Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn performs Tchaikovsky with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Vancouver BC – The VSO is proud to present 28-year-old internationally-renowned superstar violinist Hilary Hahn for three performances, from October 4th to 6th at the Orpheum Theatre. Maestro Bramwell Tovey conducts a concert that includes a piece by former VSO Composer-In-Residence Jeffrey Ryan, Tchaikovsky’s beautiful Violin Concerto in D Major and Berlioz’s colossal Symphonie fantastique.
“Hilary Hahn is one of those rare performers who can dazzle you with the warmth of her personality and knock you dead with the dexterity of her technique and the emotional depth of her interpretations.”
--Los Angeles Times
Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn is part of a new generation of musical stars dedicated to expanding the fan base of classical music. She was named “America’s Best” young classical musician by Time Magazine in 2001 and is well-known for her intellectual and emotional maturity. Hahn maintains a comprehensive website and has launched her own custom-designed YouTube channel which she uses to answer fans’ questions. She recently used her You Tube channel to host a buzz-worthy Q&A session in honour of late composer Arnold Schoenberg’s birthday. Hahn continues to try to bring classical music to a wider audience in new and sometimes unorthodox ways.
Hilary Hahn will join the VSO again for its upcoming Asia-Pacific Tour from October 10th to 20th where she will perform the same Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky featured in these Masterworks Diamond and Beltone Symphony Sundays concerts. The Asia-Pacific Tour will see the orchestra perform in China, South Korea, and the Special Administrative Region of Macau. It will also mark the first time a Canadian symphony orchestra will perform at the prestigious Beijing Music Festival.
CONCERT INFO
Masterworks Diamond & Beltone Symphony Sundays Series:
Hilary Hahn Plays Tchaikovsky!
Saturday & Monday, October 4 & 6, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre
Sunday, October 5, 2pm, Orpheum Theatre
Bramwell Tovey, conductor
Hilary Hahn, violin
Ryan The Linearity of Light
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Hilary Hahn, superstar! This sensational violinist joins the VSO for Tchaikovsky’s exciting Violin Concerto, and the orchestra weaves some sonic magic with a musical colossus by Berlioz.
Tickets $25 to $78.50 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)
Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca
Symphony Sundays Series Sponsor:
Beltone
October 4 Concert Sponsor:
Keir Surgical
Radio Sponsor:
CKNW AM980
BIOGRAPHIES
Bramwell Tovey
A musician of striking versatility, Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey’s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective.
Tovey garnered a 2008 Grammy Award and a 2008 Juno Award for his recording with violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony. Recently named Principal Guest Conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, he works frequently with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, among many others. He has presided as host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall since its founding in 2004.
As a composer, he was honored with the Best Canadian Classical Composition Juno Award in 2003 for his Requiem for a Charred Skull. New works include a co-commission for the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics’ 2008 summer seasons as well as a full-length opera for the Calgary Opera, The Inventor, to premiere in January of 2011.
Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees, including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Law from the universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Royal Conservatory of Music Fellowship in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding contributions in the performing arts.
Hilary Hahn
For the past decade, Grammy® Award-winning violinist HILARY HAHN has been celebrated for her innovative interpretations and thoughtful musicianship. Her captivating stage presence and emotional sophistication belie her 28 years, while extensive international performances and recording activities confirm her place as one of the most sought-after artists on the concert circuit.
Hahn appears regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and on notable recital series throughout Europe, Asia and North America. In the 2007-08 season, she will tour the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Israel, England, Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria, Scotland, Croatia, Japan and Korea as guest soloist with, among others, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, DC), Montreal Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra. Her recital tours and solo concert collaborations will take her to the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland. Hahn’s 2006-07 season brought wide-ranging recital tours of Europe and North America and appearances with major orchestras throughout the world. In April 2007, she was chosen to be the featured soloist in Pope Benedict XVI’s 80th birthday celebration at the Vatican, a performance recently released on DVD.
Hahn records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon and, over the past five years, has released four albums, comprising works by Bach, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Paganini and Spohr. Her most recent recording was a collaboration with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and maestro Eiji Oue, pairing Paganini’s Concerto No. 1 and Spohr’s Concerto No. 8. All of Hahn’s recordings have received much critical acclaim and have spent weeks on the Billboard Top Ten list. In 2007, Deutsche Grammophon distributed a popular documentary entitled Hilary Hahn: A Portrait, containing exclusive interviews and concert footage. Her next album—the violin concertos of Sibelius and Schoenberg, with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen—will be released in Spring 2008. Prior to signing with Deutsche Grammophon, Hahn made five award-winning recordings for Sony Classical, featuring repertoire by Bach, Barber, Beethoven, Bernstein, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Stravinsky, in addition to a concerto written for her by American bassist/composer Edgar Meyer.
In 2004, Hahn was the violin soloist on the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to M. Night Shyamalan’s film The Village, and in 2005 and 2006, she appeared as a guest on albums by the band …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. Most recently, she wrote and performed violin parts on singer-songwriter Tom Brosseau’s record Grand Forks. Unique upcoming projects include concert collaborations with singer-songwriter Josh Ritter and mandolinist Chris Thile, a commissioned concerto by Jennifer Higdon, and a collection of contemporary encore pieces by living composers.
Hahn has received numerous distinctions throughout her career, including a Grammy® for her recording of the Brahms and Stravinsky violin concertos, Diapason's “d'Or of the Year”, “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik” (German Record Critics’ Award) and several Echo awards. She has appeared on the covers of all major classical music publications and has received mentions in mainstream periodicals such as Vogue, Elle and Town and Country. In 2001, Hahn was named “America’s Best Young Classical Musician” by Time Magazine.
Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia in 1979. At the age of three she moved to Baltimore, where she began playing the violin one month before her fourth birthday in the Suzuki program of the Peabody Conservatory. For the next five years, Hahn studied in Baltimore with Klara Berkovich, a native of Odessa who taught for 25 years at the Leningrad School for the Musically Gifted. From age 10 to 17, she studied at The Curtis Institute of Music with the legendary Jascha Brodsky—the last surviving student of the great Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye—working closely with him until his death at age 89. Having completed her university requirements at 16, Hahn deferred graduation and remained at the school for several more years, taking additional elective courses in languages, literature, writing and drama, coaching regularly with Jaime Laredo, and studying chamber music with Felix Galimir and Gary Graffman.
A year and a half after entering the Curtis Institute of Music, Hahn made her major orchestral debut. In March 1995, at age 15, Hahn made her German debut playing the Beethoven concerto with Lorin Maazel and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in a concert broadcast on radio and television throughout Europe. Two months later, she received the Avery Fisher Career Grant. She attended the Marlboro Music Festival for several summers and, in 1996, made her Carnegie Hall debut as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In May of 1999, at the age of 19, Hahn graduated from Curtis with a Bachelor of Music degree.
An avid writer, Hahn keeps a journal on her website, www.hilaryhahn.com.
Christopher Gaze
Born and Educated in England, Christopher Gaze was inspired to come to Canada in 1975 by his mentor, legendary Shakespearean actor Douglas Campbell. He spent three seasons at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake then moved to Vancouver in 1983. After a couple of experiences with other outdoor Shakespeare events, Christopher recognized the potential in blending excellent Shakespeare productions with Vancouver’s spectacular location. In 1990 he founded Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival where Bard’s signature open-ended performance tent allowed to actors to perform against a backdrop of the city’s skyline and mountains.
The first summer of Bard on the Beach was a huge success. Beginning as an Equity Co-op production, it staged one play in a rented tent on an ‘ambitious’ budget of $35,000. Today the Festival, which recently completed its 17th season, has a budget of over $2.7 million and has seen its attendance rocket from 6,000 in that first summer to more than 87,000 in 2007. The growth has been slow and organic, so the Festival has been able to sustain its mandate ‘to provide quality Shakespeare productions that are accessible and affordable.’ As audiences have grown, so has support from the corporate and private sector, again helping to keep ticket prices among the lowest in the city for a professional production. Not only has attendance burgeoned from the local community, but Bard has contributed significantly to the city as major tourist attraction with approximately one quarter of its patrons from outside the Lower Mainland.
Bard on the Beach has also become a significant employer within the Arts, providing jobs in Vancouver in 2007 for over 100 artists and support staff. This includes a small full time and administration team plus more than 30 actors, 4 directors, 7 designers, 6 stage managers as well as the production crew, box office, front of house. The company’s “Bard in the Vineyard” project in the Okanagan in 2003 also created over a dozen additional jobs for Vancouver artists. Bard employs primarily Equity actors but always mentors a couple of upcoming talents each season both on stage and on the production team. Many emerging actors have cut their professional teeth at Bard and have gone on to secure major roles in subsequent seasons at Bard and with other major theatre companies. Christopher’s support and mentoring of these new talents has played a large part in their success.
Christopher also introduced the “Young Shakespeareans” Acting Program at Bard which provides an opportunity every summer for over 250 young people to train with the season professionals on the Bard stages. The Festival has also developed a Student Matinee Series that annually sees more than 7,000 students introduced to the magic of Shakespeare’s stories and language. During the past two years, Bard has expanded its education programs with heavily subsidized Bard in the Classroom workshops for students and teachers. This commitment to youth outreach and education has made an important contribution to the development of a knowledgeable and enthusiastic “audience of the future” for the Arts in general.
Christopher, who trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, is an extremely talented actor and director. During his four decade professional acting career, Christopher has performed locally with the Playhouse Theatre Company and the Arts Club Theatre as well as in virtually every major centre across Canada, and England and the USA. In 2004 he was honoured with a Jessie Richardson Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the Playhouse production of Equus.
In addition to his role as Artistic Director, Christopher frequently performs and directs at Bard on the Beach. His directing credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2003 & 1990), Henry V (2002), The Winter’s Tale (1997) and As You Like It (1991). Favourite roles among the innumerable characters he has played at Bard are Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, the title role in Richard III, Cornwall in King Lear and Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor. In 2008 he plays the title role in the great tragedy King Lear.
A gifted public speaker, Christopher frequently shares his insights on the theatre and Shakespeare out in the community with school groups, service organizations and local businesses. He works with several other Arts organizations, notably as host of Vancouver Symphony’s Tea & Trumpets and Christmas Concerts series, guest artist at selected Chor Leoni concerts, and as a guest host on the Knowledge Network. Christopher also works extensively as a character actor in film and radio, and he narrated the Emmy Award winning animation series Madeline. For three years he was on the Board of Tourism Vancouver, serving as the Festival and Events representative.
Christopher’s numerous honours include: induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame (2002), Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal (2005), an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University (2006), the BC Community Achievement Award, and the 2007 Medallion from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America. Most recently he received a Doctor of Letters from University of British Columbia in 2008.
