JUNE 9, 2009 @ 7:30 PM
* * *
Heinrich Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Battaglia for strings & continuo
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major, (c. 1720) BWV 1042
Lara St. John, violin
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050
Alex Sopp, flute; Colin Jacobsen, violin; Steven Beck, harpsichord
INTERMISSION
At intermission of the performance the first 750 children in attendance with a parent will be given a free compact disc of Bach in celebration of the opening performance of the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts season
J.S. Bach, (1685-1750)
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, (1717) BWV 1067
Andrea Griminelli, flute
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Concerto For Two Violins, Strings & Continuo in D Minor, (c. 1720) BWV 1043
Lara St. John & Scott St. John, violins
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Knights are a fellowship of young musicians of diverse and accomplished backgrounds who come together for the shared joy of musical exploration. The New Yorker says they are ‘a little orchestra of some of New York’s best strings-about-town.’Lara St. John, violin – returns to the Naumburg Concerts after her well received and much enjoyed performance of Vivaldi and Piazzola’s Four Seasons, on July 25th 2007, with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Critics have recently written about Lara -“Canadian Lara St John really gave herself to the piece and produced as fine a performance, occasionally throwing caution to the wind, as I have ever heard. The slow movement was meltingly beautiful and the finale full of fireworks. The wind section must be mentioned here for it was magnificent throughout.” – Seen & Heard International, November 2008
Lara St. John has been described as “something of a phenomenon” by The Strad and a “high-powered soloist” by The New York Times .
She has performed as soloist with the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Seattle, Brooklyn, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, the Boston Pops and many more in North America. In Europe, she has played with the NDR Symphony (Hanover), Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Bournemouth Symphony and the Amsterdam Symphony, among others. In Asia, solo appearances have included the Hong Kong Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, China Philharmonic in Beijing, Guangzhou Symphony and the Shanghai Broadcasting Orchestra. Lara has also performed with the Queensland Orchestra in Australia.
The Los Angeles Times has written, “St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion.” Recitals in major concert halls have included New York, Boston, San Francisco, Ravinia, Washington DC, Prague, Berlin, Toronto, Montreal and in the Forbidden City.
Lara’s sixth recording, Hindson – Corigliano – Liszt/Kennedy/St. John was released in 2008 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, featuring two world premiere works; the Matthew Hindson Violin Concerto and the Martin Kennedy/ St. John arrangement of Totentanz by Franz Liszt, as well as The Red Violin Suite by John Corigliano. In writing of his impressions of the recording, John Corigliano commented: “I’m thrilled to be included in a new recording by the brilliant and always surprising Lara St. John. She is a real maverick, as a performer and in her choice of repertoire. An opulent and virtuosic new violin concerto and my Red Violin suite are coupled with a newly arranged version of a 19th century pianistic tour de force in her latest stunning release.”
Lara’s fifth recording, Bach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo, described as “awe-inducing” by The Toronto Star, and “wild, idiosyncratic, and gripping” by The Los Angeles Times, was released in the autumn of 2007 where it climbed to No. 2 and was the year’s best selling double album on iTunes.
Her third recording, Bach: the Concerto Album appeared in the “strongly recommended” section of Gramophone, which stated, “It is difficult to argue with such a technically dazzling and unfailingly musical interpretation.” In June of 2005 the recording was released on iTunes where it immediately became No. 1 in the classical category. Lara has also recorded for Sony Classical.
Her debut CD, Bach: Works for Violin Solo, has sold over 50,000 copies and received resounding acclaim. The Chicago Tribune described Ms. St. John as having “superb technique and an irresistible vitality,” while US News and World Report called the recording “an exquisite performance.” Her second album, Gypsy, was described as “a sizzling display” by Gramophone, and The Strad called her “an electrifying player, as deeply satisfying in Bach as she is bewitchingly seductive in Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy.”
She has been featured in People, US News and World Report, on CNN’s Showbiz Today, NPR’s All Things Considered, Fox News, CBC and a Bravo! Special: Live At the Rehearsal Hall.
Highlights of the 2008-2009 concert season included Lara’s London debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and her Wolf Trap recital debut with pianist Martin Kennedy.
Lara began playing the violin when she was 2 years old. She made her first appearance as soloist with orchestra at age 4, and her European debut with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon when she was 10. She toured Spain, France, Portugal and Hungary at ages 12 and 13, entered the Curtis Institute at 13, and spent her first summer at Marlboro three years later. Her teachers have included Felix Galimir, David Takeno, and Joey Corpus.s.
She performs on the 1779 “Salabue” Guadagnini thanks to an anonymous donor and Heinl & Co. of Toronto.
Scott St. John, violin/viola – “Mr. St. John played with endearing grace and rich tone. With either of his two instruments, violin and viola, he is a distinctive musician – strong, poised and musically intelligent.” – The New York Times
Canadian-born Scott St John has captured the attention of the musical world through his riveting and virtuosic performances on the violin, viola and electric MIDI violin.
An outreach enthusiast, St John will devise workshop, masterclass and community activities with audiences of any age. St John’s “Chamber Music Company” launched a new series of concerts including world premieres and varied collaborations in New York’s Merkin Hall. Served as founder and former Artistic Director of Millenium.
Prizewinner of the 1992 Munich International Violin Competition; winner of the Young Concert Artists Award; First Prize winner of the Alexander Schneider Violin & Viola Competition in 1987.
Bringing a superb technique, and captivating musicianship to his performances here is an artist many want to invite back. Impressive debut performances with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra/Keith Lockhart and Toronto Symphony/Jukka-Pekka Saraste have both resulted in reinvitations. Recent and forthcoming orchestral performances also include the Boston Pops and Philadelphia Orchestras, Flemish Radio, Cincinnati, New Hampshire, Toronto, Utah and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra.
Andrea Griminelli, flute – Acclaimed by critics and audiences for his sensitive interpretations and astonishing technique, The New York Times called Andrea Griminelli “one of the eight top emerging artists of the nineties”.
He began playing the flute at the age of ten and studied with legendary flutists Jean-Pierre Rampal and Sir James Galway. Sir James has described him as “the greatest flute player who has come to the forefront of the musical scene for many years”.
During his studies with Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Paris Conservatory he won music competitions in Stresa and Alessandria, Italy. In 1983 and 1984 he was awarded the prestigious Prix de Paris.
In 1984, at the age of 25 he was invited by Luciano Pavarotti to perform in Pavarotti’s now famous concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden. This was the beginning of a longstanding collaboration with the great tenor that led to unforgettable performance at London’s Hyde Park in 1990, New York’s Central Park in 1993, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Red Square, Moscow.
Throughout his career Griminelli has travelled extensively, performing tours in Europe, Japan, South America and United States. He has played most of the prestigious theatres and concert halls including La Scala and Carnegie Hall, together with artists such as Pretre, Giulini, Mehta, Norrington, Krivine, Bashmet, Luisada, Sutherland, Bonynge, Rampal, Rojdestvenski, Levine, Lu-Ja, Ughi, Sado and Semkov. He has worked with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphony, the Munchner Rundfunkorchester, the London Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Turin Rai Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
In 1991 Griminelli received a knighthood from the President of the Italian Republic and in 2003 was made Officer of Merit of the Italian Republic.
A champion of new work, he has given the world premieres of compositions for flute and orchestra by many composers including Carlo Boccadoro, Fabrizio Festa, Ennio Morricone and Shigeaki Saegusa.
His work on behalf of charitable causes has led to frequent collaborations with artists from popular culture including Elton John, James Taylor, Sting, Branford Marsalis and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
Andrea Griminelli has recorded extensively. His work includes flute concertos by Vivaldi and Mercadante on the Decca label with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Rampal and the Rossini wind quartets (Decca). Decca has also released a disc entitled Andrea Griminelli’s Cinema Italiano featuring sound tracks from the world of Italian cinema arranged by Bacalov and Morricone and interpreted by Sting, Luciano Pavarotti, Lucio Dalla, Deborah Harry and Filippa Giordano.
During the 2005 – 2006 concert season, Griminelli was very active in creating new recordings with Decca. Work from this time includes Mozart’s complete concerti for flute with the Camerata Salzburg conducted by Sir Roger Norrington, a selection of early 19th century Italian music together with guitarist Filomena Moretti and music for flute and piano by Beethoven and Schubert with pianist Gianluca Cascioli.
Highlights of 2006, included a Decca release of the Mozart quartets for flute and strings with the Keller Quartet, tours of Latin America with Italian guitarist, Emanuele Segre and performances in Caracas with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.
In September 2007 he was appointed President of the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali “A. Peri” of Reggio Emilia, Italy and in January 2008 President of the Istituto Musicale “C. Merulo” of Castelnovo ne’ Monti (R.E.), Italy.
In 2008 Griminelli appeared with the Orchestre Symphonique du Nancy; with the harpist Luisa Prandina; at the Hanoi Opera Hause in the Hennessy Concert Series; with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona; in a Pavarotti Tribute concert in Petra broadcast by Retequattro and in an Andrea Bocelli Concert in the Plebiscito Square, Naples. He also recorded Boccherini Quintetts with the Quartetto di Cremona for Decca.
Next concert season includes tours of Latin America, the United States, recitals with the Virtuosi Italiani, performances in Japan with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and a world tour with Andrea Bocelli. In recital, he will appear with Emanuele Segre in Europe, with the Quartetto di Cremona and as soloist with a number of European orchestras. (October 2008)
