Recently in Orchestras Category

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Announce 2009-10 Season

Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) today announced details of the San Francisco Symphony's (SFS) 2009-10 season, including the Orchestra's Centennial Initiatives – a multi-year expansion of its commissioning activities, an ambitious composer and artist residency project, and special programs, concerts and events designed to draw new audiences to orchestral music in Davies Symphony Hall and beyond, as the Orchestra prepares to mark its 100^th season in 2011-12.

Highlights include:

• Orchestra's 98^th Season Features Expanded Commissioning Activities and Ambitious Composer and Artist Residency Project as Part of SFS' Multi-Year Centennial Initiatives;
• New Project San Francisco Artist and Composer Residencies Feature Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Composer George Benjamin;
• Season Includes Six SFS Commissions by Peter Lieberson, Osvaldo Golijov, John Adams, Rufus Wainwright, Victor Kissine, and Thomas Larcher;
• Orchestra to Perform Three World Premieres, One U.S. Premiere and 20 SFS Premieres;
• Pianist Emanuel Ax Performs Three World Premieres with Yo-Yo Ma and Dawn Upshaw;
• Michael Tilson Thomas' Fifteenth Anniversary Season Opens September 9 in a Gala Concert with Lang Lang and Concludes with Berlioz's Large Scale Choral Masterpiece Roméo et Juliette;
• MTT Leads the Orchestra in a Three-Week Mahler Festival with Concerts Recorded and Filmed for SFS Media and Keeping Score;
• Keeping Score - Broadcasts Slated for Fall 2009 on PBS, with Episodes on Berlioz, Shostakovich and Ives;
• SFS Media to Release Orchestra's Recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand;
• SFS and Musicians Ratify New Four-Year Contract Extending Beyond 2011-12 Centennial Season; ;
• New Media Agreement Expands Orchestra's Ability to Reach New Audiences in Innovative Ways;
• National Tour Includes Performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection at Carnegie Hall;
• Distinguished Roster of Artists and Conductors Includes the SFS Debuts of Vasily Petrenko, Rufus Wainwright, Christine Schäfer, and David Fray, and the Return of Itzhak Perlman, Lang Lang, Marc-André Hamelin, Yefim Bronfman, Yuja Wang, Christian Tetzlaff, Susan Graham, and Thomas Hampson;
• Great Performers Series and Special Concerts Feature Visits by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudamel, Berlin Philharmonic with Sir Simon Rattle, Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig with Riccardo Chailly, and the Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev.

Read more about this at the San Francisco Symphony website:

   www.sfsymphony.org

One World Symphony

Sung Jin Hong, Artistic Director and Conductor

Under the baton of Artistic Director Sung Jin Hong, One World Symphony and its feature artists will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (highlights). All the details are on the attached jpeg press release as well as on our website. One World Symphony's Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 will also celebrate the 100^th anniversary of its world premiere (1909).

Russian Romantics
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (1909)
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (highlights)

Two Performances at Two Different Locations

Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8:00p.m.
St. Ann and the Holy Trinity
157 Montague Street
Brooklyn Heights, New York

Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.
Ansche Chesed Synagogue
251 West 100th Street at West End Avenue
Manhattan, New York

$40 General Admission
$30 Seniors & Students

For more details and artists' biographies, please visit One World Symphony at:

   http://www.oneworldsymphony.org/

Minnesota Orchestra Announces 2009-10 Classical Season Plans

Music Director Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra today unveiled plans for their seventh season together, highlights of which include a four-concert collaboration with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra spotlighting the music of Stravinsky; another edition of the popular “Sounds of Cinema” film music festival featuring screenings of The Wizard of Oz and Chaplin’s The Gold Rush with the Orchestra performing the full scores live; visits by renowned artists including violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and 2008 Grammy Award-winning pianist Garrick Ohlsson; performances of Sibelius’ epic symphonic poem Kullervo; and the continuation of recording projects with pianists Stephen Hough and Yevgeny Sudbin. The season will also feature solo turns by eight Orchestra musicians; appearances by ten accomplished guest conductors, including Conductor Laureate Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, who marks his 50^th season on the Orchestra’s artistic staff; and world premieres of commissioned works by Kalevi Aho, Sally Beamish, Manuel Sosa and Mr. Skrowaczewski.

Mr. Vänskä and the Orchestra will launch the ensemble’s 107^th season on Thursday, September 24, 2009, with pianist Stephen Hough headlining a program of Russian works. Mr. Vänskä will lead 15 of the season’s 24 weeks of subscription programs, concluding with June 2010 performances of Beethoven’s Fifth ("Emperor") Piano Concerto and Bruckner’s monumental Seventh Symphony.

Read more about this at the Minnesota Orchestra website:

   minnesotaorchestra.org

The Cleveland Orchestra announces Gary Ginstling as General Manager

CLEVELAND , July 14, 2008 – Executive Director Gary Hanson announced today that Gary Ginstling has been appointed General Manager of The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Hanson said, "I am delighted to welcome Gary to the staff of The Cleveland Orchestra. His career in orchestra management and corporate marketing, alongside his experience as a professional musician, make him the ideal candidate to help lead our new initiatives in Cleveland and internationally."

As the General Manager of The Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Ginstling will have overall responsibility for management of the Orchestra, Severance Hall and Blossom Music Center, as well as the Orchestra's educational and community relations activities.

Gary Ginstling's career in orchestra management includes serving as Executive Director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2006 and, most recently, as Director of Communications and External Affairs for the San Francisco Symphony since July 2006.

As Executive Director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Ginstling was responsible for a number of initiatives that enhanced the orchestra's reputation for creative programming and innovative projects. Under his tenure, the orchestra and Music Director Kent Nagano gave many world premiere performances, received three ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, and was a recipient of the inaugural Bank of America Award for Excellence in Music Education. Mr. Ginstling oversaw three consecutive years of balanced budgets, the elimination of all outstanding debt, and a significant increase in ticket sales.

In San Francisco , as a member of the senior management team, Mr Ginstling's responsibilities include the oversight and direction of public affairs, publications, and the organization's education/youth orchestra and community engagement activities. Previously, Mr. Ginstling worked for three years at Sun Microsystems as a marketing manager for multimedia and emerging markets.

Gary Ginstling is also a professionally trained musician. He served as principal clarinet of southern California 's New West Symphony for eleven seasons, and has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. He was a Fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida , from 1992 to 1996.

Mr. Ginstling is a board member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO) and served as a board member of the San Francisco Opera BRAVO! Club for young professionals. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA.

Gary Ginstling succeeds Jonathan Martin, who served as General Manager of The Cleveland Orchestra from 1999 to March 2008. Mr. Martin is now the Executive Director of the Charlotte Symphony in North Carolina.

www.clevelandorchestra.com