FROM THE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Photo Credit: Lauren Radack
DEAR FRIENDS, We have had a very exciting fall season, welcoming new artistic partners to our stage and premiering new works by new and old composers. In January we are also featuring a new initiative as we launch a month-long festival which is the first of what we hope will be an annual occurrence. Upright & Grand focuses on the many aspects of the piano. Pianos can be found in concert halls, nightclubs, homes, schools, libraries and department stores. A pianist can play entire symphonies or a solo sonata. The piano can play the role of the orchestra in rehearsals of great opera and ballet scores, and it is a partner to instrumentalists and singers. The piano is both a solitary and independent instrument. In addition, many musical works began as a piece for piano which was then orchestrated. We are featuring many of these works such as Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition as orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, which is also the focus of our very first presentation of “Beyond the Score.”
MARTHA GILMER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
“Beyond the Score” is a creative performance that uses a narrator, actors and musical excerpts by the orchestra to explain the history and context of a piece of music. In the case of Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition, you will discover the story behind the music and its dedication to one of Mussorgsky’s friends, the artist Viktor Hartmann, after his death. After intermission, the work will be performed in its entirety. At the core of this piano festival is the array of acclaimed artists who are at the top of their profession, performing the most exciting repertoire written for the piano – all in the span of just a few weeks. Jeremy Denk, Marc-André Hamelin, Horacio Gutiérrez, Ben Folds, Joshua White, Helen Sung, Eric Reed and our very own Jahja Ling and Jessie Chang, all perform as soloists in the festival. The festival crosses over all of our presentations including Jacobs Masterworks, City Lights and the new Jazz @ The Jacobs, as well as with our collaborative partners. The La Jolla Music Society presents pianist Emanuel Ax along with Itzhak Perlman in a sonata recital at the Jacobs Music Center, as well as a solo recital by Garrick Ohlsson at the Sherwood Auditorium. The San Diego Symphony will perform in Poway as part of Poway OnStage and at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido as part of the festival. Upright & Grand offers the public the opportunity to get involved, both by performing outdoors at any of the ten “Play Me” pianos in public spaces throughout San Diego, and by joining us on January 16 for our first “Community Day” where amateur pianists are welcome to participate in master classes and events, including piano-centric workshops focused on jazz piano and technology and the opportunity to perform on the stage of Copley Symphony Hall! (See page 20 for more information about these community projects). I hope to see you at many of the performances and activities throughout the month, and I thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm. Sincerely,
Martha Gilmer Chief Executive Officer
COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Jeremy Denk – Michael Wilson S AN D IEGO SYMPHO NY ORC HE ST RA WINT ER SEA SO N J A N UAR Y 2 016
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