Silk Road Project Violinist Colin Jacobsen and New York Repertory Orchestra in Season Finale - FREE!

May 5, 2011 - PRLog -- Another great NYRO season is rapidly drawing to a close and this has been our best and biggest year of great music and free concerts!

Our Season Finale, on Saturday, May 21, 2011, is just around the corner. Come and celebrate the end of a great season with us!

For the final program of the season, NYRO pulls out all the stops to bring you music on an epic scale!

The program begins with the exuberant Overture to "Benvenuto Cellini" by Hector Berlioz and continues with our second NYRO Commission/World Premiere of the season.

NYC composer Steven L. Rosenhaus has written "Accordances" (Symphony No. 2) to showcase the talents of the the wonderful musicians of NYRO and the fully to exploit the great acoustics of St. Mary's. This is a great new addition to the orchestral repertoire!

Finally, and back with NYRO by popular demand, critically acclaimed Silk Road Project member violin virtuoso Colin Jacobsen takes the solo spot in the sublime Violin Concerto by Ludwig van Beethoven. A great way to end a great year!

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* Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011
* Time: 8:00 pm
* Place: Church of St. Mary the Virgin (145 West 46th Street)
* Admission: FREE

More info: www.nyro.org

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Here's the full program:

* Berlioz: "Benvenuto Cellini" Overture
* Rosenhaus: Accordances - NYRO Commission/World Premiere
* Beethoven: Violin Concerto - Colin Jacobsen, violin

David Leibowitz, conductor

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More about our guest artist, Colin Jacobsen, violin:

Violinist Colin Jacobsen, a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, first played to critical acclaim at the age of fourteen, collaborating with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic in a performance that was hailed by the New York Times: "Jacobsen was the impressively accomplished soloist in Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, sounding as if he were born to the instrument and its sweet, lyrical possibilities." He recently returned to the New York Philharmonic in a performance of Brahms' Double Concerto with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and David Zinman conducting.

Colin Jacobsen has played with orchestras worldwide, including those of Albany, Charleston, Chicago, San Francisco, Nashville and Philharmonia Baroque. He also recently premiered Lisa Bielawa’s Double Violin Concerto with Boston Modern Orchestra Project; written for him and violinist/vocalist Carla Kihlstedt.

As a touring member of the Silk Road Ensemble since its conception by Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood 10 years ago, Mr. Jacobsen has been part of a creative cauldron that has continually pushed him to expand his boundaries. Through exposure to the incredible sound-worlds of musicians like the Persian kemanche virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor, vocalist Alim Qasimov and pipa player Wu Man; he has been inspired to compose and arrange pieces both for the Ensemble and for other groups. Some highlights of his journeys with the Silk Road Ensemble have included performances in front of the world’s largest wooden Buddha statue in Nara, Japan; as part of the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Center; at the opening of the Special Olympics in Shanghai; and at the Red Fort in Agra, India.

Mr. Jacobsen is a co-founder along with his brother, the cellist and conductor Eric Jacobsen, of two ensembles whose dynamism in programming and performance is helping to re-imagine the possibilities inherent in the string quartet (Brooklyn Rider) and orchestral (The Knights) mediums. Brooklyn Rider’s album Passport was featured as one of NPR’s top classical picks for 2008 and The Knights have recorded two albums for Sony Classical and toured to Europe with soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Mr. Jacobsen has toured China with Tan Dun performing with the composer his Water Passion based on St. Matthew. He has also enjoyed cross-disciplinary explorations with several dance and theater companies, including the New York City Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Compagnia de’ Colombari. He recently played Stravinsky’s L’Histoire Du Soldat with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd as narrator.

Jacobsen has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, at Bargemusic, and is a member of the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. He has also collaborated with musicians such as Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Don Byron, Christina Courtin, Kim Kashkashian, Mark O’Connor, Phillip Glass, Steven Isserlis, Christian Tetzlaff, Mitsuko Uchida and Jan Vogler. As the Young Artist in Residence for NPR's Performance Today, he curated a weeks' programming and performed live for listeners across the country.

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More about Music Director David Leibowitz:

"Music Director David Leibowitz...is not only an excellent conductor, but also an inspiring leader."  -- New York Concert Review, October 2010

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 both commissioned 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 2004 Mr. Leibowitz has held the post of Principal Conductor with the Massapequa Philharmonic Orchestra (NY) and is the Orchestra Director at City College of New York. Recently, he directed the orchestra of the Siena (Italy) Summer Music program and from 2003-2007 was 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. Mr. Leibowitz conducted the Third Street Philharmonia at the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City from 2003-2005 and he has worked as a conductor and coach with many student and youth orchestras, including the Maud Powell Music Festival Orchestra, the Brooklyn College Orchestra, and the Gemini Youth Orchestra.

Mr. Leibowitz received his MA from the City University of New York’s Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. His main studies were in performance, musicology, and composition and 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 and 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, NYC's leading all-volunteer orchestra, is composed of talented professional and amateur musicians and presents a series of free concerts each season. Founded in 1991, NYRO strives for exciting performances, provocative programs and the highest artistic level. 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. NYRO has performed in the Chinese New Year Global Gala at Radio City Music Hall, broadcast worldwide by NTD Television and 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.