ARTISTS:       

Honolulu Symphony: Season Finale
Andreas Delfs, conductor
Giora Schmidt, violin                
                         

CONCERT:       

Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 10 at 4 p.m.
Blaisdell Concert Hall

PROGRAM:       

GLINKA: Overture to the opera Russlan and Ludmilla
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
PROKOFIEV: Selections from Romeo and Juliet
TCHAIKOVSKY: 1812 Overture

TICKETS:       

$19, $26, $40, $52, $70 (including service fees)
Military & seniors receive 20% discount. Student tickets are $10.
Tickets sold at Ticketmaster outlets (1-800-745-3000), Macy’s and www.ticketmaster.com.
Call the Box Office at (808) 792-2000 (weekdays) or (808) 524-0815 ext. 245 (evenings) for more information.
www.honolulusymphony.com

HONOLULU – Maestro Andreas Delfs and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, together with virtuoso violinist Giora Schmidt, present a blockbuster finale for the 2008-2009 Halekulani MasterWorks season on Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 10 at 4 p.m. at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. The finale features masterpieces by three great Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Glinka. Schmidt, who makes his Honolulu Symphony debut with Tchaikovsky’s legendary Violin Concerto, promises to thrill concertgoers with his technical wizardry and exquisite style. Also featured in the finale are Tchaikovsky’s majestic 1812 Overture and selections from Prokofiev’s beautiful Romeo and Juliet. Tickets are on sale now and start from $19. Student and children’s tickets are always $10. Mahalo to our concert sponsor, architecture and design consultants WATG, for making these concerts possible.

“Yes, you know the 1812 Overture,” said Delfs. “But have you ever heard it live, and indoors? It is such a great piece that it deserves our royal treatment. And, if there is one piece that will always lift you out of your seats, it is Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.”

Hailed by critics for recalling “...Perlman in his prime” (The Miami Herald), Schmidt is quickly establishing himself as a virtuoso of the grand tradition – with a distinctive sound. His performances are illuminated by a richness of color and effortless technique making him one of the most commanding young artists on the stage today. Here is a sampling of what critics are saying:

According to Peter Goodman of Newsday: “...Schmidt held the audience rapt. There was not a cough or rustle to be heard. At times [he] made this most familiar of concerti sound fresh, almost improvisatory, as if the music had never been heard before.”

Matthew Erikson in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes: “...his thick, vibrato-rich sound and sure self-possession suggested a player at least a generation older. Schmidt got to the rhapsodic soul of the music with a colorful sense of inflection and virtuosic flair.”

About Giora Schmidt
Giora Schmidt has appeared with numerous symphony orchestras across North America including, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey, Fort Worth, San Diego, Vancouver, Toronto, and the Israel Philharmonic. In 2003, he made his Carnegie Hall debut performing the Barber Violin Concerto with the New York Youth Symphony.

In recital, Schmidt has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Ravinia Rising Stars series, San Francisco Performances, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and Tokyo’s Musashino Cultural Hall. A passionate chamber musician, Schmidt has collaborated with eminent musicians including, Yefim Bronfman, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum and Michael Tree. He is a regular participant at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and frequently performs with pianist Navah Perlman and cellist Zuill Bailey as part of the Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey Trio.

Born in 1983 to professional Israeli musicians, Schmidt began playing the violin at the age of four. At 13, he met Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program and at 16, was invited by Perlman to study under him full-time at the Juilliard Pre College. Schmidt continued his studies with Perlman at the Juilliard School and also with the late violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay.

Schmidt was the First Prize winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Greenfield Competition in 2000, the recipient of a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and in 2005 won the Classical Recording Foundation's Samuel Sanders Award. His debut recital disc “Vocalise” is currently available on Allegro/Endeavour Classics. Visit www.gioraschmidt.com for more information.

NEW Halekulani MasterWorks 2009-2010 Season

The Honolulu Symphony recently unveiled the magnificent new 2009-2010 Halekulani MasterWorks season featuring exhilarating programming and beloved classics. Season tickets are on sale now at the Symphony Box Office: (808) 792-2000.

New patrons receive a very special offer: 50 percent off their season tickets. New patrons now have access to packages priced as low as $99 for 12 concerts. Highlights of the new season include:

• Maestro Andreas Delfs opens the season with new music that is taking the country by storm: the Fleck-Meyer-Hussain Triple Concerto.
• Throughout the season, light and entertaining classics are in the spotlight with Debussy’s Clair de lune and La mer, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite, Poulenc’s The Story of Babar, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D “Air on the G String,” a special evening of songs from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and much more.
• Superstar violinist Anne Akiko Meyers joins the orchestra for a violin double-bill featuring Vaughan William’s Lark Ascending and Ravel’s Tzigane.
• Celebrated pianist Arnaldo Cohen shares the poetry of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
• International celebrity guest conductors Gerard Schwarz, John Nelson, Jorge Mester and Naoto Otomo join the Symphony for four exclusive concert weekends.
• The sensational Jennifer Frautschi introduces audiences to the beauty of Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a work of exquisite grace and charm.
• Renowned pianist and NPR “From the Top” host Christopher O’Riley performs Beethoven’s dramatic Piano Concerto No. 1.
• The new Mostly Mozart festival, featuring Mozart’s Prague and Jupiter symphonies.

Honolulu Symphony Season Tickets

• Season ticket packages start from $198 for 12 concerts.
• Season ticket prices remain unchanged for the third season in a row.
• Season ticket holders enjoy special benefits, including ticket exchanges, invitations to exclusive backstage events and priority seating.
• The Symphony’s family-friendly Sunday afternoon concerts, beginning at 4 p.m., continue to offer the perfect outing for all generations.