ASO’S CONCERT FEATURES WORLD RENOWNED VIOLINIST
2/6/2009
For Immediate Release
February 6, 2009
Contact: William H. Martin
Phone: 410-269-1132
bmartin@annapolissymphony.org
www.annapolissymphony.org
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Under the title Young Geniuses, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra will hold its third concert in the Lexus Classic Series on February 27 and 28, 2009. The performances will take place at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts at 8 p.m. The phenomenon of your genius is explored in four masterpieces from composers who each stunned the world with talent at an early age. The concerts will feature the Annapolis premier of internationally acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. In addition, Music Director José-Luis Novo will conduct the orchestra in Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Classical Symphony,” Barber’s Violin Concerto, Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cove), and Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major. Tickets are $34-$44 with special $10 seats available for students ages 8-25. All ticket holders are invited to participate in ASO’s educational and entertaining Bank of America Pre-Concert Lecture Series for free, featuring pianist and musicologist Dr. Rachel Franklin at 6:45 pm before every Lexus Classic Series performance.
Maryland's capital city orchestra continues its 48th season under the leadership of José-Luis Novo, who was appointed ASO's sixth Music Director in March 2005 following a two-year national search. One of Spain’s most promising young conductors, José-Luis Novo also holds the position of Music Director and Conductor of the Binghamton Philharmonic. Prior to his appointments with the Annapolis and Binghamton orchestras, Mr. Novo held the positions of Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Music Director Emeritus Jesús López-Cobos, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Oxford (Ohio) Chamber Orchestra, and the Miami University Symphony Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the National Repertory Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain and of the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Since 1999, he has been a member of the conducting faculty at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Hailed by critics, media, conductors and audiences worldwide, Anne Akiko Meyers' impassioned performances, compelling music making and mastery of a broad and varied selection of music have made her one of today's most sought-after violinists. This season, Ms. Meyers' international dates include performances with the Staatsphilharmonie in Germany, Warsaw Philharmonic, Miyazaki Festival, Pacific Music Festival Sapporo, as well as a tour of Holland with the North Netherlands Orchestra performing the Beethoven Concerto with specially written cadenzas by DJ/electronica composer, Mason Bates. In the U.S., Ms. Meyers performs with the Colorado Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Spokane Symphony, the New Century Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco, and has been chosen as a Regents Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Anne Akiko Meyers' extensive discography can be found on the Avie, Camerata, Hyperion, Naxos, RCA Victor Red Seal and RPO labels. Her debut disc, at the age of 18, included the Barber Violin Concerto and the Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 with Christopher Seaman and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. RPO Records recorded the sonatas of Saint-Saëns and Fauré. Her comprehensive RCA catalogue includes Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole and Bruch's Scottish Fantasy with Jesus Lopez-Cobos and the Royal Philharmonic; the Franck and Strauss sonatas; the Mendelssohn Concerto and a selection of other works with Andrew Litton and the Philharmonia Orchestra and Prokofiev Violin Concertos with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony under Dmitri Kitajenko. Sonata albums include Salut d'Amour featuring many encore pieces with classic Japanese folksongs and an album featuring works by Copland, Ives, Piston, and David Baker with pianist André-Michel Schub, and her most recent albums of works by Debussy, Messiaen, Ravel, Satoh and Takemitsu for the AVIE label.
Ms. Meyers' numerous television credits include an A&E Network telecast from the Casals Festival with the Montreal Symphony and Krzysztof Penderecki, a PBS broadcast with the Boston Pops Orchestra and John Williams, and an appearance on the "Emmy Awards Show". She was featured in a live global Internet broadcast with Keith Lockhart and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, performed in front of some 750,000 people during Sydney's 250th Bicentennial celebrations, and has performed for dignitaries including the Emperor and Empress of Japan. At the age of 11, she performed twice on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.
Anne Akiko Meyers studied with Alice and Eleanore Schoenfeld at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, Josef Gingold at Indiana University, and Felix Galimir, Masao Kawasaki and the late Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, she performs on the "Royal Spanish" Antonius Stradivarius violin, dated 1730, that once belonged to the King of Spain and endorses Thomastik-Infeld Vision Titanium strings.
Single tickets to the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra Lexus Classic Series are $34-$44 for adults, and $10 for students ages 8 to 25. FlexPass packages are available, allowing music lovers to purchase three or four concerts at a discount but enjoying the flexibility to choose and attend concerts when it fits their schedule. For tickets, subscriptions, or further information, call the ASO Box Office at 410-263-0907 or visit and order online at www.annapolissymphony.org.
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Photos of José-Luis Novo and Anne Akiko Meyers are available upon request.
