This preview has been provided by the North Carolina Symphony.
The North Carolina Symphony will perform Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with guest artist Olli Mustonen in performances that span two weekends in Raleigh, Southern Pines, again in Raleigh, Wilmington, and Chapel Hill.
One of Europe’s best known pianists, Mustonen will share the stage with Resident Conductor William Henry Curry on Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. in Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh. The next week, Triangle audiences will see Mustonen and Music Director Grant Llewellyn on Friday, Nov. 15, at noon in Meymandi Concert Hall, and Sunday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mustonen and the Symphony will also perform Thursday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. in Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, and Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Kenan Auditorium on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington,
In the Nov. 14-17 concerts, the North Carolina Symphony will showcase the U.S. premiere of Mustonen’s composition Vanha kirkko Petäjävedellä [The Old Church at Petäjävesi]. Also during the Nov. 14-17 performances, Symphony Associate Principal Oboe and Solo English horn player Michael P. Schultz will be a featured soloist, performing “The Swan of Tuonela,” No. 2 from Legends, Op. 22, by Jean Sibelius.
Olli Mustonen has a unique place on today’s music scene. As a pianist, he has challenged and fascinated audiences throughout Europe and America with his brilliant technique and startling originality. In his role as conductor, he founded the Helsinki Festival Orchestra and as a composer he forms part of a very special line of musicians whose vision is expressed as vividly in the art of re-creative interpretation as it is in their own compositions.
Born in Helsinki, he began his studies in piano, harpsichord and composition at the age of five. His first piano teacher was Ralf Gothoni. He subsequently studied piano with Eero Heinonen and composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara. As a recitalist he plays in all the world’s musical capitals, including Amsterdam, Berlin, London, New York, Tokyo and Vienna and last season gave recitals at the Edinburgh International Festival, Sydney Opera House and Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. At the heart of both his piano playing and conducting is his life as a composer. Mustonen has a deeply held conviction that each performance must have the freshness of a first performance, so that audience and performer alike encounter the composer as a living contemporary.
Associate Principal Oboe and Solo English horn player, Michael Schultz has been a member of the North Carolina Symphony since 1973. A native of Chicago, Michael attended Northwestern University and studied with Chicago Symphony oboists Jerry Sirucek, Grover Schiltz, and Ray Still. He was also a member of the Chicago Symphony’s training orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. While still a student at Northwestern, he substituted on a tour with the St. Louis Symphony and cemented his desire to become a professional symphony musician.
Prior to joining the North Carolina Symphony, Schultz served with the U.S. Air Force in the NORAD Band, and put his string background to use playing viola with the Colorado Springs Symphony. As a music educator, Michael teaches oboe at both UNC and Duke. He also performs in the faculty woodwind quintets at UNC and St. Augustine’s College.
In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions, and “Meet the Artists,” which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events. For the Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9 performances in Raleigh, Dr. Jonathan Kramer of N.C. State University, will give pre-concert talks at 7 p.m. in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall. For the Friday, Nov. 15 Raleigh performance Dr. Kramer will give a pre-concert talk at 11 a.m. in Swalin Lobby. Before the Chapel Hill performance on Nov. 17, the Symphony will hold its inaugural “Evening Overtures,” in Gerrard Hall at 6:30 p.m. “Evening Overtures” feature chamber music performances and discussions that allow for a deeper exploration of the music.
Tickets to the Raleigh Classical Series performances on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9, range from $18 to $65. Student tickets are $15. Tickets to the noontime “Friday Favorites” concert on Nov. 15 are $27. Tickets to the Chapel Hill Classical Series performance on Nov. 17 range from $18 to $72. Concert tickets at all performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh. Memorial Hall is located at 114 East Cameron Ave., on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Partners for the 2013/14 Raleigh Classical Series include Clancy & Theys Construction; Duke Medicine; Smith Anderson; and Marriott Raleigh City Center.
Partners for the 2013/14 Chapel Hill Series include Carol Woods Retirement Community, Harrington Bank, and The Businesses of Market Street, Southern Village.
Statewide partner is Duke Energy.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony gives more than 200 performances annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 65 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry.
Based in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington—as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year—and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
Nov. 8-9 Program
North Carolina Symphony
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
Olli Mustonen, piano
“Lemminkäinen’s Return”, No. 4 from Legends, Op. 22
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony No. 3 in C Major, Op. 52
Jean Sibelius
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto
III. Moderato – Allegro, ma non tanto
Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op. 15<
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
I. Maestoso
II. Adagio
III. Rondo: Allegro non troppo
Olli Mustonen, piano
Nov. 15 (Nov. 15, 2013, noon – Meymandi) and Nov. 17 (Nov. 17, 2013, 7:30 p.m. – Memorial Hall, UNC) Program Listing
North Carolina Symphony
Grant Llewellyn, Music Director
Olli Mustonen, piano
Michael P. Schultz, English horn
“Lemminkäinen’s Return”, No. 4 from Legends, Op. 22
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Vanha kirkko Petäjävedellä [The Old Church at Petäjävesi] (U.S. Premiere)
Olli Mustonen (b. 1967)
The Builders of the Church
The Sacred Touch
Demons
St. Christopher
“The Swan of Tuonela”, No. 2 from Legends, Op. 22
Jean Sibelius
Michael P. Schultz, English horn
Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op. 15
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
I. Maestoso *
II. Adagio
III. Rondo: Allegro non troppo
Olli Mustonen, piano
* Mvmt. 1 only on November 15
