Thomas Adès Appointed Boston Symphony Orchestra Artistic Partner

THOMAS ADÈS APPOINTED BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ARTISTIC PARTNER FOR THREE YEARS BEGINNING IN 2016-17 BSO SEASON AT SYMPHONY HALL; THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS PART OF THE 2016-17 BSO SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT, WITH COMPLETE DETAILS ABOUT THE SEASON AVAILABLE HERE

AS BSO ARTISTIC PARTNER AT SYMPHONY HALL AND TANGLEWOOD FROM FALL 2016 THROUGH SUMMER 2019, THOMAS ADÈS TO APPEAR AS CONDUCTOR AND PERFORMER WITH BSO AND BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS; DIRECT FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN 2018 AND 2019; AND TEACH FELLOWS OF THE TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER AS PART OF
TMC FACULTY IN 2017, 2018, AND 2019

FUTURE PROJECTS INCLUDE THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED WORLD PREMIERE OF MR. ADÈS’S BSO-COMMISSIONED PIANO CONCERTO WITH SOLOIST KIRILL GERSTEIN IN 2018-19 BSO SEASON

MR. ADÈS BEGINS HIS NEW ROLE AS BSO ARTISTIC PARTNER DURING 2016-17 BSO SEASON, LEADING THE ORCHESTRA AND SOLOISTS IN HIS OWN CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED TOTENTANZ, FOR MEZZO-SOPRANO, BARITONE, AND ORCHESTRA FEATURING VOCALISTS CHRISTIANNE STOTIJN AND MARK STONE; BRITTEN’S SINFONIA DA REQUIEM; AND SIBELIUS’S TAPIOLA (11/3-5); MR. ADÈS TO COLLABORATE WITH TENOR IAN BOSTRIDGE IN SCHUBERT’S WINTERREISE AT JORDAN HALL IN JOINT PRESENTATION BY BSO AND CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON (10/28); MR. ADÈS JOINS BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS AS PIANIST FOR PROGRAM OF MUSIC BY BRITTEN AND SCHUBERT, AS WELL AS ONE OF HIS OWN CHAMBER MUSIC WORKS (10/30)

SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE 2016-17 BSO SEASON ARE AVAILABLE NOW BY CALLING 888-266-1200 OR VISITING WWW.BSO.ORG; SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE AUGUST 1

THE 2016-17 BSO SEASON IS SPONSORED BY BANK OF AMERICA

The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons have announced the appointment of English composer/conductor/pianist Thomas Adès as the orchestra’s first-ever Artistic Partner for a three-year period starting in the fall of 2016.  As BSO Artistic Partner, Mr. Adès’s rich commitment to the BSO will span a wide range of activities reflecting his many gifts as one of the greatest musical minds of the 21st century; he will become an integral figure at the BSO—both in Symphony Hall and Tanglewood—as composer, conductor, performer, and teacher. This news is being released in conjunction with the 2016-17 BSO season announcement, with complete details available here.

One of the most respected and sought-after composers and performers in the field of classical music, Mr. Adès will assume his new position as the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Deborah and Philip Edmundson Artistic Partner beginning with the BSO’s 2016-17 season, leading his monumental and critically acclaimed Totentanz, for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra with soloists Christianne Stotijn and Mark Stone, on a program with Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem and Sibelius’s Tapiola (11/3-5).  In what is sure to be a highlight of the recital offerings in Boston in 2016-17, Mr. Adès will join frequent collaborator, English tenor Ian Bostridge, for a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise, as part of a joint presentation by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Celebrity Series of Boston, to take place at Jordan Hall on Friday, October 28.  On Sunday, October 30, Mr. Adès will also be featured as pianist with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players in a program of Britten’s Sinfonietta, Schubert’s Trout Quintet, and a work by Mr. Adès.

In the 2018-19 season, the BSO will present the highly anticipated world premiere of Mr. Adès’s BSO-commissioned Piano Concerto, with Kirill Gerstein as soloist.

In addition to his work with the BSO at Symphony Hall, Mr. Adès will also play a prominent role at Tanglewood, where he will be the Director of the Festival of Contemporary Music in 2018 and 2019.  His role at Tanglewood will also include working closely with the Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center—the BSO’s acclaimed summer music academy—in the roles of teacher, performer, and conductor.  Further details on Mr. Adès’s activities at Tanglewood will be available as part of the 2017 Tanglewood season announcement in November 2016.

QUOTE FROM ANDRIS NELSONS, Ray and Maria Stata BSO Music Director
“It is incredibly exciting for me and my beloved BSO that the exceptional Thomas Adès will join us as Artistic Partner and work very closely with us to create fascinating programs for our devoted audiences here in Boston, at Tanglewood, and, through broadcasts and recordings, around the world,” said BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons.

“Universally regarded as one of the most creative souls in the world of classical music today, Thomas Adès and his accomplishments are extraordinary.  As the BSO’s Artistic Partner, Thomas will be involved with the orchestra on every level of his outstanding talents as a composer, conductor, pianist, and teacher. There is no doubt that he will inspire all of us at the BSO to ever greater achievements, which we hope will become special gifts for all of those who so love listening to the musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  We truly look forward to welcoming Thomas as a treasured member of the BSO family.”

QUOTE FROM THOMAS ADÈS, Deborah and Philip Edmundson BSO Artistic Partner
“I am delighted to be joining the BSO family of musicians and colleagues and to embark on this particular artistic adventure,” said Thomas Adès. “From my first rehearsal with this amazing orchestra—almost exactly five years ago—I knew that we shared a musical wavelength, and in our subsequent meetings I’ve been gratified to sense the relationship deepening each time. It seems natural now to broaden the experience beyond conducting and chamber music to include composing specifically for these gifted players and teaching alongside them—not to mention sharing the unique ‘total immersion’ experience of Tanglewood. I’m so grateful to Andris Nelsons, Mark Volpe, Tony Fogg, and the BSO musicians for this opportunity, and I very much look forward to contributing to—and partaking of—the cultural delights offered by the wonderful city of Boston.”

QUOTE FROM MARK VOLPE, Eunice and Julian Cohen BSO Managing Director
“With the appointment of Thomas Adès as BSO Artistic Partner, all of us at the BSO are filled with a great sense of anticipation over having one of the most brilliant minds of our field involved with the BSO and the Tanglewood Music Center as a conductor, composer, performer, and teacher,” said Managing Director Mark Volpe.

“From the first moment Thomas Adès worked directly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2011, there was a palpable chemistry that resulted in incredibly memorable music-making. Almost immediately thereafter we started imagining the possibilities and how we might bring the brilliant Thomas Adès more closely into the musical orbit of the BSO. Following many discussions and a great deal of reflection by both parties over the last couple of years, we are thrilled to announce that Mr. Adès has agreed to become the first-ever BSO Artistic Partner and a prominent member of the BSO family. The absolutely unique creative synergies between Andris Nelsons, Thomas Adès, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra promise to bring extraordinary performances of great breadth and insight.  This landmark collaboration with Thomas Adès will certainly be a major event for us here at the BSO and in the classical music world at large.”

This announcement about Thomas Adès’s appointment as BSO Artistic Partner is being made in conjunction with the 2016-17 BSO season announcement.  To view the press release about the season announcement, click here.

TO VIEW 2016-17 BSO ANDRIS NELSONS PROGRAMS, CLICK HERE;
TO VIEW 2016-17 BSO FULL PROGRAM LISTING, INCLUDING GUEST CONDUCTOR PROGRAMS, CLICK HERE

THOMAS ADÈS BIO
Thomas Adès was born in London in 1971. His compositions include two operas, Powder Her Face (Cheltenham Festival and the Almeida Theatre, London, 1995) and The Tempest (Royal Opera, Covent Garden, 2004). His orchestral works include Asyla (CBSO, 1997), Tevot (Berlin Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall, 2007), Polaris (New World Symphony, Miami 2011), Violin Concerto Concentric Paths (Berliner Festspiele and the BBC Proms, 2005), In Seven Days (Piano concerto with moving image—LA Philharmonic and RFH London 2008), and Totentanz for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra (BBC Proms, 2013).

His chamber works include the string quartets Arcadiana (1993) and The Four Quarters (2011), Piano Quintet (2001), and Lieux retrouvés for cello and piano (2010). Solo piano works include Darknesse Visible (1992), Traced Overhead (1996), and Three Mazurkas (2010). Choral works include The Fayrfax Carol (King’s College, Cambridge 1997), America: a Prophecy (New York Philharmonic, 1999), and January Writ (Temple Church, London 2000).  In 2016 his new opera The Exterminating Angel  will receive its world premiere at the Salzburg Festival.

From 1999 to 2008 Thomas was Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival. As a conductor Thomas appears regularly with, among others, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw, Melbourne and Sydney Symphonies, BBC Symphony, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.  In opera, he has conducted Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at the Royal Opera House, London, and Zürich Opera and The Tempest at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 2015 with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting The Tempest.  Future plans include Totentanz with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Concertgebouworkest, Amsterdam.

His recent piano engagements include solo recitals at Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) in New York and the Barbican in London, and concerto appearances with the New York Philharmonic. Last season he appeared throughout Europe with Ian Bostridge in a tour of Schubert’s Winterreise in Vienna, Luxembourg, London, Hamburg, Budapest, Bilbao, and Warsaw.

His many awards include the Grawemeyer Award for Asyla (1999); Royal Philharmonic Society large-scale composition awards for Asyla, The Tempest, and Tevot; the Ernst von Siemens Composers’ Prize for Arcadiana; and the British Composer Award for The Four Quarters.   His CD recording of The Tempest from the Royal Opera House (EMI) won the Contemporary category of the 2010 Gramophone Awards; and his DVD of the production from the Metropolitan Opera was awarded the Diapason d’Or de l’année (2013), Best Opera recording (2014 Grammy Awards), and Music DVD Recording of the Year (2014 ECHO Klassik Awards).  In 2015 he was awarded the prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize. He coaches Piano and Chamber Music annually at the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove.  Further details about Thomas Adès are available at http://thomasades.com/

TICKET INFORMATION
Subscriptions for the BSO’s 2016-17 season are available now by calling the BSO Subscription Office at 888-266-7575 or online through the BSO’s website (http://www.bso.org/subscriptions). Single tickets go on sale August 1 at 10 a.m. Tickets may be purchased by phone through SymphonyCharge (617-266-1200 or 888-266-1200), online through the BSO’s website (www.bso.org), or in person at the Symphony Hall Box Office (301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston). There is a $6.50 service fee for all tickets purchased online or by phone through SymphonyCharge.        

The BSO’s “Twenty Under Forty” program allows patrons under the age of 40 to purchase tickets for $20. The BSO College Card and High School Card are the best way for students and aspiring young musicians to experience the BSO on a regular basis. A limited number of $9 Rush Tickets for Boston Symphony Orchestra subscription concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Friday afternoons are set aside to be sold on the day of a performance. The Boston Symphony Orchestra offers groups advanced ticket reservations and flexible payment options for BSO concerts at Symphony Hall.

Media Offerings at BSO.ORG
The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s extensive website, BSO.org, is one of the world’s largest and most-visited orchestral websites, receiving approximately 10 million visitors annually and generating over $111 million in revenue since its launch in 1996; BSO.org is also mobile-device compatible. The site’s Media Center consolidates its numerous new media initiatives in one location. In addition to comprehensive access to all BSO, Boston Pops, Tanglewood, and Symphony Hall performance schedules, patrons have access to a number of free and paid media options. With the start of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-16 season, the BSO launched a new, free app providing concertgoers with a new platform through which to interact with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood; the app is available for download and installation on iPhone devices via the iTunes App Store, and on Android devices via Google Play. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is on Facebook at Facebook.com/BostonSymphony, on Twitter at Twitter.com/BostonSymphony, and on Google+ at Google.com/+bostonsymphony. Video content from the BSO is also available at YouTube.com/BostonSymphony. Andris Nelsons is regularly featured in interviews on www.bso.org; he also connects with a wider online community through his own website and social media platforms (www.andrisnelsons.com;
https://www.facebook.com/AndrisNelsonsOfficialPage/ https://twitter.com/andris_nelsons).

RADIO BROADCASTS AND STREAMING
Concerts from the Shed are broadcast throughout the Tanglewood season in Boston on WCRB-99.5 FM, a service of WGBH, and WJMF 88.7 in Providence; in Albany on WAMC 90.3 FM and its network; in Connecticut on WMNR 88.1 FM, and in New Hampshire on WCNH 91.5 FM and WEVO 89.1 HD2. In addition, Sunday-afternoon concerts are broadcast on WFCR 88.5 in Amherst. Streaming audio of the broadcasts can also be accessed via the stations’ websites at www.classicalwcrb.org; www.wamc.org; www.wmnr.org ; www.nhpr.org; and www.wfcr.org. On-demand audio of concerts is available at www.bso.org and www.classicalwcrb.org.

SPONSORSHIPS
Longstanding major corporate partner Bank of America returns as the BSO Season Sponsor for the 2016-17 Season. Bank of America believes that the arts have a unique capability to connect people, communities and cultures and help economies thrive.  “Our support of the arts engages individuals, organizations and cultures in creative ways to build mutual respect and insight,” said Miceal Chamberlain, Massachusetts President, Bank of America.  “Investing in the arts, we help create experiences that challenge, educate, inspire and motivate.  We hope audiences at Symphony Hall share in our passion and enthusiasm for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2016-17 Season.”

The BSO is proud to announce that the Arbella Insurance Foundation, a longtime sponsor, is continuing its major sponsorship for the 11th season, expanding its support of new audience development initiatives.   In addition to once again sponsoring the BSO College Card and Youth & Family Concerts, Arbella is also sponsoring  the BSO’s popular Casual Fridays series and the BSO Young Professionals (YoPro) program.

Delta Air Lines has returned as the Official Airline of the BSO.  Fairmont Copley Plaza begins its 15th season as the Official Hotel of the BSO, and Commonwealth Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation begins its 14th season as the Official Chauffeured Transportation of the BSO.


THOMAS ADÈS ACTIVITIES IN THE 2016-17 BSO SEASON

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AT SYMPHONY HALL
Thursday, November 3, at 10:30 a.m. (High School Open Rehearsal)
Thursday, November 3, at 8 p.m.
Friday, November 4, at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 5, at 8 p.m.
Thomas Adès, conductor
Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano
Mark Stone, baritone
BRITTEN Sinfonia da Requiem
SIBELIUS Tapiola
ADÈS Totentanz, for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and orchestra

SPECIAL RECITAL PERFORMANCE PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON
Friday, October 28, at 8 p.m.
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Thomas Adès, piano
SCHUBERT  Winterreise

FIRST BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS CONCERT OF THE 2016-17 SEASON
Sunday, October 30, at 3 p.m.
Jordan Hall
Thomas Adès
Boston Symphony Chamber Players
BRITTEN  Sinfonietta
Work by Thomas Adès
SCHUBERT Trout Quintet

BSO PERFORMANCE HISTORY OF THOMAS ADÈS WORKS/COLLABROATIONS WITH MR. ADÈS

March 25, 26, 27, & 30, 1999
Jeffrey Tate, conductor
ADÈS Living Toys, Op. 9

November 21, 22, & 23, 2002
Christoph von Dohnanyi, conductor
ADÈS Asyla

March 25 & 26, 2011
Thomas Adès, conductor (BSO debut)
Anthony Marwood, violin (BSO debut)
Hila Plitmann, soprano (BSO debut)
Kate Royal, soprano (BSO debut)
Toby Spence, tenor (BSO debut)
Christopher Maltman, baritone
TCHAIKOVSKY The Tempest
ADÈS Violin Concerto, Concentric Paths
SIBELIUS Prelude and Suite No. 1 from The Tempest
ADÈS Scenes from The Tempest

November 15, 16, & 17, 2012
Thomas Adès, conductor
Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Kirill Gerstein, piano (BSO subscription series debut)
SIBELIUS Luonnotar, for soprano and orchestra
ADÈS In Seven Days, for piano and orchestra
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 1
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 6

October 10, 11, & 12, 2013
Thomas Adès, conductor
MENDELSSOHN Overture, The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)
ADÈS Polaris
IVES Orchestral Set No. 2
FRANCK Symphony (Oct. 10 and 12 only)

April 23, 24, 25, & 28, 2015
Bernard Haitink, conductor
ADÈS Three Studies from Couperin

THOMAS ADÈS/BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS PERFORMANCES

April 22, 2012
Boston Symphony Chamber Players
ADÈS Court Studies from The Tempest, for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
William R. Hudgins, clarinet; Malcolm Lowe, violin; Martha Babcock, cello; Vytas Baksys, piano

October 13, 2013
Boston Symphony Chamber Players
with Thomas Adès, piano and harpsichord
and John Brancy, baritone
ADÈS Sonata da caccia, for oboe, horn, and harpsichord
DEBUSSY Sonata for flute, viola, and harp
RAVEL Chansons madécasses, for voice, flute, cello, and piano
ADÈS Piano Quintet