HOUSTON (Feb. 14, 2019) – Former Houston Symphony Music Director Christoph Eschenbach returns to Houston to lead the orchestra and guest violinist Leila Josefowicz in a work written expressly for her, as well as a towering romantic work by Austrian composer Anton Brucker in the program Eschenbach and Josefowicz at 8 p.m., Feb. 28 & March 2, and 2:30 p.m. March 3.
Best known and beloved by Houston audiences for his tenure as Houston Symphony music director from 1988 to 1999, Eschenbach succeeded in significantly enhancing and strengthening the orchestra’s national and international reputation during that time. Renowned for his prowess conducting late Romantic composers like Wagner, Mahler, and Bruckner, Eschenbach returns to lead the Houston Symphony in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, Romantic. Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony is full of lyrical melodies, intense harmonies, and thundering climaxes inspired by the imagery of medieval romance, including vivid images of knights riding forth from castles and the sounds and sights of nature.
Fiery virtuoso Leila Josefowicz is the soloist in Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto, which the composer wrote expressly for Josefowicz, herself a staunch champion of new music. The Canadian-American violin virtuoso earned a 2014 Grammy nomination for a recording of Salonen’s fiery violin concerto with the composer himself conducting the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Eschenbach and Josefowicz, sponsored by Rand Group, takes place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston’s Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday–Saturday, 12–6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
ESCHENBACH AND JOSEFOWICZ
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 2, 2019, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 3, 2019, 2:30 p.m.
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Leila Josefowicz, violin
Esa-Pekka Salonen: Violin Concerto
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4, Romantic
About Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach, who served as music director of the Houston Symphony for 11 years, is a phenomenon among the top league of international conductors. Universally acclaimed as both a conductor and pianist, he firmly belongs to the German intellectual line of tradition, yet he combines this with a rare emotional intensity, producing performances revered by concert-goers worldwide. Renowned for the breadth of his repertoire and the depth of his interpretations, he has held directorships with many leading orchestras and gained the highest musical honors.
To explore the conditions that led to the emergence of such a charismatic talent, we can look to his early years—born in 1940, at the heart of a tempestuous, war-torn Europe, his early childhood was scarred by a succession of personal tragedies. Music was his savior, and his life began to change when he learned the piano. Now, at age 78, his keen artistic curiosity is undiminished, and he thoroughly enjoys working with the finest international orchestras. A tireless supporter of young talent, his greatest passion is mentoring up-and-coming musicians over and above his own distinguished career. His personal mission is to pass the torch to the next generation—”Those one hundred percent artists,” as he calls them. To date, his discoveries include pianist Lang Lang, violinist Julia Fischer, and cellists Leonard Elschenbroich and Daniel Müller-Schott.
Christoph continues to explore new horizons, and beginning September 2019, he will become the music director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.
Over the course of five decades, as a conductor and pianist, Christoph has built an impressive discography, with a repertoire ranging from J.S. Bach to contemporary music. Many of his recordings have gained benchmark status and have received numerous awards, including the German Record Critics’ Award, the MIDEM Classical Award, and a Grammy Award®. For many years, Eschenbach’s preferred Lied partner has been baritone Matthias Goerne. In recordings and in live performances, e.g. at the Salzburg Festival, the two perfectly matched artists have explored the rich treasures of the German Romantic period, from Schubert to Brahms.
Christoph Eschenbach was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, and he is a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. He holds of the German Federal Cross of Merit and has won the Leonard Bernstein Award. In 2015, for his achievements as conductor and pianist, he received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, known as “The Nobel Prize of Music.”
About Leila Josefowicz
Leila Josefowicz’ passionate advocacy of contemporary music is reflected in her diverse programs and enthusiasm to perform new works. In 2008, she was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, joining prominent scientists, writers, and musicians who have made unique contributions to contemporary life.
In addition to these concerts, highlights of Leila’s 2018–19 season include performances with the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Oslo Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, and the Toronto and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, working with conductors at the highest level.
Alongside pianist John Novacek, with whom Leila has collaborated since 1985, she has performed recitals at world-renowned venues from San Francisco to New York to Reykjavik. This season, she appears at Madrid’s Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical, Ithaca and Eastman music schools, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and London’s Wigmore Hall.
A favorite of many living composers, Leila enjoyed a close working relationship with the late Oliver Knussen performing together more than 30 times. She has premiered many new concertos for John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Colin Matthews, and Steven Mackey, all writing especially for her. She performed the world premiere of Adams’ Scheherazade.2 (Dramatic Symphony for Violin and Orchestra) in 2015 with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert. In 2014, she premiered Luca Francesconi’s concerto Duende – The Dark Notes, also written for her, with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Susanna Mälkki, and again with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Mälkki at the BBC Proms.
Recent highlights include engagements with the Berlin and Los Angeles Philharmonics; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra; and Boston and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestras. In summer 2017, she appeared at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.
Leila has released several recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Philips Universal, and Warner Classics and was featured on Touch Press’ acclaimed iPad app, The Orchestra. Her latest recording, featuring Scheherazade.2 with the St Louis Symphony conducted by David Robertson, was nominated for a Grammy Award®. Her recording of Salonen’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer, was nominated for a Grammy Award® in 2014.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2018–19 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its fifth season with Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada and continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring, and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $33.9 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s four Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 900 community-based performances each year, reaching thousands of people in Greater Houston.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Naxos, Koch International Classics, Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics, and, most recently, Dutch recording label PENTATONE. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Eric Skelly: (713) 337-8560, eric.skelly@houstonsymphony.org
Mireya Reyna: (713) 337-8557, mireya.reyna@houstonsymphony.org
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