Conductor Oundjian and the Academy Festival Orchestra to Close the Summer Season with Mahler's Epic Third Symphony
Special community concert at The Granada also will feature local singers; tickets priced as low as $10
For Immediate Release July 30, 2008
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Grandly ambitious and imposing, Gustav Mahler's sweeping Symphony No. 3 in D Minor presents listeners with a towering edifice of sound, which the composer intended as an extended exaltation of life and the natural world's vast, teeming order.
The Music Academy of the West will close out its 61st Summer Festival with a special community performance of Mahler's masterpiece at 8 pm August 16 at The Granada. Featuring Peter Oundjian, acclaimed music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducting the Academy Festival Orchestra, the concert also will include musical contributions from Academy Voice Program Fellows, the women of the Santa Barbara Choral Society, and the Santa Barbara Children's Chorus. Tickets range in price from $10 to $45.
Largely composed in the summer of 1895 and completed the following year, Mahler's unique six-movement work was inspired by the grandeur of his surroundings in northern Austria and by visions of the Greek gods Pan and Dionysus. Enthralled by nature's force and mystery, Mahler – who famously said a symphony "should be like the world; it should encompass everything" – sought to capture its essence in music. Though Mahler would warn his young disciple Bruno Walter to expect a work that starkly revealed the composer's "savage and brutal nature," the piece ultimately concerns a longing for spiritual fulfillment, and ends in glorious, ecstatic fashion.
Now in his fourth season as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Peter Oundjian is widely regarded as one of today's most exciting conductors. His probing musicality, spirit of collaboration, and engaging personality have earned him accolades from musicians and critics, as well as frequent re-engagements. Mr. Oundjian completed his violin training at Juilliard, where he studied with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman, and Dorothy Delay. After receiving first prize at the International Violin Competition in Vina Del Mar, Chile, in 1980, Mr. Oundjian went on to serve as first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet for 14 years before making his formal conducting debut at the Caramoor International Music Festival with the Orchestra of St. Luke's - a performance that saw him share the podium with Andre Previn.
Through his long association with the Tokyo String Quartet, Mr. Oundjian extensively explored the quartet repertoire, including the complete string quartets of Bartók, Beethoven, and Schubert, and received four Grammy nominations. With the quartet, he toured all over the world, performing the complete Beethoven cycle in venues such as Carnegie Hall, La Scala in Milan, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Chatelet in Paris. From 1998-2003, Mr. Oundjian served as the music director of the Nieuw Sinfonietta in Amsterdam. Recent appearances in North America have included engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and return visits to the Aspen, Grand Teton, and Tanglewood festivals. Abroad, Mr. Oundjian has made several appearances with the Zurich Tonhalle and led concerts with the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony, the NDR Hanover Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and at the Konzerthaus in Berlin. Mr. Oundjian also serves as a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music.
Among the women of the Music Academy Voice Program who will participate in the August 16 performance, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein will enjoy a featured role. The Rhode Island native was a member of the Indianapolis Opera Young Artist Program this year, where she performed the role of Third Lady in The Magic Flute and covered Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Academy Voice Fellow performers also will include soprano Simone Osborne, who was recently named a winner in this year's Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition. Jo Anne Wasserman serves as conductor and artistic director of the Santa Barbara Choral Society; Steve O'Connor is artistic director of the Santa Barbara Children's Chorus.
Remaining highlights of the Music Academy of the West's 61st Summer Festival include the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom's comic opera A Wedding, which will be presented August 8 and 10 at The Lobero, and a conducting turn by Anne Manson at Santa Barbara's First Presbyterian Church on August 9. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events are presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
The Granada is located at 1214 State Street in Santa Barbara. For information, call 969-8787. Information is also available online at www.musicacademy.org.
Founded in 1947, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, as well as guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and fully staged opera. The Music Academy will broadcast live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn Hall beginning in October. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
