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Press Releases
Prestigious Bard Conservatory Orchestra to Tour Cuba for First Time, June 3-10, 2016
Alexandria, VA, USA – Classical Movements, Inc. announces the upcoming tour of Bard Conservatory Orchestra, one of the most respected music conservatories in the United States, who will travel to Cuba for the first time in the ensemble’s history. From June 3-10, 2016, the Bard Conservatory Orchestra will embark on a one-week visit to foster cultural and musical exchanges, and participate in shared concerts, performances, and chamber music workshops in Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santa Clara.
Together with local Cuban artists and young musicians at Cuban arts high schools and community music groups, the Bard Conservatory looks to create lasting bonds between the two countries.
“With the recent opening up of the United States to Cuba, we see this as an exciting opportunity to establish new ties between our students and the young people of that country,” says Robert Martin, Director of the Bard Conservatory of Music.
Noted internationally for their technically polished performances, outstanding artistry, and musical integrity, the orchestra will give formal concerts conducted by Leon Botstein in Cienfuegos (June 4), Santa Clara (June 6), and Havana (June 7-9), with celebrated pianist Peter Serkin as soloist in Havana (June 9).
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra will also give a side-by-side chamber concert in Havana (June 8), featuring the world-renowned Camerata Romeu, the first all-female string orchestra in Latin America, conducted by Zenaida Romeu.
Neeta Helms, President of Classical Movements comments:
"We are extremely delighted to bring one of America’s most prestigious conservatories and the world-renowned pianist Peter Serkin to Cuba. Together they will offer the Cuban public one of the most masterful concerts to be presented in Havana this year."
Director of the Bard Conservatory of Music Robert Martin comments:
“The tour is happening now, as the pace of relations with Cuba quickens, because we feel we can play a positive role, through music, in affecting the way that the relationship between our counties develops.”
Following more than a half-century of estrangement between Cuba and the U.S., Classical Movements, Inc. is the only American organization to have signed a formal agreement of collaboration with the Cuban Ministry of Culture, and has facilitated ongoing partnerships between Cuban and American artists, arranging as many as 24 concert tours.
CONCERT SCHEDULE & REPERTOIRE:
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra Cuba Tour, June 3-10
SATURDAY JUNE 4
CIENFUEGOS, TEATRO TOMAS TERRY
9:00 PM
Concert:
Gioachino Rossini: Guillaume tell (William Tell) Overture
Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (symphony)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 2, op. 73, D major
MONDAY JUNE 6
SANTA CLARA, TEATRO LA CARIDAD
9:00 PM
Gioachino Rossini: Guillaume tell (William Tell) Overture
Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (symphony)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 2, op. 73, D major
WEDNESDAY JUNE 8
HAVANA, SALA COVARRUBIAS AT THE TEATRO NACIONAL DE CUBA
CHAMBER CONCERT SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH CAMERATA ROMEU
8:30 PM
Felix Mendelssohn: Octet (Bard Conservatory Orchestra)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (conducted by Zenaida Romeu)
THURSDAY JUNE 9
HAVANA, SALA COVARRUBIAS AT THE TEATRO NACIONAL DE CUBA
8:30 PM
Gioachino Rossini: Guillaume tell (William Tell) Overture
Béla Bartók: Concerto for piano no. 3, bb127 - (with soloist Peter Serkin)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 2, op. 73, D major
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Peter Serkin, Piano Recognized as an artist of passion and integrity, the distinguished American pianist Peter Serkin has successfully conveyed the essence of five centuries of repertoire. His inspired performances with symphony orchestras, in recital appearances, chamber music collaborations and on recordings are equally valued worldwide.
Peter Serkin’s rich musical heritage extends back several generations: his grandfather was violinist and composer Adolf Busch and his father pianist Rudolf Serkin. He has performed with the world's major symphony orchestras with such eminent conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Pierre Boulez, Alexander Schneider, Daniel Barenboim, George Szell, Eugene Ormandy, Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, James Levine, Herbert Blomstedt, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and George Cleve. A dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Serkin has collaborated with Alexander Schneider, Pamela Frank, Yo-Yo Ma, the Budapest, Guarneri, Orion and Shanghai String Quartets and TASHI, of which he was a founding member. He has recently performed a duo-piano team with Julia Hsu. They are devoting themselves to both one-piano, four-hands, as well as to two-piano music.
Orchestral highlights of recent seasons have included the Boston, Chicago and Saint Louis Symphonies, New York Philharmonic and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, while recital tours have taken Mr. Serkin to Philadelphia, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Santa Monica, Princeton and New York’s 92nd Street Y. Recent summer festival appearances have included BBC London Proms, Tanglewood, Aldeburgh, Chautauqua and Denmark’s Oremandsgaard Festival. Mr. Serkin currently teaches at Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Leon Botstein, Music Director, Bard College Conservatory Orchestra In addition to leading the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra, Leon Botstein is in his 24th year as music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra. He established, and is the music director of, The Orchestra Now, an innovative training orchestra and master’s degree program designed to prepare young musicians for the challenges facing the modern symphony orchestra. Botstein has been hailed as a visionary for his programming, creating concerts that give audiences once-in-a-lifetime chances to hear rarely performed works, and inviting music lovers to participate, through talks and discussions, in the creative experience. He is also artistic director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival, now in its 27th year, both taking place in the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, where he has been president since 1975. He is conductor laureate ?of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director from 2003 to 2011.
Botstein leads an active schedule as a guest conductor worldwide, and can be heard on numerous recordings with the London Symphony (including itsGrammy-nominated recording of Popov’s First Symphony), the London Philharmonic, NDR-Hamburg, and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Highly? regarded as a music historian, Botstein’s most recent book is Von Beethoven zu Berg: Das Gedäächtnis der Moderne (2013). He is the editor of The?Musical Quarterly and the author of numerous articles and books.
ABOUT THE BARD COLLEGE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ORCHESTRA
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra consists of 90 gifted students drawn from around the world. With its music director Leon Botstein, it has performed twice at Lincoln Center in New York, at Sanders Theater at Harvard, and in Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjing, Guangzhou, and Wuhan during a three-week concert tour of Asia. The Bard College Conservatory of Music, founded in 2005 as a special five-year double-degree program within Bard College, has a world-class faculty that includes soprano Dawn Upshaw, pianist Peter Serkin, and violinists Weigang Li and Ida Kavafian, to name just a few.
Students are recruited from the United States and from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Palestine, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
Following the Bard Conservatory Orchestra’s performance at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater in May 2011, critic David Griesinger wrote: “From the first notes it was obvious that these young players understood what was to come…This was easily the most moving performance of this amazing piece [Shostakovich Symphony No. 5] that I have heard. Special credit goes, of course, to Botstein, but he had the help of some magnificent playing…”
ABOUT CLASSICAL MOVEMENTS, INC.
Classical Movements is one of the world’s leading concert planning and music management companies. Clients include some of the world’s finest orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and several other European and American Orchestras. They also are a leader in making concert and travel arrangements for some of the best choruses around the world, including The Collegiate Chorale, Dallas Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Pacific Boychoir, VocalEssence, Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and many more! In its 23 years, Classical Movements has worked in over 145 countries on six continents. The company also produces the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program for new music commissions, an international choral series, and four annual international music festivals in Europe, South America, Africa and North America. A winner of the prestigious BCA10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America given by Americans for the Arts, Classical Movements strives to spread global understanding and unity through the universal language of music.
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Together with local Cuban artists and young musicians at Cuban arts high schools and community music groups, the Bard Conservatory looks to create lasting bonds between the two countries.
“With the recent opening up of the United States to Cuba, we see this as an exciting opportunity to establish new ties between our students and the young people of that country,” says Robert Martin, Director of the Bard Conservatory of Music.
Noted internationally for their technically polished performances, outstanding artistry, and musical integrity, the orchestra will give formal concerts conducted by Leon Botstein in Cienfuegos (June 4), Santa Clara (June 6), and Havana (June 7-9), with celebrated pianist Peter Serkin as soloist in Havana (June 9).
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra will also give a side-by-side chamber concert in Havana (June 8), featuring the world-renowned Camerata Romeu, the first all-female string orchestra in Latin America, conducted by Zenaida Romeu.
Neeta Helms, President of Classical Movements comments:
"We are extremely delighted to bring one of America’s most prestigious conservatories and the world-renowned pianist Peter Serkin to Cuba. Together they will offer the Cuban public one of the most masterful concerts to be presented in Havana this year."
Director of the Bard Conservatory of Music Robert Martin comments:
“The tour is happening now, as the pace of relations with Cuba quickens, because we feel we can play a positive role, through music, in affecting the way that the relationship between our counties develops.”
Following more than a half-century of estrangement between Cuba and the U.S., Classical Movements, Inc. is the only American organization to have signed a formal agreement of collaboration with the Cuban Ministry of Culture, and has facilitated ongoing partnerships between Cuban and American artists, arranging as many as 24 concert tours.
CONCERT SCHEDULE & REPERTOIRE:
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra Cuba Tour, June 3-10
SATURDAY JUNE 4
CIENFUEGOS, TEATRO TOMAS TERRY
9:00 PM
Concert:
Gioachino Rossini: Guillaume tell (William Tell) Overture
Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (symphony)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 2, op. 73, D major
MONDAY JUNE 6
SANTA CLARA, TEATRO LA CARIDAD
9:00 PM
Gioachino Rossini: Guillaume tell (William Tell) Overture
Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (symphony)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 2, op. 73, D major
WEDNESDAY JUNE 8
HAVANA, SALA COVARRUBIAS AT THE TEATRO NACIONAL DE CUBA
CHAMBER CONCERT SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH CAMERATA ROMEU
8:30 PM
Felix Mendelssohn: Octet (Bard Conservatory Orchestra)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (conducted by Zenaida Romeu)
THURSDAY JUNE 9
HAVANA, SALA COVARRUBIAS AT THE TEATRO NACIONAL DE CUBA
8:30 PM
Gioachino Rossini: Guillaume tell (William Tell) Overture
Béla Bartók: Concerto for piano no. 3, bb127 - (with soloist Peter Serkin)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 2, op. 73, D major
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Peter Serkin, Piano Recognized as an artist of passion and integrity, the distinguished American pianist Peter Serkin has successfully conveyed the essence of five centuries of repertoire. His inspired performances with symphony orchestras, in recital appearances, chamber music collaborations and on recordings are equally valued worldwide.
Peter Serkin’s rich musical heritage extends back several generations: his grandfather was violinist and composer Adolf Busch and his father pianist Rudolf Serkin. He has performed with the world's major symphony orchestras with such eminent conductors as Seiji Ozawa, Pierre Boulez, Alexander Schneider, Daniel Barenboim, George Szell, Eugene Ormandy, Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, James Levine, Herbert Blomstedt, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and George Cleve. A dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Serkin has collaborated with Alexander Schneider, Pamela Frank, Yo-Yo Ma, the Budapest, Guarneri, Orion and Shanghai String Quartets and TASHI, of which he was a founding member. He has recently performed a duo-piano team with Julia Hsu. They are devoting themselves to both one-piano, four-hands, as well as to two-piano music.
Orchestral highlights of recent seasons have included the Boston, Chicago and Saint Louis Symphonies, New York Philharmonic and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, while recital tours have taken Mr. Serkin to Philadelphia, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Santa Monica, Princeton and New York’s 92nd Street Y. Recent summer festival appearances have included BBC London Proms, Tanglewood, Aldeburgh, Chautauqua and Denmark’s Oremandsgaard Festival. Mr. Serkin currently teaches at Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Leon Botstein, Music Director, Bard College Conservatory Orchestra In addition to leading the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra, Leon Botstein is in his 24th year as music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra. He established, and is the music director of, The Orchestra Now, an innovative training orchestra and master’s degree program designed to prepare young musicians for the challenges facing the modern symphony orchestra. Botstein has been hailed as a visionary for his programming, creating concerts that give audiences once-in-a-lifetime chances to hear rarely performed works, and inviting music lovers to participate, through talks and discussions, in the creative experience. He is also artistic director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival, now in its 27th year, both taking place in the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, where he has been president since 1975. He is conductor laureate ?of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director from 2003 to 2011.
Botstein leads an active schedule as a guest conductor worldwide, and can be heard on numerous recordings with the London Symphony (including itsGrammy-nominated recording of Popov’s First Symphony), the London Philharmonic, NDR-Hamburg, and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Highly? regarded as a music historian, Botstein’s most recent book is Von Beethoven zu Berg: Das Gedäächtnis der Moderne (2013). He is the editor of The?Musical Quarterly and the author of numerous articles and books.
ABOUT THE BARD COLLEGE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ORCHESTRA
The Bard Conservatory Orchestra consists of 90 gifted students drawn from around the world. With its music director Leon Botstein, it has performed twice at Lincoln Center in New York, at Sanders Theater at Harvard, and in Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjing, Guangzhou, and Wuhan during a three-week concert tour of Asia. The Bard College Conservatory of Music, founded in 2005 as a special five-year double-degree program within Bard College, has a world-class faculty that includes soprano Dawn Upshaw, pianist Peter Serkin, and violinists Weigang Li and Ida Kavafian, to name just a few.
Students are recruited from the United States and from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Palestine, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
Following the Bard Conservatory Orchestra’s performance at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater in May 2011, critic David Griesinger wrote: “From the first notes it was obvious that these young players understood what was to come…This was easily the most moving performance of this amazing piece [Shostakovich Symphony No. 5] that I have heard. Special credit goes, of course, to Botstein, but he had the help of some magnificent playing…”
ABOUT CLASSICAL MOVEMENTS, INC.
Classical Movements is one of the world’s leading concert planning and music management companies. Clients include some of the world’s finest orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and several other European and American Orchestras. They also are a leader in making concert and travel arrangements for some of the best choruses around the world, including The Collegiate Chorale, Dallas Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Pacific Boychoir, VocalEssence, Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and many more! In its 23 years, Classical Movements has worked in over 145 countries on six continents. The company also produces the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program for new music commissions, an international choral series, and four annual international music festivals in Europe, South America, Africa and North America. A winner of the prestigious BCA10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America given by Americans for the Arts, Classical Movements strives to spread global understanding and unity through the universal language of music.
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