Osmo Vänskä Leads the Curtis Symphony Orchestra on its Largest Tour in 15 Years
The orchestra performs in nine European cities from May 20 to June 2, featuring guest performers Peter Serkin (’64), Benjamin Schmid (’91), and Curtis President Roberto Díaz (’84)
PHILADELPHIA—May 16, 2017—Audiences across Europe will hear the exceptional student performers of the Curtis Institute of Music as part of an ambitious touring project from May 20 to June 2. The Curtis Symphony Orchestra, led by Osmo Vänskä, embarks on the school’s largest orchestra tour in over 15 years, visiting Helsinki, Bremen, Berlin, Dresden, London, Salzburg, Vienna, and Wrocław and Lusławice in Poland. These performances are part of Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music, an embodiment of the school’s “learn by doing” philosophy that offers students real-world, professional touring experience alongside celebrated alumni and faculty.
Osmo Vänskä, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, comments, “I am delighted by the commitment of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and look forward to working with these remarkable young musicians. A major tour is an investment in these musicians, where they will experience firsthand how to properly prepare as a professional musician in an orchestra tour setting. Curtis on Tour, because of the way it embraces every area of experience both on and off stage, is vital to the development of its musicians and understanding the changing environment of each concert venue to produce the highest quality performances. I think this is a bold and exciting project which I am sure will capture the imagination and inspire our audiences on tour.”
The orchestra makes its London debut on May 26 at Cadogan Hall, with celebrated pianist Peter Serkin (’64) as soloist in Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Serkin also performs the concerto in several other cities on the tour. Of the upcoming tour, Serkin comments, “I had the pleasure of teaching very fine students at Curtis, and now I look forward to the opportunity of making music with current students there, of playing Brahms’s First Piano Concerto with this extraordinary orchestra and the wonderful conductor Osmo Vänskä.”
Roberto Díaz (’84), president and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music and former principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, will perform Krzysztof Penderecki’s Double Concerto for violin and viola alongside Austrian violinist Benjamin Schmid (’91). Other repertoire on the tour includes Strauss’s monumental Ein Heldenleben and the lush, enchanting Suite No. 2 from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé.
“I can say as a performing musician that there’s no better learning opportunity than taking part in repeated performances of a program or a piece,” says Díaz, who founded the Curtis on Tour initiative in 2008. “It’s amazing to hear interpretations evolve as part of a broad learning process that includes insights into all the activities in the life of a professional musician, from working as part of a team to taking care of yourself and your instrument on tour.”
CURTIS ON TOUR: EUROPE 2017
Osmo Vänskä and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra
HELSINKI, FINLAND
Saturday, 20 May at 7 p.m.
Helsinki Music Centre
Presented by the Sibelius Academy
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
PENDERECKI Concerto doppio for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra – Benjamin Schmid, violin; Roberto Díaz, viola
STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
BREMEN, GERMANY
Monday, 22 May at 8 p.m.
Die Glocke
Presented by the Philharmonische Gesellschaft Bremen
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
PENDERECKI Concerto doppio for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra – Benjamin Schmid, violin; Roberto Díaz, viola
BRAHMS Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op.15 – Peter Serkin, piano
BERLIN, GERMANY
Tuesday, 23 May at 8 p.m.
Konzerthaus Berlin, Grosser Saal
Presented in cooperation with Young Euro Classic
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
PENDERECKI Concerto doppio for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra – Benjamin Schmid, violin; Roberto Díaz, viola
BRAHMS Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op.15 – Peter Serkin, piano
DRESDEN, GERMANY
Wednesday, 24 May at 8 p.m.
Kulturpalast Dresden
Presented by the Dresden Music Festival
BRAHMS Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op.15 – Peter Serkin, piano
STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
Tickets and more information
LONDON, ENGLAND
Friday, 26 May at 7:30 p.m.
Cadogan Hall
BRAHMS Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op.15 – Peter Serkin, piano
STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
Tickets and more information
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA
Monday, 29 May at 7:30 p.m.
Mozarteum, Grosser Saal
Presented by Kulturvereinigung in cooperation with Mozarteum University Salzburg
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
PENDERECKI Concerto doppio for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra – Benjamin Schmid, violin; Roberto Díaz, viola
BRAHMS Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op.15 – Peter Serkin, piano
Tickets and more information
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Tuesday, 30 May at 7:30 p.m.
Wiener Konzerthaus, Grosser Saal
Presented by Jeunesse
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
PENDERECKI Concerto doppio for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra – Benjamin Schmid, violin; Roberto Díaz, viola
BRAHMS Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op.15 – Peter Serkin, piano
Tickets and more information
WROCLAW, POLAND
Wednesday, 31 May at 7 p.m.
Wroclaw National Music Forum
Presented by the Ludwig van Beethoven Association
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
PENDERECKI Concerto doppio for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra – Benjamin Schmid, violin; Roberto Díaz, viola
BRAHMS Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Op.15 – Peter Serkin, piano
Tickets and more information
LUSLAWICE, POLAND
Friday, 2 June at 7 p.m.
Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music
Presented by the Ludwig van Beethoven Association in cooperation with the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music
RAVEL Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
PENDERECKI Concerto doppio for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra – Benjamin Schmid, violin; Roberto Díaz, viola
STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
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