Jaap van Zweden makes his Cleveland Orchestra debut in concerts featuring Tchaikovsky’Äôs Symphony No. 4 at Severance Hall on January 7 and 9

Jaap van Zweden

Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil

is soloist in Marc Neikrug’Äôs Violin Concerto at the

January 7 and 9 concerts

CLEVELAND, December 10, 2009 ’Äì Jaap van Zweden (pronounced YAP van ZVAY-den), music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will make his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra conducting a program featuring Tchaikovsky’Äôs Symphony No. 4 at Severance Hall on Thursday, January 7, and Saturday, January 9, at 8:00 p.m. (He will also conduct the Orchestra’Äôs Fridays@7 concert on January 8 at 7:00 p.m. and the Musically Speaking concert on Sunday, January 10, at 3:00 p.m., both of which also feature Tchaikovsky’Äôs Fourth Symphony.) The January 7 and 9 concerts present Marc Neikrug’Äôs Violin Concerto, with Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil as soloist. The program for January 7 and 9 begins with Johan Wagenaar’Äôs ’ÄúCyrano de Bergerac’Äù Overture, Opus 23, and continues with the Neikrug concerto. After intermission, the program concludes with Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’Äôs Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36.

About Johan Wagenaar’Äôs ’ÄúCyrano de Bergerac’Äù Overture:

This concert overture, the most successful work composed by Johan Wagenaar, a Dutch composer who lived from 1862-1941, is based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. In addition to the success of Cyrano de Bergerac onstage, it has been adapted as a film, most recently for the 1987 movie Roxanne, starring Steve Martin. Wagenaar’Äôs overture is written in the Late Romantic style, and is reminiscent of the tone poems of Richard Strauss. This is the first piece by Wagenaar to be performed by The Cleveland Orchestra.

About Marc Neikrug’Äôs Violin Concerto:

American composer Marc Neikrug’Äôs Violin Concerto was written in 1982 and given its world premiere in 1984 by violinist Shlomo Mintz with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, which had commissioned the work, under the direction of Sergiu Comissiona. Program annotator Richard Rodda has written that the Violin Concerto contains ’Äúmusic of decidedly modernist harmony, melody, and texture, yet at its core lies a deeply expressive, almost Romantic expression.’Äù

Soloist William Preucil served as first violinist of the Grammy-winning Cleveland Quartet and as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra before being named as concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra in April 1995. He has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Orchestra in concerto performances at both Severance Hall and the annual Blossom Festival. Mr. Preucil’Äôs most recent solo appearances with the Orchestra were in November 2008.