New York Repertory Orchestra Opens Season with music of Lutoslawski, Chausson, and Mendelssohn!

Sept. 30, 2009 - PRLog -- The music of Lutoslawski, Chausson, and Mendelssohn are on the program as the New York Repertory Orchestra opens it's 2009-2010 season of free concerts.

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Date: Saturday, October 24, 2009
Time: 8:00pm
Place: Church of St. Mary the Virgin (145 West 46th Street - between 6th & 7th Avenue)
Admission: FREE

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Here's the complete program:

Lutoslawski: Funeral Music for Strings
Chausson: "Poem of Love and the Sea"  - Mark Cortale, tenor
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 in D Major ("Reformation")

David Leibowitz, conductor

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More about the program:

The NYRO season begins with a birthday party as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Felix Mendelssohn with his majestic Symphony No. 5 ("Reformation"). This piece is, itself, an anniversary piece - written for the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, a founding document of the Lutheran Church and dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther. It's an epic work that combines melodies from the Lutheran hymnal with Mendelssohn's spectacular gift for Romantic lyricism, drama, and colorful orchestration.

Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski wrote his Funeral Music for Strings to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of the great Hungarian composer, Bela Bartok. This amazing work conveys a depth of feeling and concentration of emotion that is quite overpowering and moving.

In Ernest Chausson's heartbreakingly short life, he completed several important works, including his Symphony in B-flat (performed by NYRO several seasons ago) and the Poème de l'amour et de la mer ("Poem of Love and the Sea"). This great work for voice and orchestra touchingly examines some of the aspects of lost love.

Internationally acclaimed tenor Mark Cortale joins us as soloist in the Chausson. Mr. Cortale brings his intense musicality, ravishing lyricism, and vocal beauty to this wonderful piece.

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Celebrated for his innovative programming and exciting performances, conductor David Leibowitz has achieved international acclaim for his work on the concert, opera, and ballet stage.

Mr. Leibowitz is the Music Director/Conductor and founder of the award-winning New York Repertory Orchestra NYRO . Some recent highlights of his tenure there have been a fully staged production of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio and a landmark performance of Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 3. As an avid fan and champion of today’s music he has commissioned, worked with, and performed local and world premieres by some of today’s most important composers; such as Eduard Tubin, Harold Farberman, Paul Moravec, Stephen Dembski, John Schwabe, Salvador Brotons, William Dickerson, and Terry Pender.

Since 2003 Mr. Leibowitz has held the post of Principal Conductor with the Massapequa Philharmonic Orchestra Massapequa Philharmonic (NY) and since 2003 has been on the conducting staff of the Rome Festival Opera (Italy), leading opera, ballet, and concert performances. He is also on the staff of the International Opera Institute at the Maud Powell Music Festival Maud Powell Music Festival. (IL). Recent operatic highlights include performances of Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, and Le nozze di Figaro, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore, Bizet’s Carmen, and Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, all to critical acclaim.

Throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe he has directed such ensembles as the Pleven Philharmonic (Bulgaria), the Orchester Pro Arte (Vienna), the Masterplayers Orchestra (Switzerland), the Orquestra Sinfonico de la Ciudad de Mexico, the Bach Festival Orchestra (Princeton, NJ), and the Brooklyn Opera and Dance Theater. Critics hailed his performances with the Pleven Philharmonic as “passionate and exciting.”

In the New York City area, he has conducted the Greenwich Village Orchestra, Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, Centre Symphony Orchestra, Sound Symphony Orchestra, and Music at St. Paul’s (Columbia University). He has been invited back to those ensembles and venues repeatedly.

A dedicated music educator, Mr. Leibowitz conducted the Third Street Philharmonia at the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City from 2003-2005. He has worked as a conductor and coach with many other student and youth orchestras, including the Maud Powell Music Festival, the orchestras of Brooklyn College and City College of New York, the InterSchools Orchestra of New York, and the Gemini Youth Orchestra.

Mr. Leibowitz received his Master of Arts degree in Performance Practice, Summa Cum Laude, from the City University of New York’s Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. His main studies were in performance, musicology, and composition. He was awarded a teaching fellowship and was named a Presidential Scholar of the University. He has continued his conducting studies with, among others, Herbert Blomstedt, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Jacques-Louis Monod. Mr. Leibowitz was a finalist in the International Masterplayers’ Conducting Competition in Lugano, Switzerland in 1986. David Leibowitz was recently given the “Gift to the City” award from the Omega Ensemble of New York for his ongoing contributions to the musical life of New York City.

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The award-winning New York Repertory Orchestra, New York’s leading community orchestra, is composed of talented professional and amateur musicians. Founded in 1991 by Music Director David Leibowitz, the orchestra strives for exciting performances, provocative programs and the highest artistic level. To its fans and followers, these qualities have become the hallmarks of this exceptional ensemble.

In 2002, NYRO was invited by Columbia University to perform the Brahms Requiem in a memorial concert for 9/11 as a participant in the Columbia Remembers program. In addition to its regular season at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, NYRO has participated in the Music at St. Paul’s series at Columbia University and at the Music Festival of the Hamptons. In January 2006, NYRO performed in the Chinese New Year Global Gala at Radio City Music Hall, broadcast worldwide by NTD Television.

NYRO regularly performs on Pier 35 on the East River, in program sponsored by the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council of New York’s Lower East Side. NYRO was recently given the Omega Ensemble of New York’s “Gift to the City” award for ongoing contributions to the musical life of New York .

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The New York Repertory Orchestra, New York’s leading all-volunteer, community-based orchestra, presents a series of free concerts each season. Founded in 1991, NYRO strives for exciting performances, provocative programs and the highest artistic level.