RI Philharmonic Kicks Off Season 70 on September 20

The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra (RIPO) kicks off Season 70, its 70th Anniversary season, with a celebratory performance at 8:00pm on Saturday September 20 at The Vets, 1 Avenue of the Arts in Providence.

Music Director LARRY RACHLEFF – now in his 19th season with the Orchestra – welcomes  back violinist AUGUSTIN HADELICH for Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, in a thrilling and diverse program including R. Strauss's Wiener Philharmoniker Fanfare, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony and Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Resident Conductor FRANCISCO NOYA presents an informal talk about the program in the auditorium before the concert from 7:00‐7:25 p.m. Tickets (starting at $15) are available at tickets.riphil.org, and the RIPO box office at 401.248.7000. An Open Rehearsal takes place Friday September 19 at 5:30, with seats at $15, facilities fee included (Internet fee may apply).

"Season 70 opens with a blockbuster concert," says LARRY RACHLEFF, Music Director, "starting with two fanfares to salute our anniversary. A stage full of brass players in Richard Strauss's wonderful Wiener Philharmoniker Fanfare will establish the sound and glittering colors for the evening. We then move to American composer John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine, a title that describes the piece perfectly – you're in a fast car on that California coastline, holding on for dear life! Next, the great violinist Augustin Hadelich returns to us – we're so fortunate to nab him for our opening. He's featured in Tchaikovsky's famous violin concerto, with melodies we all know so well, built on the richness of the Russian soul. And that's where we end the concert, too, with Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony. It has beautiful rich tunes, a slow movement to die for, and a scherzo full of Russian sarcasm, with a kind of burlesque built around the sound of the wheat machine beating out the rhythm. The program is an extraordinary opening to Season 70!"

Violinist AUGUSTIN HADELICH returns for a third engagement with the Philharmonic. Eight months after his sensational debut in 2012 he replaced another soloist who was ill, adjusting his international performance schedule with only a few days' notice. Consistently cited in the press for his "gorgeous tone" (New York Times), "poetic communication" (Washington Post) and "fast-fingered brilliance" (The New Yorker), Hadelich has confirmed his place in the top echelon of young violinists.  Following stellar debuts with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood and the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, he made equally acclaimed debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Dallas Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic/Manchester and the SWR Orchestra in Stuttgart. Last summer he appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the New York Philharmonic at Vail, Britt Festival Orchestra, Chautauqua Festival Orchestra, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and La Jolla's SummerFest. In the United States, Hadelich has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the symphonies of Alabama, Baltimore, Colorado, Columbus, Florida, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Louisville, Nashville, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle and Utah. Festival appearances include Aspen, Blossom, Bravo! Vail Valley, Chautauqua (where he made his American debut in 2001), Eastern Music Festival, the Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany). Born in Italy in 1984, the son of German parents, Hadelich holds an artist diploma from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Joel Smirnoff. He plays on the 1723 "Ex-Kiesewetter" Stradivari violin, on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society.

RIPO's Season 70 offers symphonies by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Sibelius; concerti by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Saint-Saёns and Tchaikovsky; and popular favorites Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Ravel's Boléro and Orff's Carmina Burana. Twentieth-century highlights include works by Adams, Orff, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Sibelius, Strauss, Stravinsky, and Weill. The season's final concert features the world premiere of a commissioned work by the New England native composer Pierre Jalbert in honor of the Orchestra's 70th Anniversary. An all-star cast of guest artists will perform with the orchestra this season, including returning violinists Augustin Hadelich and Jennifer Koh, cellist Alban Gerhardt, mezzo-soprano Susan Lorette Dunn, and pianists Ilya Yakushev and Joyce Yang. Pianist Jon Nakamatsu will be making his debut with the Rhode Island Philharmonic. The Providence Singers, Christine Noel, artistic director, will share two performances with the Philharmonic: Handel's Messiah in December and Carmina Burana in May.

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