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The National Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce that this summer we will undertake our first international tour with Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. The "Americas Tour" will include eight concerts in five countries from June 12-27, 2012, as well as education and outreach events. The tour is sponsored by The Down Chemical Company and Whirlpool Corporation . We're very excited! Here's the official press release…
(WASHINGTON, D.C.)—Beginning June 12, 2012, the National Symphony Orchestra embarks on its first international concert tour under the leadership of Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. The “Americas Tour” will open in Mexico City, and will include concerts in four other countries: Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; and three concerts in Brazil, two of which will take place in São Paulo and one in Rio de Janeiro.
“I am very pleased to be making my first international tour with my wonderful orchestra,” said Christoph Eschenbach. “Part of my goal for the National Symphony is to bring this great orchestra to wider recognition. It is especially pleasing that this tour visits a part of the world that occupies a very important place in the NSO’s history, as it does in mine. One of my very earliest tours as a pianist included many of the same countries we will visit, and to this day I remember the warmth and welcome of the audiences. I’m sure that our concerts will be enjoyed by our audiences, and will contribute to greater international artistic friendship.”
The tour is made possible through the generosity of The Dow Chemical Company and Whirlpool Corporation.
“The NSO’s touring history began in South America a little over 50 years ago, so it seems especially appropriate that our first tour with Maestro Eschenbach will take us to several of the countries we visited then. We are deeply appreciative of the support of our two sponsors,” said Executive Director Rita Shapiro. “In addition, we look forward to exploring opportunities for our musicians to interact with local students and musicians.”
“After the resounding success of the Asia Tour, Dow is pleased to continue our partnership with the NSO for the Americas Tour,” stated Andrew Liveris, Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company. “It is an honor to collaborate with Whirlpool to bring one of the great national treasures of the United States—the National Symphony Orchestra—to our employees, customers and other community members throughout this region.”
Whirlpool Corporation Chairman and CEO, Jeff Fettig remarked: “For a century, Whirlpool Corporation has been improving lives with our world class products and services. Our company has been doing business in Latin America since 1957 and it is an honor to assist in sponsoring the NSO tour to highlight the strong cultural ties between the people of these two parts of the world.”
The repertoire for the tour includes Blue Blazes, a new work by American composer Sean Shepherd, commissioned by the NSO made possible by the John and June Hechinger Commissioning Fund for New Orchestral Works. The NSO will also perform two symphonies from the standard repertoire: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. The Roman Carnival Overture of Berlioz will also be performed, as will the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, and Lalo’s Cello Concerto.
Claudio Bohórquez, the soloist in the Cello Concerto, is of Peruvian and Uruguayan descent. Highlights of his current season have included concerts with the Frankfurter Oper- und Museumsorchester, Dresden Philharmonic, and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.
While on tour, members of the NSO have been invited to give master classes in Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil. Additionally, Maestro Eschenbach will work with the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Philharmonic. More specific information will be available closer to the tour.
Before the NSO travels to Mexico City, the Orchestra will devote its final two subscription concerts of the season to preparation of the tour repertoire. Concerts May 31, June 1 and 2 will include Shepherd’s Blue Blazes, the Strauss Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. June 7-9, the program will include the Berlioz Overture, Roman Carnival, Lalo’s Cello Concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
Mexico City
The tour will open in Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes. In addition to the concert, through the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, the NSO will provide musicians for master classes at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.
Port of Spain
The NSO’s performance in Port of Spain commemorates the 50th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Maestro Eschenbach will work with the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Philharmonic, and NSO members have been invited to give master classes at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.
Buenos Aires and Rosario
The NSO’s performance in Buenos Aires will take place in the legendary Teatro Colón, considered one of the finest performance venues in the world. The NSO will also perform in Rosario, Argentina’s second largest city, at Teatro El Círculo.
Montevideo
The NSO’s performance will take place in Montevideo’s Auditorio Nacional del Sodre, the city’s leading venue for the performing arts.
Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo
The National Symphony will give two performances in São Paulo and another in Rio de Janeiro. While there, members of the NSO have been invited to present master classes and to perform outreach in Rio de Janeiro.
NSO Touring: Notes on a Half-Century of Travel
The NSO’s touring history includes many significant milestones. The first international tour was in 1959. It was indeed a mammoth undertaking. Twelve weeks, 15,000 miles, and 68 concerts in 19 Latin and South American countries, undertaken as part of President Eisenhower’s Program for Cultural Presentations, a project of the U. S. State Department, for the purpose of building goodwill throughout the region.
Other highlights of NSO touring include two trips to China; the more recent tour took place in 2009, at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture in 2009, marking first the 30th anniversary of Sino-U.S. relations. The previous tour to China was in 1999, led by the NSO’s fifth music director, Leonard Slatkin, who also led the NSO in U.S. and European tours.
With Mstislav Rostropovich, in addition to tours of Europe, Asia, and South America, the NSO made two visits to Russia, and in the course of the 1993 tour, gave the first orchestral concert ever performed in Red Square.
2012 Americas Tour
Tour Itinerary
Christoph Eschenbach, Music Director
Claudio Bohórquez, cello
Wednesday, June 13
Mexico City
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Friday, June 15
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
National Academy for the Performing Arts
Monday, June 18
Rosario, Argentina
Teatro El Círculo
Thursday, June 21
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Teatro Colón
Friday, June 22
Montevideo, Uruguay
Auditorio Nacional del Sodre
Sunday, June 24
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Teatro Municipal
Monday, June 25
São Paulo, Brazil
Teatro Municipal
Tuesday, June 26
São Paulo, Brazil
Teatro Municipal
REPERTOIRE TO INCLUDE:
Beethoven Symphony No. 7
Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture
Lalo Cello Concerto Shepherd Blue Blazes
Strauss Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2011, Dow had annual sales of $60 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 197 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.
About Whirlpool Corporation
Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of more than $18 billion in 2010, 71,000 employees, and 66 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world. Additional information about the company can be found at www.whirlpoolcorp.com.
Stay tuned for more information—visit our Americas Tour Tumblr page for the latest news!
Former NSO tuba player and personnel manager Dave Bragunier recently shared with us an interesting find in Maryland—a house once owned by the NSO's founder, Hans Kindler.
So you live in Columbia, MD in a nice house, but you would like to have a property with some more land. Quite by accident, you find out that a property has become available that fits your specifications. There are three acres of property with a vintage stone house from the 1700s.
There is one catch. In the back yard, there is a rather overgrown cemetery containing 20 or 25 graves.
This was the circumstance that led a music teacher and her mathematician husband to purchase the property known as Worthington's Quarter. Little did they know that the property was once owned by Hans Kindler, the founder of the National Symphony and that Kindler and some of his family were buried in the cemetery.
The house was built by the Worthington family in the 1770s and is one of the oldest houses in Howard County. Five generations of Worthingtons lived there and many of them are buried in the family cemetery in the back yard.
In the early twentieth century, the house fell into disrepair when the upper floors were used to store hay and a still was operated in the basement during prohibition. During the development of Columbia, the Rouse Company divided the property and repaired damage done by vandals, since the house had sat vacant for a number of years. In 2000 the music-loving couple became the owners. They were very gracious in inviting me to see the house and grounds.
Hans Kindler and his wife Alice purchased the house in 1936. Since Columbia was an extremely long commute in 1936, Kindler stayed in the top floor apartment of the Washington Arts Club on I street in downtown Washington when he was conducting the NSO. Alice, who was an artist, restored the house and added a stone kitchen. The Kindlers eventually joined the Worthingtons in the property's cemetery. The stone marking Kindler's grave is reminiscent of a cello case and the marker only gives his years with the National Symphony.
80 years later, the NSO is still going strong- we think Hans would be proud! Read more about Maestro Kindler and the history of the NSO here: http://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/history/
We're celebrating Leap Day today by getting very excited about all the upcoming events of the Kennedy Center's Music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna Festival. Our Maestro, Christoph Eschenbach, is also the Music Director of the Kennedy Center, and he's leading the charge in both planning and performing in these events. To get a sense of everything he and the NSO are doing in the upcoming weeks, listen to his recent interview with WETA. There's so much to choose from! (Just hearing about it makes us want to take Deb Lamberton's protein shake suggestion!)
Like Leap Year, this is a rare opportunity—so get your tickets soon!
When you come to the Kennedy Center for one of the National Symphony Orchestra's concerts, it's likely that you'll pass through the Hall of Nations. One of the features of this hall is its beautiful marble walls, complete with the names of our biggest supporters etched into stone. The NSO couldn't exist without the generous donations of those on that wall, so we like to say "thank you" in a very permanent way. What could be more permanent than stone, after all? 2,000 years later, for example, we still know who was who in Rome thanks to stone carving.
Because an honor like this isn't earned every day, it isn't often that you'll catch the artisans at work. This week, we've been in luck, getting to watch as a new supporter was being added to our marble wall. We snapped a few pictures of the action and even had a chat with one of the inscribers, Brooke Roberts.
Brooke says he is one of maybe 10 such artists in the U.S. He began apprenticing as a teenager and has since had apprentices of his own. Like his colleagues, he personally does each step of the process, all by hand. First a pattern is created, in this case on paper; then it is traced onto the wall. The letters are then carved using a mallet and chisel, angling in from each side to form a "v" into the marble. Lastly, if desired, a stain can be airbrushed to provide contrast. There is little room for error; if there is a mistake, or if a name should need to be changed or removed, the whole marble panel must be brought down and replaced. Clearly you need patience, a steady hand, and lots of experience. Brooke says Washington, DC, with its wealth of monuments, has far more carving work than most cities. He and a team he assembled originally created our donor wall, and we are thrilled that he has been able to return to add to it.
So next time you are in the Hall of Nations, take a moment to stop and admire this ancient craft and say thank you to our donors. To our latest additions, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Jacqueline Badger Mars, Vladimir O. Potanin, and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, thank you and welcome to our wall—and Brooke, we hope that somewhere, someday, your name is in stone as well!
This November we eagerly anticipate the return of our Music Director to his home podium. In the meantime, where is he working his magic? He's written to let us know!
Dear Friends,
After the exciting opening of our season in Washington, I returned to a tour to which I was committed long ago – visiting Australia, China, and Japan with the Vienna Philharmonic. Our soloist on this tour, singing Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn, was the amazing Matthias Goerne, who will be with me in Washington in a few months, performing Schubert's masterful Winterreise, in the course of our celebration of the music of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna.
An especially touching concert took place in Japan, in Tokyo's Suntory Hall. The concert was a benefit for those who lost so much in the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the eastern coastal areas earlier this year, and we were honored to be able to aid the relief efforts. Time and again, as we performed in Japan, the audiences seemed deeply appreciative to us for bringing music to this country in a time of great need and emotion.
There is another performance, before I return, that I think will be of special interest to Washington. Yo-Yo Ma – one of this year's Kennedy Center Honorees – and I will join the London Philharmonic in a performance at the new Royal Opera House Muscat, in Oman.
And so, my friends, I wish you all the very best, and look forward to my return November 17, when I will welcome Leonidas Kavakos as soloist in Brahms's Violin Concerto, and I will also conduct Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony.
-- Christoph Eschenbach
Greetings NSO fans! Our 2011-2012 season has been off to a busy and fantastic start. Since our last post, we've kicked off our season with a gala ball, performed two classical programs, one Pops show with our new Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke, and a week of Young People's Concerts for area school students. Next month sees the return of Christoph Eschenbach to our podium—and speaking of Maestro Eschenbach, we were thrilled to start the season with the announcement that he has extended his contract with us. We also got the great news that we will be getting a new organ in our concert hall!
All in all it's been a great way to spend our 80th birthday—but there's more exciting news as well. In addition to this blog and the Facebook page that you know and love, there's a new way to get behind-the-scenes looks at the NSO. We've created a Tumblr page!
If you're unfamiliar with Tumblr, think Twitter-meets-blogging. The posts are short and sweet, and include links, photos, videos, quotes and more. No membership or sign-up is required, and each post is easier than ever to share with your friends. Our blog will still be the home of in-depth writing, slide shows and more—and we'll link blog posts to our Tumblr page to make things easy.
So follow this link to check out our new Tumblr page- and let us know what you think in the comments here. If you're on Facebook, you can also read more about us there. Now it's easier than ever to stay in tune with the NSO!
"Holiday For Strings" (Instrumental) by David Rose used with permission of David Rose Publishing, copyright 1942 All Rights Renewed. Master Copyright 2010 DaBet Records. For more information on David Rose compositions, please visit the official website (special thanks to the Rose Family).
The NSO finished up its final series of concerts out at Wolf Trap this past weekend to bring the 2010-11 season to a close, so now it's time for some orchestra R&R to gear up for next season!!
In honor of this, today's Moment features a wind-up luau card that Marcia uses in times of library lunacy. We also invite you to escape to any island of your choosing (mentally, that is - umbrella drinks optional).
Enjoy, and be sure to check back next week when Marcia returns to drop the funnies.
"Holiday For Strings" (Instrumental) by David Rose used with permission of David Rose Publishing, copyright 1942 All Rights Renewed. Master Copyright 2010 DaBet Records. For more information on David Rose compositions, please visit the official website (special thanks to the Rose Family).
Summer is slowly drawing to a close and soon the NSO's 2011-2012 Season will begin. We are very much looking forward to our second season with Christoph Eschenbach at the helm. When NSO @ Wolf Trap Conductor Emil de Cou takes over each July for our Wolf Trap series, our Maestro still keeps a very busy schedule. Recently, he filled us in on his summer travels.
Dear Friends,
My summer has been filled with wonderful music, and I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you of a few of my activities.
For many years, I have been the Principal Conductor of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, an amazing group of young people between 17 and 35, internationally auditioned, hand-picked, and absolutely fantastic performers. This year, the festival has focused on Turkey, so our schedule included a concert in Istanbul and music of Ahmed Adnan Saygun, perhaps Turkey's most important 20th-century composer. Other highlights have included a concert in Granada at the Teatro Carlos V, as well as in many other venues.
One of my other summer highlights has a special Washington connection. Learning of my love for wildlife, especially tigers, our wonderful friend of the NSO Roger Sant, a member of our Board of Directors, commissioned a piece from Michael Torke called Tiger in the Sun. It's a wonderful bright fanfare for brass and percussion, and we performed it on Munich's Odeonsplatz, which was absolutely packed, despite the rain at an open air venue. I dedicated the concert to the World Wildlife Fund, as did my great friend Lang Lang, who also played in the concert. We told the crowd we had both joined the Fund. (Lang Lang is very much a supporter of the efforts to preserve the pandas.) I explained to the people that 100 years ago, there were 100,000 tigers in the wild, and today there are only 3,000. Deforestation and new cities and roads are shrinking their habitats to small isolated pockets, and the World Wildlife Fund acts to preserve the remaining habitats and to move small populations into other congenial climates.
I've given concerts this summer in Ravinia and Tanglewood, and soon will go on to Beijing to conduct and play chamber music with pianist Tzimon Barto, violinist Dan Zhu--with whom I will perform Mozart sonatas in Washington this coming season--and David Aaron Carpenter. This outstanding violist is a Curtis graduate, and he studied with Roberto Diaz, who was at one time the NSO's principal viola. Carpenter is the recipient of the Bernstein Award for Outstanding Soloists.
Soon, I'll be back with you, and I am very much looking forward to opening our new season with Joshua Bell and Thomas Hampson. I hope to see you then.
photo credit Margot Ingoldsby Schulman
"Holiday For Strings" (Instrumental) by David Rose used with permission of David Rose Publishing, copyright 1942 All Rights Renewed. Master Copyright 2010 DaBet Records. For more information on David Rose compositions, please visit the official website (special thanks to the Rose Family). 1
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