Rachleff Returns to Conduct the AFO
June 27 performance will open the 2009 Summer Festival
For Immediate Release June 11, 2009
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Acclaimed conductor Larry Rachleff will lead the Academy Festival Orchestra in its first concert of the Music Academy's 2009 Summer Festival season at the Granada Theatre on Saturday, June 27. Featuring Ravel's opulent orchestral suite adapted from his score for the Diaghilev ballet, and Shostakovich's gripping – and hugely popular – fifth symphony, the concert will begin at 8 pm. Tickets start at $10.
Described by the Chicago Tribune as a "take-charge maestro who invests everything he conducts with deep musical understanding," Mr. Rachleff serves as music director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic. He also serves as music director of Rice University's Shepherd School Orchestras in Houston and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, formerly known as Symphony II. Mr. Rachleff has appeared as a guest conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Houston, Seattle, Indianapolis, Utah, and Kansas City symphony orchestras, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In 1993 he was among four American conductors selected to lead the Cleveland Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the mentorship of Maestro Pierre Boulez.
A former faculty member at Oberlin Conservatory, where he was music director of orchestras and conductor of the Contemporary Ensemble, Mr. Rachleff also has served as conductor of the Opera Theatre at the University of Southern California. In 1988 he served as music director of the highly acclaimed American-Soviet Youth Orchestra tour, and he has conducted and presented masterclasses at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, the Zurich Hochschule, and the Sydney and Queensland (Australia) conservatories. In constant demand as a conductor and masterclass clinician, Mr. Rachleff is frequently invited to lead other conservatory orchestras, including those at Juilliard, England's Royal Northern College, and New England Conservatory. He has collaborated with such leading composers as Samuel Adler, the late Luciano Berio, George Crumb, Michael Daugherty, and John Harbison.
Mr. Rachleff led the Academy Festival Orchestra in a well-received concert at The Lobero to open the 2008 Summer Festival. Writing in the Santa Barbara Independent, critic Charles Donelan observed that the conductor "moves so well on the podium that he can be easy for the audience to overlook, but that is clearly not the case on the musicians' side of the proscenium, where smiles, warm glances, and the gentle thunder of pounding heels met his every effort."
The Granada is located at 1216 State Street in Santa Barbara. The concert is supported by a gift from Robert W. Weinman.
The Music Academy will present an ambitious production of Ambroise Thomas' charming French Romantic opera Mignon, as well as performances by conductor Leonard Slatkin and pianist Christopher Taylor as part of the Academy's 62nd Summer Festival. The Academy will present 197 events over the course of this year's Summer School and Festival, which begins June 22 and concludes on August 15. Additional highlights will include performances by the Canadian Brass and the Takács Quartet, and conducting turns by Peter Oundjian, George Manahan, Nicholas McGegan, and Alexander Mickelthwate. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events will be presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
For tickets and 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, 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 began broadcasting live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn Hall in October 2008. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
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