November 27, 2009
Benjamin Zander Conducts NEC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra in Musical Depictions of Passionate Love, Dec. 16 at Jordan Hall
Benjamin Zander, known for his "passionate music-making without boundaries," will take up the theme of passionate love in his December 16 concert with the NEC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. The 8 p.m. concert takes place at NEC's Jordan Hall.
The performance opens with Richard Strauss' tone poem, Don Juan, a portrait of the infamous lover and seducer of women. A newly converted Wagnerian, Zander will then conduct the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, an opera concerned with the tragic lovers of medieval romantic legend. To complete the program are excerpts from Prokofiev's ballet, Romeo and Juliet, with its evocation of the Shakespearean characters.
The top level orchestra in NEC's Preparatory School, the YPO is composed of highly accomplished young musicians, most between the ages of 13 and 18. Members are selected by audition from a pool of several hundred applicants. It gives two concerts a year and tours on a biannual basis—the most recent tour traveling to China. During his thirty-five year tenure as conductor of the YPO, Benjamin Zander has taken the orchestra on 13 international tours, made five commercial recordings and recorded several television documentaries for PBS.
Tickets for the concert are: $10; $5 for students and seniors; free with NEC i.d. Special offer for this concert: buy one, get one free.
For further information, check the NEC Website at: www.necmusic.edu or call the NEC Concert Line at 617-585-1122. NEC’s Jordan Hall, Brown Hall, Williams Hall and the Keller Room are located at 30 Gainsborough St., corner of Huntington Ave. St. Botolph Hall is located at 241 St. Botolph St. between Gainsborough and Mass Ave.
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 720 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 106-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
NEC is co-founder and educational partner of From the Top, a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.
Contact: Ellen Pfeifer
Public Relations Manager
New England Conservatory
617-585-1143
ellen.pfeifer@necmusic.edu
MILES DAVIS