Announcing the 2019-20 Season at Carnegie Hall and 92Y

New York, NY

Now in its 47th year giving innovative concerts in New York, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra today announces programming for its 2019-20 season with four concerts presented in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall and three concerts presented by the 92nd Street Y. Orpheus is joined this season by an illustrious group of international soloists including pianist Jan Lisiecki, violinist Vadim Gluzman, and trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth at Carnegie Hall, as well as violinist Carolin Widmann at 92nd Street Y. This season, Orpheus welcomes its first Artistic Partner, composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery, who will take part in Orpheus educational initiatives throughout the season and have two works premiered by Orpheus in concert: a world premiere and a reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons, Op. 37a.

Orpheus kicks off its 2019-20 season on Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 8:00pm in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall with a concert of spirited music born during Mendelssohn’s “Grand Tour,” transporting audiences back to the composer’s favorite cities. The program features 23-year-old Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki in Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Piano, No.1, Op. 25 in G minor as well as Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Op. 90, A Major “Italian.” The concert begins with the world premiere of a new work by Artistic Partner Jessie Montgomery. In its highly anticipated return to the Deutsche Grammophon label, Orpheus performs on new release Mendelssohn with Jan Lisiecki in Mendelssohn’s Piano Concertos in G minor and D minor, out February 1, 2019.

On Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 8:00 p.m., 92nd Street Y presents Orpheus at Kaufmann Concert Hall in a program celebrating composers tuned into the popular music of the day. The concert features J. N. Wendt’s arrangement of Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro and Mozart’s Serenade No.10, K.361 (370a) in B-flat major (Gran partita), notably used in the film Amadeus. German violinist Carolin Widmann joins Orpheus for Kurt Weill’s Concerto for Violin & Winds.

On Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 7:00 p.m., Orpheus returns to Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall for Artistic Partner Jessie Montgomery’s brand new reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s endearing collection of piano miniatures, The Seasons, adding to the slim collection of Romantic repertoire for small orchestra. Violinist Vadim Gluzman, widely praised for his romantic Russian sound, returns to perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

92nd Street Y presents Orpheus on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 3:00 PM in a concert featuring Nonet in E flat, Op. 38 by Jeanne-Louise Farrenc, French pianist, composer, and the only woman to hold a full chair at the Paris Conservatoire and Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20, composed at the age of sixteen. Mendelssohn’s self-assured score in an unprecedented format drew inspiration from a wide swath of sources—Bach and Mozart, even Goethe’s Faust—with those elements coalescing into the exuberance that sets Mendelssohn apart.

On Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 7:30 PM at 92nd Street Y, Orpheus performs Schoenberg’s arrangement of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, “The Song of the Earth,” a setting of ancient Chinese poetry for voices and orchestra, which fulfilled this composer’s dream for an all-encompassing union of songs and symphonies.

Orpheus proudly joins forces with members of the Sphinx Virtuosi, a self-conducted ensemble of top Black and Latinx soloists, on Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 7 PM at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. Hailed as “first-rate in every way” by The New York Times, this groundbreaking collaboration of two of the nation’s leading chamber orchestras will include Saint-Georges’ Symphony in D Major Op. 11/2, Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.1 In C Major featuring soloist Santiago Cañón-Valencia, Pinzón’s Rapsodia a Los Cuatro Elementos, Ponce’s Estampas Nocturnas, and Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst.

International trumpet sensation Tine Thing Helseth returns to Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall with Orpheus on Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 7:00 PM on a program that breaks from the orchestra’s typical format by performing several shorter pieces from a variety of classical genres. The program includes Rossini’s Overture to The Barber of Seville; Delibes’ Les filles de Cadix; Korngold’s “Marietta’s Lied” from Die tote Stadt; Cioffi’s ‘Na sera ‘e maggio; Piazzolla’s Libertango and “Summer” from Four Seasons of Buenos Aires; Rota’s Balli for small orchestra; Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major; and Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Coquetos” from Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout. This wide-ranging program celebrates the flow and connection of breathing and moving together, an Orpheus tradition for nearly fifty years.

In addition to its Carnegie Hall and 92nd Street Y concerts, Orpheus will continue its Twilight at Tarisio series, presenting intimate salon concerts featuring musicians performing on rare instruments in the elegant showroom at Tarisio Fine Instruments & Bows in midtown Manhattan.

Program Information

ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall

Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 8:00 PM

Jan Lisiecki, piano

• JESSIE MONTGOMERY: New Work (World Premiere, commissioned by Orpheus)
• MENDELSSOHN: Concerto for Piano, No.1, Op. 25, G Minor
• MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 “Italian”

Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 7:00 PM

Vadim Gluzman, violin

• TCHAIKOVSKY (arr. Jessie Montgomery): The Seasons, Op. 37a (World Premiere, commissioned by Orpheus)
• VIVALDI: The Four Seasons

Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 7:00 PM

Members of Orpheus & Sphinx Virtuosi

• SAINT-GEORGES: Symphony in D major (Ouverture of “L’amant anonyme”) Op. 11/2
• HAYDN: Cello Concerto No.1 in C major, Hob.VIIb:1
• Santiago Cañón-Valencia, cello
• –Intermission–
• PINZÓN: Rapsodia A Los Cuatro Elementos
• PONCE: Estampas Nocturnas
• MONTGOMERY: Starburst

Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 7:00 PM

Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet

• ROSSINI: Overture to The Barber of Seville
• DELIBES: Les filles de Cadix
• KORNGOLD: “Marietta’s Lied” from Die tote Stadt
• CIOFFI: ‘Na sera ‘e maggio
• PIAZZOLLA: Libertango
• ROTA: Balli for small orchestra
• HAYDN: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major
• PIAZZOLLA: “Summer” from Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
• GABRIELA LENA FRANK: Coquetos from Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout

ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

92nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall

Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 8:00 PM

Carolin Widmann, violin

• MOZART (arr. Wendt): Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
• WEILL: Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra, Op. 12
• MOZART: Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361 “Gran Partita”

Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 3:00 PM

• FARRENC: Nonet in E-flat Major, Op. 38
• MENDELSSOHN: Octet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20

Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 7:30 PM

MAHLER (arr. Schoenberg): Das Lied von der Erde

Ticket Information

Subscriptions are available at orpheusnyc.org or by calling (212) 896-1704 beginning March 1, 2019. Single tickets for Carnegie Hall concerts can be purchased at carnegiehall.org or by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, beginning mid-August. 92Y single tickets can be purchased at 92Y.org or by calling (212) 415-5500.

About Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Orpheus believes in empowering the unique voice of all people to make a valuable contribution. Working together as a collective of leaders, members explore each other’s musical ideas using their signature collaborative method, the Orpheus Process®, and give flight to vibrant, unconventional interpretations. Orpheus performances unfold dynamically, moment-by-moment, creating an energy shared by musicians and audiences alike.

The Grammy Award-winning ensemble was founded in 1972 by a group of like-minded young musicians determined to combine the intimacy and warmth of a chamber ensemble with the richness of an orchestra and has performed without the use of a conductor since its inception. Musicians rotate leadership roles for all rehearsals and performances as well as organizational capacities such as programming and governance.

Orpheus has recorded over 70 albums on all major classical labels and commissioned and premiered 49 new works for chamber orchestra. Orpheus presents an annual performance series in New York City featuring collaborations with world-class guest soloists. A touring ensemble, Orpheus has performed in major international venues across 167 cities in 46 countries across four continents and has appeared regularly in Japan for 30 years.

Orpheus is committed to sharing its collaborative Process® with communities worldwide through engagement programs for listeners of all ages. These include underwritten concert tickets and in-class visits from musicians for K-12 NYC students, development opportunities for emerging professional musician from demographics underrepresented in classical music, and Orpheus Reflections, an enriching program for people living with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia and their caregivers.

About Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Engagement Initiatives

Orpheus has trademarked its signature mode of operation, the Orpheus Process®, an original method that places democracy at the center of artistic execution. It has been the focus of studies at Harvard University and of leadership seminars at IBM, Morgan Stanley, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, among others. Orpheus aims to bring this unique approach to students of all ages through its worldwide education and engagement programs: Access Orpheus-NYC, Orpheus Music Academy, Orpheus Leadership Institute, and Orpheus Reflections.

Access Orpheus-NYC shares the orchestra’s collaborative music-making process with K-12 public school students from all five boroughs in New York City. While New York is among the cultural capitals of the world, many schoolchildren are underserved in arts participation. Access Orpheus-NYC helps to bridge this gap with in-class visits, invitations to working rehearsals, instrument petting zoos, and underwritten tickets for performances at Carnegie Hall.

Orpheus Music Academy encompasses Orpheus’ programs for intermediate and advanced music students. Orpheus musicians share their artistry, expertise, and collaborative approach to music-making through masterclasses with Orpheus musicians and guest artists, side-by-side workshops, and residencies on tour.

Orpheus Leadership Institute brings the Orpheus Process® to the private and nonprofit sectors and educational institutions to empower the leaders of tomorrow through collaborative management training. Teams of all kinds participate in customizable programs to gain insight from Orpheus’ democratic process and develop essential skills in communication, collective ownership, and creative problem solving.

Orpheus Reflections brings the transformative power of music to people with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia as well as their caregivers. Trained by CaringKind, New York City’s leading expert on dementia, Orpheus musicians lead intimate performances and conversation with audiences impacted by these challenging diseases.

For more information about Orpheus please visit www.OrpheusNYC.org or call 212.896.1700.

Public Relations

Katy Salomon[link email address: katy@morahanartsandmedia.com], Morahan Arts & Media