The Chicago Symphony Orchestra joins the international music community in celebrating the 60th birthday of its longtime collaborator and friend Pinchas Zukerman with a weeklong mini-festival entitled "Bach to Bach" from April 1 to April 7. Two distinct programs of music by J. S. Bach will feature the multitalented Zukerman in roles as conductor and violinist, complemented by soloists drawn from the CSO.
On Wednesday, April 1, Zukerman kicks off his 60th birthday celebration at Symphony Center with an all-Bach Afterwork Masterworks program that also showcases soloists from the CSO. The CSO's popular Afterwork Masterworks "rush hour" series offers music lovers the chance to hear concerts in a shorter, more casual format. The 90-minute performance begins at 6:30 p.m. and is presented with no intermission, and concertgoers are invited to mingle at a free wine reception in Grainger Ballroom following the performance, featuring an informal Q&A session with guest artists and CSO musicians.
Under Zukerman's direction, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 1 and "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 2, which will feature Concertmaster Robert Chen, flutist Jennifer Gunn, Principal Oboe Eugene Izotov and Principal Trumpet Christopher Martin. Zukerman also conducts and solos in the Violin Concerto No. 1 and Concerto for Violin and Oboe along with Izotov. This program is repeated on regular subscription concerts on Thursday, April 2, at 8 p.m.; Friday, April 3, at 1:30 p.m.; and Tuesday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m.
In Zukerman's second "Bach to Bach" program, given on Friday, April 3, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 4, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, April 5, at 3 p.m., he performs and conducts solo, duo and trio concertos: Violin Concerto No. 2; Concerto for Two Violins with Robert Chen; and Concerto for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord with CSO Principal Flute Mathieu Dufour and guest keyboardist Stephen Alltop. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 opens these concerts.
Pinchas Zukerman has enjoyed a distinguished career spanning four decades as soloist, chamber musician and conductor. He was named music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa in 1998, and he continues to perform as guest conductor and soloist with the world's finest orchestras. Zukerman turned 60 on July 16, 2008, and is celebrating during the 2008-09 season with more than 100 concerts in 17 countries including France, India, Israel, China, Turkey, Peru, New Zealand, Austria, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Born in Tel Aviv, Zukerman studied music with Ilona Feher and came to America with the support of Isaac Stern, Pablo Casals and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and Helena Rubinstein Foundation in 1962. His discography contains over 100 titles, and he has earned 21 Grammy nominations, winning two Grammy Awards.
Pinchas Zukerman made his debut as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in July 1970 at the Ravinia Festival, in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. In November of that year, he gave his first subscription concert performances with the Orchestra at Orchestra Hall, playing Mozart's Fifth Violin Concerto under the baton of his close friend Daniel Barenboim (making his subscription concert conducting debut in those appearances). After these performances, Zukerman regularly returned as solo violinist and violist. He first appeared as guest conductor with the CSO in a special "Mozart by the Masters" concert in December 1988, joined by another good friend, Itzhak Perlman; this concert was broadcast nationally by WTTW. In recent seasons he led an all-Mozart concert featuring Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2005, and in June 2008 he performed viola solos in Berlioz's "Harold in Italy" and Hindemith's "Trauermusik" with Leonard Slatkin conducting.
Complete program information follows:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 6:30 p.m. Afterwork Masterworks
Thursday, April 2, 2009, 8 p.m. (Preconcert Conversation, 7 p.m.)
Friday, April 3, 2009, 1:30 p.m. (Preconcert Conversation, 12:15 p.m.)
Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 7:30 p.m. (Preconcert Conversation, 6:30 p.m.)
Bach to Bach I
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Pinchas Zukerman, Conductor and Violin
Jennifer Gunn, Flute
Eugene Izotov, Oboe
Christopher Martin, Trumpet
Robert Chen, Violin
BACH Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066
BACH Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, BWV 1041
BACH Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C Minor, BWV 1060
BACH "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047
Tickets: $17-$136
Friday, April 3, 2009, 8 p.m. (Preconcert Conversation, 7 p.m.)
Saturday, April 4, 2009, 8 p.m. (Preconcert Conversation, 7 p.m.)
Sunday, April 5, 2009, 3 p.m. (Preconcert Conversation, 2 p.m.)
Bach to Bach II
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Pinchas Zukerman, Conductor and Violin
Mathieu Dufour, Flute
Robert Chen, Violin
Stephen Alltop, Harpsichord
BACH Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068
BACH Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1042
BACH Concerto for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord in A Minor, BWV 1044
BACH Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
Tickets: $21-$152
- posted on 04/08/2009
Pinchas Zukerman (Hebrew: פנחס צוקרמן, born July 16, 1948) is a noted Israeli violinist, violist, and conductor who was appointed Music Director of Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra in April 1998.
Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He left for the United States and studied at the Juilliard School. He made his New York d¨¦but in 1963. He won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1966. From 1980 to 1987 he was the director of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota.
He is close friends with Daniel Barenboim and Itzhak Perlman. He is currently married to the NAC Orchestra's principal cellist, Amanda Forsyth. He lives in the Rockcliffe Park area of Ottawa. He has two daughters, Arianna and Natalia, from his 17-year marriage (1968-1985) to flautist and novelist Eugenia Zukerman. Both girls are vocalists; Arianna Zukerman is an opera singer, while Natalia Zukerman is a blues/folk musician. He was also formerly married to actress Tuesday Weld, from 1985 to 1998.
Zukerman has recorded over 100 works and has been nominated for 21 Grammy Awards, winning two.
During the 2005-2006 season, Zukerman performed in many concerts away from the NACO in Ottawa. He toured with Itzhak Perlman to Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, and Chicago. He also conducted or was the solo violinist with the Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Los Angeles, Singapore, and National Symphony Orchestras, the Israel, Seoul, and Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Berlin Staatskapelle. He toured Belgium and Germany with the Belgian National Orchestra, and have another recital tour with pianist Marc Neikrug with concerts in London, Paris, Moscow, Milan, Munich, and Birmingham. On October 20, 2006, Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth performed with the Classic FM Orchestra in Sofia, Bulgaria.
With the Zukerman Chamber Players, Zukerman has performed over 40 concerts around the world and recorded two CDs since the ensemble's creation in 2003.
Zukerman is on the faculty at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music and is the head and founder of the Zukerman Performance Program at the school.
He plays the "Dushkin" Guarnerius del Ges¨´ violin of 1742.
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