The 2016
MTNA National Conference
Recitals
Tuesday, April 5: Piano Recital Featuring Emanuel Ax
Born in Lvov, Poland, Emanuel Ax captured public attention in 1974 when he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition; he went on to win the Young Concert Artists Michaels Award (1975), and the Avery Fisher Prize (1979).
In the 2014–15 season, Ax participated in the Toronto Symphony’s “Celebrate the Piano” festival and a European tour with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Throughout the season he also returned to the orchestras of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Washington, Nashville, Atlanta, St. Louis, Montreal and Ottawa. Recitals took him to Vancouver, San Francisco and the mid-west ending in Lincoln Center’s Tully Hall where he also appeared in duo with baritone Simon Keenlyside. In Europe he returned to the Berlin Philharmonic followed by a tour to Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and London performing Winterreise with Simon Keenlyside as well as presenting both Brahms Concerti in Amsterdam and Paris with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Bernard Haitink. Other European orchestras this season featured the London Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Tonhalle Zurich and the National Orchestras of Toulouse and Lyon.
A Grammy-winning artist exclusive to Sony Classical since 1987, his most recent release is a recital disc exploring “variations” by composers including Haydn, Schumann and Copland. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates from Yale and Columbia University.
Saturday, April 2: Opening Session Recital Featuring Time For Three
Time for Three (Tf3) transcends traditional classification, with elements of classical, country western, gypsy and jazz idioms forming a blend all its own. The members—Nikki Chooi, violin; Nicolas (Nick) Kendall, violin; and Ranaan Meyer, double bass—carry a passion for improvisation, composing and arranging.
The group has performed hundreds of engagements as diverse as its music: from featured guest soloists on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s subscription series to Club Yoshi’s in San Francisco to residencies at the Kennedy Center to Christoph Eschenbach’s birthday concert at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany. Recent highlights included their Carnegie Hall debut, appearances with the Boston Pops, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a sell-out concert at the 2014 BBC Proms, and an appearance on Dancing with the Stars.
Time for Three recently released their debut Universal Music Classics album, Time for Three, which spent seven consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Classical Crossover Chart. The ensemble has also embarked on a major commissioning programs to expand its unique repertoire for symphony orchestras including Concerto 4-3, written by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon; Travels in Time for Three by Chris Brubeck in 2010, co-commissioned by the Boston Pops, the Youngstown Symphony, and eight other orchestras; Games and Challenges, by William Bolcom, commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony; and their latest project, a commission by the Sun Valley Summer Symphony for the group to write and perform a 55-minute piece with orchestra, which premiered August, 2015 in Sun Valley, Idaho.