Πέμπτη 8 Δεκεμβρίου 2011

SEATTLE SYMPHONY PRESENTS AN ANNUAL HOLIDAY TRADITION: HANDEL’S MESSIAH, DECEMBER 16–18


Seattle, WA – Guest Conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni will lead the Seattle Symphony in four performances of the perennial holiday favorite, Handel’s Messiah, in Benaroya Hall. The Orchestra will be joined onstage by the Seattle Symphony Chorale along with four distinguished guest soloists: soprano Nathalie Paulin, countertenor Matthew White, tenor Thomas Glenn and bass-baritoneStephen Hegedus. Performances will take place on Friday, December 16, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, December 17, at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, December 18, at 2 p.m. in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium. Tickets are available from $20 to $96.

Audience members are encouraged to bring non-perishable food to donate to Food Lifeline, Washington’s largest hunger relief organization. Collection bins will be available in the lobby during each performance of Messiah.

Program Information
Composed in just three weeks during the summer of 1741, Handel’s Messiah became a Christmas tradition while the composer was still alive, and received annual benefit performances in London from 1750 until Handel’s death in 1759. From its soaring solos to the famous “Hallelujah” chorus, Messiahhas earned a place among the favorite works in the classical canon.

Jean-Marie Zeitouni
The Winnipeg Free Press writes of Canadian conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, “[He] led the orchestra with gusto, energizing the players with every gesture communicative.” Zeitouni has emerged as one of his country’s brightest young conductors whose eloquent yet fiery style in repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music results in regular re-engagements across North America.

Zeitouni is the Music Director of the Columbus Symphony and Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the prestigious Canadian chamber orchestra, I Musici de Montreal. He also enjoys an association with Les Violons du Roy that goes back several years, first as Conductor in Residence, then as Associate Conductor, and since 2008, Principal Guest Conductor. Zeitouni has led Les Violons du Roy in more than 200 performances. Recent operatic highlights include a production of Werther with Opera de Montreal and Rigoletto with the Cincinnati Opera; prior opera productions include Faust at Calgary Opera, Il re pastore with Opera Theatre St. Louis, Carmen with Edmonton Opera, and Lucia di Lammermoor with Cincinnati Opera.

Upcoming appearances this season see him conduct the major Canadian orchestras, including subscription concerts with the Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Montreal Symphony, as well as a return to the Edmonton Symphony. In the U.S. he leads the Phoenix Symphony and the Handel and Haydn Society, and conducts Opera Theatre St. Louis in a June 2012 production of Così fan tutte. Zeitouni graduated from the Montreal Conservatory in conducting, percussion and theory. He studied with Maestro Raffi Armenian.

Nathalie Paulin, soprano
Nathalie Paulin has established herself in North America, Europe and the Far East as an interpretive artist of the very first rank. She has collaborated with internationally renowned conductors Sir Roger Norrington, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Andrew Parrott, Jonathan Darlington, David Agler, Bernard Labadie, Andrew Litton and Antony Walker on both the concert platform and in the opera pit. Paulin has been featured by L’Opera de Montreal as Melisande in Pelléas et Mélisande, and in Handel’s Semele for Chicago Opera Theater. Season highlights include la Baronne in La Cour de Célimène for the Wexford Festival, Iole in Handel’s Hercules for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Matthäus Passion for the Calgary Philharmonic, the title role in Rodelinda for Mercury Baroque, Carmina Burana with Orchestre symphonique de Quebec, and Marzelline in Fidelio for the Edmonton Opera. Her discography includes Caldars’ s Clodoveo, Re di Francia (ATMA), Oedipe a Colonne (NAXOS) and Faure’s Requiem with the Elora Singers of Canada.

Matthew White, countertenor
Grammy and Juno Award nominee Matthew White has appeared as a soloist at the early music festivals of Vancouver, Boston, Brugges, Ambronay, Regensburg, Stift Milk, Utrecht and Lameque. Operatic engagements have included the operas of New York City, Cleveland, Atelier and Modern Baroque, as well as the Houston Grand Opera. On the concert stage, White has worked with groups including Bach Collegium Japan, Nederlands Bach Bereniging, Tafelmusik, Les Violons du Roy, the New York Collegium and the Portland and Pacific Baroque orchestras; and has performed with the symphonies of San Francisco, Toronto, Nova Scotia, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec and Oregon, and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra. A recipient of Canada Council and Quebec Arts Council Grants to individual artists, White is also the programming director for Montreal’s Les Voix Baroques and Executive Director of Seattle’s Pacific MusicWorks.


Thomas Glenn, tenor
Thomas Glenn has sung at San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Netherlands Opera and English National Opera, among others. His roles include Ferrando in Così fan tutte and the title role in La clemenza di Tito, as well as Italian bel canto roles such as Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Concert performances include appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, and the symphonies of Atlanta, Colorado, New Hampshire, Berkeley, Marin and Santa Rosa. Glenn is a former Adler Fellow for San Francisco Opera and has earned three degrees in music: a Bachelor of Music from Brigham Young University, a Master of Music Performance from The University of Michigan and a Doctorate in Music Performance from Florida State University.

Stephen Hegedus, bass-baritone
A prize-winner in the New York Oratorio Society competition, Hegedus has been featured in Messiahwith the symphonies of Houston, San Antonio and Edmonton. He has appeared in the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze de Figaro for Teatro Municipal de Santiago (Chile) and Opera Hamilton; Albert inWerther for Opera de Montreal; Marquis d’Obigny in La Traviata for Vancouver Opera; and Masetto inDon Giovanni with Orchestre Metropolitain du grand Montreal. His current season includes Messiah with Orchestre symphonique de Montreal, Maria Stuarda for Pacific Opera Victoria and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Victoria Symphony. Past collaborations include Les Violons du Roy, Toronto’s Aldeburgh Connection, the Lameque Baroque Festival, La Sinfonia de Lanaudiere, the Aldeburgh Festival (UK) and the International Bach Festival in Toronto. Hegedus holds an M.M. in Opera from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of Atelier lyrique de l’Opera de Montreal.

Seattle Symphony Chorale
The Seattle Symphony Chorale, official chorus of the Seattle Symphony, was founded as the Seattle Chorale in 1953 by Leonard Moore. The Chorale began its formal affiliation as the Symphony’s official chorus in 1976 and now consists of approximately 120 members who volunteer more than 30,000 hours each year. The singers are chosen by audition and perform throughout the season with the Seattle Symphony. Upcoming performances by the Chorale include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (December 28–31); Selections from Schubert’s Rosamunde (March 22, 24 & 25); Mozart’s Requiem (May 18 & 19); and Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust (June 21 & 23).

About the Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony, now presenting its 109th season, has gained international prominence with more than 140 recordings, twelve GRAMMY® nominations and two Emmys. The 2011–2012 season is the inaugural year for Music Director Ludovic Morlot, who was appointed to the position in 2010. The Seattle Symphony performs in one of the world’s finest concert venues — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle — and is recognized for its innovative programming, devotion to the classics, and extensive recording catalog. From September through July, the Symphony is heard live by more than 315,000 people. For more information on the Seattle Symphony, visitwww.seattlesymphony.org

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