Music for the Spirit Concert Features PSO, Honeck

For Immediate Release
Jan. 8, 2014

MUSIC DIRECTOR MANFRED HONECK, PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CELEBRATE “MUSIC FOR THE SPIRIT” WITH FREE CONCERT

PITTSBURGH—Music has the power to touch the human spirit, transcending time, place, boundaries and language and spurring understanding and connection. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Manfred Honeck are deeply committed to music’s ability to promote and spread a spiritual and universal message, and to that end invite the public to a free “Music for the Spirit” concert on Feb. 13, 2014, at 7 p.m. at East Liberty Presbyterian Church.

The annual Music for the Spirit concerts are especially important to Maestro Honeck as he embraces music’s ability to promote dialogue among faiths. The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh is partnering with the Pittsburgh Symphony on this year’s concert. The program will include works by Schubert, Dvoøák, Schmidt, Ullmann and more.

“Music was such an integral part of the lives of so many of our survivors,” says Hilary Tyson, chair of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. “Memories of favorite musical pieces helped get them through the darkest of their days during the Holocaust. Therefore, we are so pleased to be able to partner with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on the Music for the Spirit series community concert on Feb. 13 and on our Yom Hashoa/Holocaust Remembrance Day program in April where we will explore the art, music and literature from the Holocaust.”

Along with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, under the direction of Betsy Burleigh, and “Concentio” of Pittsburgh School for the Choral Arts, under the direction of Kathryn Barnard, will be featured during the performance. Associate Principal Viola Tatjana Mead Chamis will be the featured soloist on Boris Pigovat’s Requiem, “The Holocaust,” for Viola and Orchestra.

General admission tickets are free to the public and are available now. Tickets are limited and up to four are available per household. Ticket reservations can be made by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 or visiting pittsburghsymphony.org.

Each season, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presents two performances with spiritual roots — one at Heinz Hall as part of the BNY Mellon Grand Classics series and one in rotating venues in the community, such as churches, synagogues, mosques and community centers. These performances feature works with spirituality at their heart and that appeal to music lovers of all faiths. The Music for the Spirit concerts sprang from the Pittsburgh Symphony’s 2004 performance at the Vatican, the first American orchestra to perform for a pope. That powerful, monumental experience sparked a commitment between the Pittsburgh Symphony and faith communities in Pittsburgh to perform concerts that celebrate the spiritual and universal message of music. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Vatican concert on Jan. 17, 2004, and the inspiration for Music for the Spirit.

Generous support for Music for the Spirit is provided by Astorino, Mr. and Mrs. J. Christopher Donahue, Susan and Roy Dorrance, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Catharine M. Ryan and John T. Ryan III.

Editors Please Note:

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, 7 p.m.
East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 116 S. Highland Ave.
MUSIC FOR THE SPIRIT
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MANFRED HONECK, conductor
TATJANA MEAD CHAMIS, viola
MENDELSSOHN CHOIR OF PITTSBURGH (Betsy Burleigh, director)
“CONCENTIO” OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL FOR THE CHORAL ARTS (Kathryn Barnard, director)

Franz Schubert               Mass No. 6 in E-flat major, D. 950
 I. Kyrie

Franz Schubert               Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, [old No. 7] "Unfinished"
                                                I. Allegro moderato

Antonin Dvoøák              Stabat Mater, Opus 58
III. Eia, mater, fons amoris

Bohuslav Martinu           Memorial to Lidice
Viktor Ullmann              Three Hebrew Boys' Choruses
A'macha jissrael jibane
Haleluja! bezilzele schama
Hedad, hedad, gina ktana!

Franz Schmidt                Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book with Seven Seals)
                                                Und als das Lamm der Siegel zweites auftrat

Boris Pigovat                  Requiem, “The Holocaust,” for Viola and Orchestra
Lux Eterna

Gabriel-Urbain Fauré      Requiem, Opus 48
                                                VII. In paradisum

Franz Schmidt                Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book with Seven Seals)
                                                Hallelujah!

Franz Schmidt                Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book with Seven Seals)
Epilog

###
 Photo Credit;  Felix Broede

Contact: Louise Sciannameo, Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsciannameo@pittsburghsymphony.org
Contact: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Honeck to Lead Boston Symphony Orchestra

For Immediate Release
Jan. 14, 2014

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MUSIC DIRECTOR TO LEAD BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IN FEBRUARY

PITTSBURGH—Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck returns to Boston to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra on February 20-22, 2014 in a program featuring peerless German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Honeck’s conducting debut with the Boston Symphony was in November 2005.

Following the successful European Festivals tour that brought the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to five countries earlier this season, Maestro Honeck’s U.S. conducting schedule also included his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his Walt Disney Concert  Hall debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in November, followed by his second appearance with the New York Philharmonic on December 10. On May 10, 2014, The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will return to Carnegie Hall for the final performance of the Spring for Music festival.

For the Boston concerts, Honeck will lead Mutter in two works by Dvořák: the composer’s Violin Concerto, originally conceived for Brahms' friend, the great Joseph Joachim, but never performed by him; and the “Romance” for violin and orchestra, which began life as the slow movement of the composer's F minor string quartet. Honeck will also turn his attention to Beethoven's groundbreaking “Eroica” symphony, inspired by Napoleon's rise to power. Honeck and Mutter have a long, collaborative history of creating music together. Mutter was a featured soloist on the Pittsburgh Symphony’s most recent European tour in August and September 2013 and her latest CD, “Dvořák,” was recorded with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Honeck.

More information about or tickets for this concert can be found at bso.org

Manfred Honeck was appointed the ninth music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January 2007, and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. After a first extension in 2009, his contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season. Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. An accomplished violinist and violist, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

He began his career as conductor of Vienna's Jeunesse Orchestra, which he co-founded, and as assistant to Claudio Abbado at the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in Vienna. In 2010, Honeck was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. Apart from his numerous tasks as conductor, he has been artistic director of the “International Concerts Wolfegg” in Germany for more than 15 years. Honeck served as principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2011, a position he has resumed for another three years at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season. As a guest conductor, Honeck has worked with major orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic and in the United States with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra Washington and Boston Symphony Orchestra. Honeck’s latest CD with the Pittsburgh Symphony—“Strauss”—was issued by Reference Recordings in November 2013.

For more than 35 years, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has sustained a career of exceptional musicianship with an unwavering commitment to the future of classical music. Since her international debut at the Lucerne Festival in 1976, followed by a solo appearance with Herbert von Karajan at the Salzburg Whitsun Concerts, Mutter has performed in all the major concert halls of Europe, Asia and North and South America. In addition to performing and recording the established masterpieces of the violin repertoire, Mutter champions 20th- and 21st-century violin repertoire for both orchestral and chamber music settings. She also devotes her time to numerous charity projects and supports the development of young, exceptionally talented musicians. In 2013, Mutter performs in Asia, Europe and North America. The world premiere of Currier’s Ringtone Variations for violin and double bass, a work commissioned by The Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, provides the prelude for a tour of Asia with the Mutter Virtuosi. That ensemble, under the musical direction of Mutter herself, consists of 14 of the foundation’s current and former scholarship students. Additional highlights throughout the year include a concert in Warsaw in celebration of Lutosławski’s 100th birthday and a recital in Carnegie Hall on the 25th anniversary of Mutter’s debut there. Her honors include the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award, European St. Ulrich’s Prize, Brahms Prize, Erich Fromm Prize, Gustav Adolf Prize, Cristóbal Gabarrón Foundation’s International Scenic Arts Award, International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize and Leipzig Mendelssohn Award, as well as an honorary doctorate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.

Editors Please Note:

Thursday, Feb. 20, 10:30 a.m. (open rehearsal)
Thursday, Feb. 20, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 21, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 22, 8:00 p.m.

“DVOŘÁK AND BEETHOVEN”
BOSTON SYMPHONY HALL, BOSTON, MA
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MANFRED HONECK, conductor
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER, violin

Antonín Dvořák:             “Romance” for Violin and Orchestra
Antonín Dvořák:             Violin Concerto
Ludwig van Beethoven:  Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”

###
Photo Credits:


Contact: Louise Sciannameo, Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsciannameo@pittsburghsymphony.org
Contact: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Honeck to Conduct NY Philharmonic

For Immediate Release
Nov. 12, 2013

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MUSIC DIRECTOR TO GUEST CONDUCT WITH NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

PITTSBURGH—On December 10, 2013, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck will lead the New York Philharmonic in an all-Dvoøák program featuring German violin superstar Anne-Sophie Mutter. Honeck made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic last season.
Following the successful European Festivals tour that brought the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to five countries in August and September, Maestro Honeck’s upcoming U.S. conducting schedule also includes his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra on November 14-16 and his Walt Disney Concert Hall debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on November 21-23, followed by performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on February 20-22, and the return of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to Carnegie Hall for the final performance of Spring for Music on May 10.

In Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic, Honeck will conduct the orchestra in a program featuring the Carnival Overture, the tuneful, dancing Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” which originally premiered with the New York Philharmonic. Honeck and Mutter have a long, collaborative history of creating music together. Mutter was a featured soloist on the Pittsburgh Symphony’s most recent European tour and her latest CD, “Dvoøák,” was recorded with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Honeck. This month, Honeck’s latest CD with the Pittsburgh Symphony—“Strauss”—was issued by Reference Recordings.

More information about or tickets for this concert can be found at www.nyphil.org

Manfred Honeck was appointed the ninth music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January 2007, and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. After a first extension in 2009, his contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season. Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. An accomplished violinist and violist, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.  He began his career as conductor of Vienna's Jeunesse Orchestra, which he co-founded, and as assistant to Claudio Abbado at the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in Vienna. In 2010, Honeck was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. Apart from his numerous tasks as conductor, he has been artistic director of the “International Concerts Wolfegg” in Germany for more than 15 years. Honeck served as principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2011, a position he has resumed for another three years at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season. As a guest conductor, Honeck has worked with major orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic and in the United States with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra Washington and Boston Symphony Orchestra.

For more than 35 years, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has sustained a career of exceptional musicianship with an unwavering commitment to the future of classical music. Since her international debut at the Lucerne Festival in 1976, followed by a solo appearance with Herbert von Karajan at the Salzburg Whitsun Concerts, Mutter has performed in all the major concert halls of Europe, Asia and North and South America. In addition to performing and recording the established masterpieces of the violin repertoire, Mutter champions 20th- and 21st-century violin repertoire for both orchestral and chamber music settings. She also devotes her time to numerous charity projects and supports the development of young, exceptionally talented musicians. In 2013, Mutter performs in Asia, Europe and North America. The world premiere of Currier’s Ringtone Variations for violin and double bass, a work commissioned by The Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, provides the prelude for a tour of Asia with the Mutter Virtuosi. That ensemble, under the musical direction of Mutter herself, consists of 14 of the foundation’s current and former scholarship students. Additional highlights throughout the year include a concert in Warsaw in celebration of Lutos³awski’s 100th birthday and a recital in Carnegie Hall on the 25th anniversary of Mutter’s debut there. Her honors include the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award, European St. Ulrich’s Prize, Brahms Prize, Erich Fromm Prize, Gustav Adolf Prize, Cristóbal Gabarrón Foundation’s International Scenic Arts Award, International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize and Leipzig Mendelssohn Award, as well as an honorary doctorate from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.

Editors Please Note:

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.

“ALL-DVOØÁK PROGRAM FEATURING ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER”
AVERY FISHER HALL, NEW YORK, NY
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
MANFRED HONECK, conductor
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER, violin

Antonín Dvoøák:             Carnival Overture
Antonín Dvoøák:             Violin Concerto
Antonín Dvoøák:             Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”

-30-

Contact: Louise Sciannameo, Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsciannameo@pittsburghsymphony.org
Contact: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Honeck, Yo-Yo Ma in PSO Concert

For Immediate Release
Aug. 12, 2013

MUSIC DIRECTOR MANFRED HONECK AND CELLIST YO-YO MA OPEN 2013-2014 PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SEASON WITH ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’ GALA

PITTSBURGH – Music will fill the air, beanstalks will reach to the sky and attendees will live “happily ever after” when legendary, award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma joins Music Director Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to kick off the 2013-2014 season at a “Once Upon a Time” gala concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27 at Heinz Hall.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Ma will transport audience members to the magical lands of childhood when they perform Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, as well as Dvorak’s Carnival Overture and other works inspired by fairy tales. The concert is bookended by a Gala party and Soiree, which will be held at Heinz Hall and the Fairmont Hotel respectively.

Tickets, ranging from $40 to $110 for the gala concert only, went on sale today and can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900, or by visiting www.pittsburghsymphony.org. Ticket prices are subject to change. There are a limited number of tickets for the concert available.

The Once Upon a Time Gala is chaired by the Tillotson Family—Carol Hefren Tillotson, Bob Gallagher and Sharon Tillotson Gallagher, Craig and Jill Tillotson, and Curt Fleming and Kim Tillotson Fleming—along with Honorary Chairs Ginny and Dick Simmons and the Walton Family. The gala, which includes a pre-concert cocktail hour, a silent auction, a post-concert formal dinner and a dessert reception with Maestro Honeck, is sold out.

The Once Upon a Time Soirée includes valet parking, pre-concert cocktail hour, preferred seating for the concert, and a post-concert celebration with symphony musicians at the Fairmont, including hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, live music and more. Tickets are $175 to $225 per person. The Once Upon a Time Soirée is chaired by Jensina A. Chutz, along with Honorary Chairs Margaret and Todd Izzo. The Soirée Silent Auction Chair is Erin Starzynski. Soiree tickets also are on sale now and going fast. Call the box office at 412-392-4900 or visit www.pittsburghsymphony.org to purchase soiree tickets.

All proceeds from the Gala concert and parties support the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Education and Community Engagement programs.

Arguably one of the most famous classical musicians, Yo-Yo Ma is a best-selling classical recording artist with a discography of more than 75 albums, including 15 Grammy Award-winners. He has been awarded the Avery Fisher Prize, Glenn Gould Prize, National Medal of Arts, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors. In January 2009, at President Obama’s invitation, Ma played in the quartet performance of John Williams’ Air and Simple Gifts at the 56th Inaugural Ceremony. Ma plays two instruments, a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.

Manfred Honeck was appointed the ninth Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January 2007, and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. After a first extension in 2009, his contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season. Following their successful European Tour in 2010, European Festival Tour 2011 and European Tour 2012, with a week-long residency at Musikverein in Vienna, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra triumphantly returns to Europe’s major music festivals in August and September 2013 with stops at Lucerne, Grafenegg, Musikfest Berlin, Beethovenfest Bonn and several others. Honeck's successful work in Pittsburgh is captured on CD by the Japanese label Exton. So far, Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben have been released to critical acclaim. Their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 won a 2012 International Classical Music Award (ICMA).  Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. An accomplished violinist and violist, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Editors Please Note:

Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

ONCE UPON A TIME
Heinz Hall
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MANFRED HONECK, conductor
YO-YO MA, cello

Antonin Dvorak                       Carnival Overture, Opus 92
Engelbert Humperdinck          “Dream Pantomime” from Hansel and Gretel
Sergei Prokofiev                      Suite No. 1 from Cinderella, Opus 107
1.      Quarrel
2.      Cinderella’s Waltz
3.      Midnight
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky          Suite from The Sleeping Beauty, Opus 66a
1.      Valse
2.      Panorama
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky          Andante Cantabile for Cello and String Orchestra
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky          Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Opus 33

-30-

Contact: Louise Sciannameo, Associate Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsciannameo@pittsburghsymphony.org
Contact: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh