VSO MEDIA ROOM Photos Bios Info www.vancouversymphony.ca/media-room Media Contact: Caroline Márkos 604.684.9100 x266 caroline@vancouversymphony.ca For Immediate Release April 30, 2015 MEDIA RELEASE Renowned Canadian Pianist Angela Hewitt returns to the VSO Featuring the music of Falla and Ravel VANCOUVER BC The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is delighted to welcome back to the Orpheum renowned Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt for three highly anticipated performances. VSO Conductor Laureate Kazuyoshi Akiyama conducts. SATURDAY, MAY 9 and MONDAY, MAY 11, 8PM, Orpheum Theatre. SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2PM, Orpheum Theatre. Performing two passionate pianistic showcases: Falla s virtuosic Nights in the Gardens of Spain and Maurice Ravel s Concerto in D Major, Left Hand, Hewitt has been called a positive sensation... the complete performer by London s The Sunday Times, and...one of those rare musicians who seem to get something into their heads and hearts and find it at their fingertips instantaneously by the New York Times. One of the world s leading pianists, Hewitt regularly appears in recital and with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. Her performances and recordings of Bach have drawn particular praise, marking her out as one of the composer s foremost interpreters of our time. Hewitt s first piece of the evening, Falla s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, lushly blends Spanish folk music with the Impressionist style of composers such as Debussy and Ravel, whom he came to know personally during the years he spent in Paris. While this piece is not a traditional concerto, it s an orchestral work where the keyboard takes the starring role highlighting the works Impressionist colours.
Maurice Ravel s Concerto for Piano Left Hand in D Major is an intriguing concerto as it was commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, a wealthy Austrian pianist who had lost his right arm in combat during the First World War. Wishing to continue his performing career post-war, he focused on expanding the repertoire written solely for the left hand. This led him to commission many of the most prominent composers of the day to write concertos; Ravel s is the only one to enter the standard repertoire. CONCERT INFORMATION: AIR CANADA Masterworks Diamond Ravel and Falla, with Angela Hewitt SATURDAY, MAY 9 MONDAY, MAY 11 8PM, Orpheum Theatre AIR CANADA Series Sponsor FRIENDS OF THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY May 9 Concert Sponsor Kazuyoshi Akiyama conductor Angela Hewitt piano* MARQUEZ Danzon No. 2 FALLA Nights in the Gardens of Spain* RAVEL Concerto in D Major, Left Hand* RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets: $25-$90 (senior, student, and subscriber discounts available) Tickets available online at www.vancouversymphony.ca or by calling VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434 ROGERS GROUP FINANCIAL Symphony Sundays Ravel and Falla, with Angela Hewitt SUNDAY, MAY 10 2PM, Orpheum Theatre ROGERS GROUP FINANCIAL Series Sponsor Kazuyoshi Akiyama conductor Angela Hewitt piano* MARQUEZ Danzon No. 2 FALLA Nights in the Gardens of Spain* RAVEL Concerto in D Major, Left Hand* 2
RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets: $22-$60 (senior, student, and subscriber discounts available) Tickets available online at www.vancouversymphony.ca or by calling VSO Customer Service at 604.876.3434 BIOGRAPHIES: Angela Hewitt, piano One of the world s leading pianists, Angela Hewitt regularly appears in recital and with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. Her performances and recordings of Bach have drawn particular praise, marking her out as one of the composer s foremost interpreters of our time. Angela Hewitt has recently performed with orchestras including The Cleveland, Toronto Symphony, Philharmonia, and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. She has also appeared with kammerorchesterbasel, Camerata Salzburg, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony orchestras, as well as the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. Recent and future highlights include concerts with the Finnish Radio Symphony and London Philharmonic orchestras, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Brussels Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, RAI Torino, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms and a return to Verbier Festival. Recital highlights of the 2013/14 season include concerts at Seoul Arts Centre, Tokyo s Oji Hall and Nagoya s Shirakawa Hall; Glasgow s City Halls and The Queen s Hall, Edinburgh; Wimbledon Music Festival, Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao, the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, and De Doelen, Rotterdam; as well as several appearances at Wigmore Hall, London. Angela Hewitt also undertook a tour of Australia for Musica Viva, performing recitals in cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. In 2012/13, Angela Hewitt began a project to perform Bach s The Art of Fugue in two programmes in major halls worldwide, based around concerts at the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of the International Piano Series. This follows on from the celebrated project Angela Hewitt s Bach Book in 2010, where Ms Hewitt gave world premieres of six newly-commissioned works by leading composers at Wigmore Hall. Angela Hewitt s award-winning recordings for Hyperion have garnered praise from around the world. Her ten-year project to record all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as one of the record glories of our age (The Sunday Times) and has won her a huge following. She has been hailed as the pre-eminent Bach pianist of our time (The Guardian) and the pianist who will define Bach performance on the piano for years to come (Stereophile). Her discography also includes CDs of Beethoven, Schumann, Messiaen, Ravel, Chopin, Couperin, Rameau and Chabrier. Recent releases include a third album of Mozart concertos, a live recording of Messiaen s Turangalîla Symphony with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, solo discs of Debussy and Fauré, as well as the Schumann Concerto 3
with the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Hannu Lintu. Her recording of The Art of Fugue by Bach, released by Hyperion in October 2014, immediately hit the billboard charts in the USA and UK. Born into a musical family, Angela Hewitt began her piano studies aged three, performing in public at four and a year later winning her first scholarship. She then went on to learn with French pianist, Jean- Paul Sévilla. In 1985 she won the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition. In July 2005, Angela Hewitt launched her own Trasimeno Music Festival in the heart of Umbria near Perugia. An annual event, it draws an international audience to the Castle of the Knights of Malta in Magione, on the shores of Lake Trasimeno. Seven concerts in seven days feature Hewitt as a recitalist, chamber musician, song accompanist, and conductor, working with both established and young artists of her choosing. Angela Hewitt is an Ambassador for The Leading Note Foundation s Orkidstra : a Sistema-inspired, social development program in Ottawa s inner city which, through the joy of learning and playing music together, teaches children life-skills such as commitment, teamwork and tolerance. Angela Hewitt was named Artist of the Year at the 2006 Gramophone Awards. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000 and was awarded an OBE in the Queen s Birthday Honours in 2006. Peterhouse College in Cambridge made her an Honorary Fellow in 2014. She lives in London but also has homes in Ottawa and in Italy. Kazuyoshi Akiyama, conductor laureate Kazuyoshi Akiyama received his musical training at the Toho Gakuen School of Music, where, influenced by the activities of one student, Seiji Ozawa, he transferred from the piano department to study conducting under Hideo Saito. In February 1964, a year after graduating, Mr. Akiyama made his debut engagement with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. The tremendous success of this collaboration led to his nomination for the dual posts of Music Director and Permanent Conductor just two months later. Overseas, his conducting successes began with U.S. and European tours of the Toho Gakuen School of Music Orchestra. He quickly went on to conduct various orchestras in Canada and the U.S., the success of these partnerships leading to Mr. Akiyama being invited to hold professional posts as Assistant Conductor of the Toronto Symphony (1968-1969), Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra (1973-1978), and Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (1972-1985). In 1985, he was granted the title of Conductor Laureate of the Vancouver Symphony upon leaving his post there and from 1985 to 1993, Maestro Akiyama held the post of Music Director to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. During this time, Mr. Akiyama s reputation spread to Europe and through the U.S., where he has been invited to conduct orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, Cologne Broadcast Symphony, the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland and the Philadelphia Orchestras. In 1991, Kazuyoshi Akiyama led the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on a successful world tour to celebrate the orchestra s 45th anniversary, which included performances in New York at the United Nations, as 4
well as in London under the auspices of the UK Japan Festival. Following his many years of collaboration with the orchestra, he was made Conductor Laureate of the TSO and Mr. Akiyama also acts as Principal Conductor acted as Principal Conductor and Music Adviser of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra since 1998. A committed advocate of rare and contemporary repertoires, in 1994, for the 400th subscription performance of TSO, he conducted a concert style performance of Schoenberg s Moses and Aaron, the first Japan performance of that work with Japanese artists. He also has conducted several Japanese premieres of works by composers such as Helmut Lachenmann (The Little Match Girl) and John Adams (El Niño). Kazuyoshi Akiyama is the recipient of numerous citations, including the Suntory Music Award of 1975, the Kyoto Music Award of 1993, the 1995 Mainichi Arts Award, the 1995 Arts Encouragement Prize of the Minister of Education, and the 29th Suntory Music Award. In 2001, Mr. Akiyama was awarded Japan s Medal with Purple Ribbon, the highest honor in Japan. For media inquires or questions please contact the VSO s PR Associate, Caroline Márkos at 604.684.9100 x266 or email at caroline@vancouversymphony.ca -VSO- 5