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Press Releases
Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Skidmore College Unite to Present Mozart in Havana with Simone Dinnerstein and the Havana Lyceum Orchestra
The tour represents the first time an orchestra of this size has traveled to the U.S. from Cuba
since the revolution
JUNE 20 @ 7 P.M. at Arthur Zankel Music Center
Skidmore collaboration expands upon SPAC’s commitment to partnerships with other cultural constituents in the Capital Region to bring a broader offering of compelling programming to the community
Saratoga Springs, NY (April 21, 2017) – Acclaimed pianist Simone Dinnerstein and the young, virtuosic Havana Lyceum Orchestra led by José Antonio Méndez Padrón will bring their remarkable cross-cultural Mozart in Havana tour to Skidmore’s Arthur Zankel Music Center on June 20 at 7 p.m., in a concert co-presented by Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Skidmore College. SPAC’s collaboration with Skidmore College follows the recently announced programming partnership with Saratoga Springs’ iconic folk venue Caffé Lena as the second significant partnership with another cultural organization in the Capital Region, and marks a continuation of SPAC’s commitment to bringing together a network of cultural institutions in the region.
The Mozart in Havana tour is a culmination of a musical collaboration between the pianist and the orchestra which produced the new album, Mozart in Havana, released today, April 21, featuring Mozart's Piano Concerto Nos. 21 and 23. A testament to music’s ability to cross all cultural and language barriers, the June tour represents the first time an orchestra of this size has traveled to the U.S. from Cuba since the revolution.
“I have a long personal and professional connection to the music and musicians of Cuba – and a long-standing admiration for the artistry of Simone Dinnerstein,” said Elizabeth Sobol, President & CEO of SPAC. “While the SPAC Amphitheater Stage is too large – and the Spa Little Theatre stage too small – the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College is perfect in size and acoustics for showcasing these incredible classical musicians. And I am thrilled that this unique, wonderful musical project is coming to Saratoga through partnership.” While SPAC and Skidmore College have worked together on Jazz and dance programs in the past, this concert marks the first time the two institutions have co-presented a concert like this. “It is truly exciting for Skidmore to be partnering with SPAC on this project. Hopefully, this will be the first of many similar collaborations,” said Paul Calhoun, Dean of Special Programs at Skidmore College. Dinnerstein’s connection to Cuba began at a young age, when Solomon Mikowsky, a Cuban émigré who became her piano teacher, would tell stories of his childhood in Cuba and the country's many musical influences. Dinnerstein recalls, "I learned so much from Solomon, and one thing was that a musical culture is not something you have to be born to but something you can choose." In 2015, Dinnerstein traveled to Havana to play a Mozart concerto with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra. Not knowing what to expect, she was deeply impressed. "They played with thoughtful sensitivity and sensual beauty, despite the fact that in some cases the materials they were using were inferior. It was clear that the sound they made came from inside them, not simply from their instruments." That experience inspired a desire for a deeper collaboration with the orchestra. Within a year she had returned to Havana to record with the Orchestra what would become Mozart in Havana. In addition to the June 20 concert presented by SPAC and Skidmore College, the tour by Dinnerstein and the Orchestra will take them to New York's Naumburg Bandshell, and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. Dinnerstein will also perform the repertoire with the National Symphony Orchestra at the National Music Center in Costa Rica. Mozart in Havana tickets are available at: http://bit.ly/2pbmxhY. Ticket prices: $30 General Admission/ $25 Senior/ $20 SPAC member. For show information, visit http://www.skidmore.edu/zankel.
About Simone Dinnerstein Dinnerstein is one of the most acclaimed pianists of her generation - called "an artist of true expressive force" by the Washington Post and "a throwback to such high priestesses of music as Wanda Landowska and Myra Hess" by Slate. She is also one of the most expansive, counting among her catalogue projects with singer-songwriter Tift Merritt, thereminist Pamelia Kurstin, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and others. Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The New York-based pianist gained an international following with the remarkable success of her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which she independently raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many "Best of 2007" lists, including those of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the New Yorker.
About José Antonio Méndez Padrón José Antonio Méndez Padrón is the founding music director of the Havana Lyceum Orchestra. He has toured Canada, Spain, France, Austria, the U.S., Ecuador and Nicaragua, and five of his albums have received Cubadisco prizes in the past decade. Since 2011 he has been deputy director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba. Padrón is a graduate of the University of the Arts in Havana, Cuba, where he specialized in choral direction under María Felicia Pérez and orchestra direction under Jorge López Marín. He has taken advanced classes with important musical directors such as Jorge Rotter, Thomas Hengelbrock, Shalev Ad El and the master Ronald Zollman. In 2011, he studied at the Mozarteum University's Summer Academy with Peter Gülke and the soloists of Salzburg Chamber Orchestra.
About the Havana Lyceum Orchestra The Havana Lyceum Orchestra was founded in 2009 in collaboration with the Mozart Lyceum of Havana, an institution co-sponsored by the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation in Austria. It brings together students, recent graduates and professors from the University of the Arts, the National School of Music and the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory. The Havana Lyceum Orchestra has quickly established itself as a central element of Cuba's musical life. The Orchestra has performed extensively in Cuba and abroad to widespread critical acclaim. In 2015 the Orchestra performed at Salzburg's annual Mozartewoche in collaboration with the celebrated Cuban flutist Niurka González during "Mozartewoche" (or Mozart Week) 2015. It records regularly in Cuba and has won a series of Cubadisco prizes for its work.
JUNE 20 @ 7 P.M. at Arthur Zankel Music Center
Skidmore collaboration expands upon SPAC’s commitment to partnerships with other cultural constituents in the Capital Region to bring a broader offering of compelling programming to the community
Saratoga Springs, NY (April 21, 2017) – Acclaimed pianist Simone Dinnerstein and the young, virtuosic Havana Lyceum Orchestra led by José Antonio Méndez Padrón will bring their remarkable cross-cultural Mozart in Havana tour to Skidmore’s Arthur Zankel Music Center on June 20 at 7 p.m., in a concert co-presented by Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Skidmore College. SPAC’s collaboration with Skidmore College follows the recently announced programming partnership with Saratoga Springs’ iconic folk venue Caffé Lena as the second significant partnership with another cultural organization in the Capital Region, and marks a continuation of SPAC’s commitment to bringing together a network of cultural institutions in the region.
The Mozart in Havana tour is a culmination of a musical collaboration between the pianist and the orchestra which produced the new album, Mozart in Havana, released today, April 21, featuring Mozart's Piano Concerto Nos. 21 and 23. A testament to music’s ability to cross all cultural and language barriers, the June tour represents the first time an orchestra of this size has traveled to the U.S. from Cuba since the revolution.
“I have a long personal and professional connection to the music and musicians of Cuba – and a long-standing admiration for the artistry of Simone Dinnerstein,” said Elizabeth Sobol, President & CEO of SPAC. “While the SPAC Amphitheater Stage is too large – and the Spa Little Theatre stage too small – the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College is perfect in size and acoustics for showcasing these incredible classical musicians. And I am thrilled that this unique, wonderful musical project is coming to Saratoga through partnership.” While SPAC and Skidmore College have worked together on Jazz and dance programs in the past, this concert marks the first time the two institutions have co-presented a concert like this. “It is truly exciting for Skidmore to be partnering with SPAC on this project. Hopefully, this will be the first of many similar collaborations,” said Paul Calhoun, Dean of Special Programs at Skidmore College. Dinnerstein’s connection to Cuba began at a young age, when Solomon Mikowsky, a Cuban émigré who became her piano teacher, would tell stories of his childhood in Cuba and the country's many musical influences. Dinnerstein recalls, "I learned so much from Solomon, and one thing was that a musical culture is not something you have to be born to but something you can choose." In 2015, Dinnerstein traveled to Havana to play a Mozart concerto with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra. Not knowing what to expect, she was deeply impressed. "They played with thoughtful sensitivity and sensual beauty, despite the fact that in some cases the materials they were using were inferior. It was clear that the sound they made came from inside them, not simply from their instruments." That experience inspired a desire for a deeper collaboration with the orchestra. Within a year she had returned to Havana to record with the Orchestra what would become Mozart in Havana. In addition to the June 20 concert presented by SPAC and Skidmore College, the tour by Dinnerstein and the Orchestra will take them to New York's Naumburg Bandshell, and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. Dinnerstein will also perform the repertoire with the National Symphony Orchestra at the National Music Center in Costa Rica. Mozart in Havana tickets are available at: http://bit.ly/2pbmxhY. Ticket prices: $30 General Admission/ $25 Senior/ $20 SPAC member. For show information, visit http://www.skidmore.edu/zankel.
About Simone Dinnerstein Dinnerstein is one of the most acclaimed pianists of her generation - called "an artist of true expressive force" by the Washington Post and "a throwback to such high priestesses of music as Wanda Landowska and Myra Hess" by Slate. She is also one of the most expansive, counting among her catalogue projects with singer-songwriter Tift Merritt, thereminist Pamelia Kurstin, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and others. Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The New York-based pianist gained an international following with the remarkable success of her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which she independently raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many "Best of 2007" lists, including those of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the New Yorker.
About José Antonio Méndez Padrón José Antonio Méndez Padrón is the founding music director of the Havana Lyceum Orchestra. He has toured Canada, Spain, France, Austria, the U.S., Ecuador and Nicaragua, and five of his albums have received Cubadisco prizes in the past decade. Since 2011 he has been deputy director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba. Padrón is a graduate of the University of the Arts in Havana, Cuba, where he specialized in choral direction under María Felicia Pérez and orchestra direction under Jorge López Marín. He has taken advanced classes with important musical directors such as Jorge Rotter, Thomas Hengelbrock, Shalev Ad El and the master Ronald Zollman. In 2011, he studied at the Mozarteum University's Summer Academy with Peter Gülke and the soloists of Salzburg Chamber Orchestra.
About the Havana Lyceum Orchestra The Havana Lyceum Orchestra was founded in 2009 in collaboration with the Mozart Lyceum of Havana, an institution co-sponsored by the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation in Austria. It brings together students, recent graduates and professors from the University of the Arts, the National School of Music and the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory. The Havana Lyceum Orchestra has quickly established itself as a central element of Cuba's musical life. The Orchestra has performed extensively in Cuba and abroad to widespread critical acclaim. In 2015 the Orchestra performed at Salzburg's annual Mozartewoche in collaboration with the celebrated Cuban flutist Niurka González during "Mozartewoche" (or Mozart Week) 2015. It records regularly in Cuba and has won a series of Cubadisco prizes for its work.
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