaetano emerged as a composer and performed the New York City and domestic and international tour premieres of his own first Piano Sonata. As a result of the overwhelming critical praise for this work, he was commissioned by Michigan's Jackson Symphony Orchestra to compose his first Piano Concerto, which he premiered in March 1989 to equally enthusiastic response. The Challenger, DeGaetano's suite for solo piano written in tribute to the seven astronauts killed in the 1986 space shuttle tragedy, was commissioned by Miss Alice Tully. The world premiere occurred in the presence of the astronauts' families in November, 1987 at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, with the composer at the piano. This performance of DeGaetano's moving musical portraits was filmed live for television and featured on a special segment of "CBS Sunday Morning" with Charles Kurault. Subsequently broadcast over WQXR in New York City and radio stations nationwide, The Challenger was played on concert tours across three continents. DeGaetano is currently represented on CD by nine acclaimed albums - devoted to the music of Chopin, Beethoven, DeGaetano, Gottschalk, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and 20th century composers - all on the Crystonyx label. His latest album is the premiere recording of his Piano Concerto No.1 and the Chopin Piano Concerto #1 in E Minor with the Moravian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra presented on the Navona label and distributed by Naxos. www.degaetano.com
Vladimir Lande is the Principal Guest Conductor of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra (Russia). He is a guest conductor of the National Gallery Orchestra in Washington D.C.; Music Director of the COSMIC Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Soloists Chamber Orchestra in Washington D.C., and Johns Hopkins University Chamber Orchestra. He regularly appears as Conductor with the Donetsk Ballet Company in Europe and the United States. In the U.S., Vladimir has appeared as guest conductor with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Vladimir’s recent tours have taken him to New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom (including a performance in Cathedral St. Martin’s in the Field, London), Italy, Russia, and most of the United States. During the 2014-2015 Season, Vladimir will lead the St. Petersburg Symphony on their tour of the United States, Mexico, and South America.As conductor with the St. Petersburg Symphony, Vladimir has released recent recordings on the Navona, Naxos, Arabesque, and Marquis labels. www.naxos.com/person/Vladimir_Lande/132114.htm
The St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra was established in 1967 and until 1985 was known as the Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music. Renowned soloists and conductors including Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Sviatoslav Richter, and many others, have performed with the orchestra. In 1988, the orchestra began holding concerts in the Mirror Hall of the famous Princes Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace in the very heart of St Petersburg. Since 1990, the orchestra has been successfully touring in China, Japan, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Spain, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France and Belgium. Its repertoire is limitless thanks to a well-considered policy of performing music of every epoch, genre and style, with particular attention afforded to the music of living composers. In 2008, Vladimir Lande became the orchestra’s principal guest conductor. Under his leadership, the orchestra has undertaken a number of bright creative projects in St. Petersburg; a series of concert tours in the United States, Latin America and South Korea, and records for albums that are released on the world’s leading classical labels. spb-orchestra.ru/
PARMA Recordings is a New England-based music company specializing in orchestral, chamber, choral, and commercial recording as well as distribution, product design, strategic marketing, and licensing/publishing. Our work spans classical, jazz, rock, experimental, and more, and features artists such as Grammy-winner Richard Stoltzman, Pulitzer Prize-winner Lewis Spratlan, Pete Townshend of The Who, renowned percussionist Steve Gadd, and New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow among others. PARMA Recordings is the production company behind the Navona, Ravello, and Big Round label imprints. PARMA’s music has been featured in projects and programming from CBS, ABC, Fox, PBS, C-SPAN, National Geographic, A&E, Showtime, Microsoft, and numerous other media outlets, and we are dedicated to creating the highest quality music and presenting it in unique, innovative, and engaging recorded and live formats. www.parmarecordings.com
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