A broadcast first: KUSC to air series from Chinese symphony
CONTACT: Allison Engel 213/740-1927 allison.engel@usc.edu
Starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 27, Classical KUSC will air a series of 13 concerts from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra — a first for U.S. radio audiences.
Each concert will air from 8 – 10 p.m. on Saturdays, through Aug. 26. The series features an all-star line-up of soloists, including Lang Lang, Maxim Vengerov, Yo-Yo Ma, Yujia Wang and Christian Tetzlaff. Guest conductors include Zubin Mehta, Sir Andrew Davis, Osmo Vänskä, Daniele Gatt and Paavo Järvi.
Culminating in highlights from the inaugural Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, the final broadcast in the series will present the $100,000 grand prize-winning performance of the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1. The series also offers performances from the orchestra’s pioneering young artists program, the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, operated in partnership with musicians from the New York Philharmonic.
Most of the recordings are from the past three seasons and were made in the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s new hall, which opened in September 2014.
The full schedule, with soloists and program highlights, is below.
The series is being distributed by the WFMT Radio Network in Chicago, and also will air on KUSC’s sister station, Classical KDFC in San Francisco, starting at a later date. The host for all the broadcasts is KDFC announcer Hoyt Smith, an award-winning classical host who is also a world traveler.
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was Asia’s first symphony orchestra, and presented Asian premieres of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Mozart, Mendelssohn and other giants of classical music. Maestro Long Yu has served as music director of the Shanghai Symphony since 2009, and regularly appears as a guest conductor with orchestras around the world.
SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE
May 27, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Long Yu
SOLOISTS:
Maxim Vengerov (violin)
Ildiko Komlosi (mezzo-soprano)
Lang Lang (piano)
Chen Qigang: Instants d’un opéra de Pékin
Chen Gang/He Zhanhao: The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
Verdi: “Nei giardin del bello” from Don Carlo
Saint-Saens: “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Samson et Dalila
Trad./Zou Ye arr.: Jasmine Flower
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat minor, Op.23
Program also includes a highlight from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy:
Haydn: String Quartet in D Minor, Op.76, Nr.2, Hob.â…¢:76, mvt I. Allegro
June 3, 2017
CONDUCTOR: Sir Andrew Davis — Berlioz, Beethoven, Holst
Daniele Gatti — Verdi
SOLOIST: Eoin Andersen (violin), Liwei Qin (cello), Du Ningwu (piano)
Joint performance by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture
Beethoven: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op.56
Holst: The Planets featuring the Shanghai Opera House Chorus Female Choir
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra only
Verdi: Overture from Nabucco
(No broadcast on Saturday, June 10. A live Pacific Symphony concert will air in the 8 – 10 p.m. time slot that evening.)
June 17, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Zubin Mehta — Beethoven
Chen Xieyang — Zhu Jian’er
Long Yu — Saint-Saëns
SOLOIST:
Serena Wang (piano)
Julian Rachlin (violin)
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No.3, Op.72b
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15
Beethoven: Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67
Zhu Jian’er: A Wonder of Naxi
Saint-Saëns: Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op.28
June 24, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Daye Lin (Wagner, Bartok, Brahms)
Long Yu (Rachmaninoff/Carpenter)
SOLOIST:
Ba Tong (viola)
Cameron Carpenter (organ)
Wagner: Prelude to Act I, Lohengrin
Bartok: Viola Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No.4
Rachmaninoff/Carpenter: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Program also includes a highlight from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy:
Michael Kamen: Quintet for Brass
July 1, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Zhang Jie Min (Dvorak)
Paavo Järvi (Smetana)
Long Yu (Gershwin)
SOLOIST:
Yujia Wang (piano)
Dvorak: Carnival Overture, Op.92
Smetana: Má Vlast
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Program also includes a Gershwin medley performed by organist Cameron Carpenter, and a highlight from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy:
Bernstein/McGuinness: “One Hand One Heart” from West Side Story
Wagner: Pilgrim’s Chorus from Tannhäuser
July 8, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Long Yu (Huang Yijun, Qigang Chen, Orff)
Zhang Jeimin (Ravel)
SOLOIST:
Lilian Giovanini (soprano)
Berj Karazian (tenor)
Thomas Bauer (baritone)
Chorakademie Lübeck (Burana)
Huang Yijun: Beautiful Flower and Full Moon
Qigang Chen: Luan Tan
Orff: Carmina Burana
Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole
Program also includes highlights from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy:
J.S. Bach: Trio Sonata No.5, BWV529, mvt II. Largo
July 15, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Long Yu (Guo Wenjing, Mozart, Prokofiev)
Steve Reich (Reich)
SOLOIST:
Tang Junqiao (bamboo flute)
Johnson Li (piano)
Guo Wenjing: Bamboo Flute Concerto No.2 Wildfire
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K.466
Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges Suite, Op.33bis
Steve Reich: Tehillim
July 22, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Osmo Vänskä (Grieg, Berlioz)
Kristjan Järvi (Scriabin)
SOLOIST:
Alice Sara Ott (piano)
Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op.14
Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy, Op.54
Program also includes highlights from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy:
J.S. Bach: Contrapunctus 14
July 29, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Daniele Gatti (Li Huanzhi)
Long Yu (Zhao Lin)
Chen Xieyang (Tchaikovsky)
SOLOIST:
Yo-Yo Ma (cello)
Wu Tong (sheng — Zhao Lin)
Li Huanzhi: Spring Festival Overture
Zhao Lin: Duo
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.4
Program also includes a highlight from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy:
Piazzolla: Histoire du tango
August 5, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Yang Yang (Szymanowski)
Zhang Guoyong (Zhu Jian’er)
David Stern (Mozart)
SOLOIST:
Guillaume Molko (violin)
Wenmeng Gu (soprano)
Brahms: Hungarian Dances Nos. 1, 6, 5
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic violins and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra cellos
Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No.1, Op.35
Zhu Jian’er: Symphony No.1, Op.27
Mozart: “Exsultate, jubilate”
August 12, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Paavo Järvi (Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Ravel, Stravinsky)
Daniele Gatti (Verdi)
SOLOIST:
Christian Tetzlaff (violin)
Sibelius: Finlandia, Op.26
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64
Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1919 version)
Verdi: Otello Overture
August 19, 2017
CONDUCTOR:
Shui Lan
SOLOIST:
Sasha Cooke (mezzo-soprano)
Corigliano: One Sweet Morning
Rachmaninoff: The Isle of the Dead
Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini
Program also includes a highlight from the Shanghai Orchestra Academy:
Mozart: Serenade, KV361, No.10
Debussy (arr.J. Heidenreich): Golliwog’s Cakewalk from Children’s Corner
August 26, 2017
Highlights from the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition
CONDUCTOR:
Zhang Jie Min (Mozart)
Michael Stern (Shostakovich)
SOLOIST:
Christian Tarara (violin — Mozart)
Mayu Kishima (violin — Shostakovich)
Mozart: Violin Concerto No.3 in G, K. 216
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No.1
Program also includes music by Bach, Paganini, Sarasate and Brahms.
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Once a small student-run station broadcasting from the University of Southern California campus, KUSC is now the largest and most listened to public radio and non-profit classical music station in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the station broadcasts hand-picked commercial-free classical performances, useful insights about music and coverage of the arts in Southern California.
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