Press Release
For Immediate Release:
March 22, 2006
Joseph Silverstein Leads NEC Philharmonia in Works of Elgar, Montsalvatge, Davidovsky, Richard Strauss, April 19 in NEC’s Jordan Hall
Concert Features Student Soloists Nicole Percifield, Andrew Beer
Joseph Silverstein, Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor to Orchestras at NEC, will close the NEC Philharmonia’s season April 19 with a program of Elgar, Montsalvatge, Davidovsky and Richard Strauss. The concert features student soloists chosen by competition: Mezzo-soprano Nicole Percifield ’06, a student of William Cotten and violinist Andrew Beer ’06 M.M., a student of Donald Weilerstein.
The 8 p.m. concert in NEC’s Jordan Hall is free and open to the public.
Silverstein, widely regarded as one of Boston’s most influential musical citizens while serving as concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra during the sixties through the eighties, is currently Principal Guest Conductor of Seattle’s Northwest Chamber Orchestra. He is also Conductor Laureate of the Utah Symphony, having been music director of that ensemble from 1983—1998. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by NEC in 1986. Appointed in March 2005, Silverstein will spend two years at NEC, conducting the Philharmonia and NEC Symphony twice each year, assisting with seating auditions, and helping choose guest conductors.
Silverstein’s program follows:
Xavier Montsalvatge: Cinco canciones negras
with Nicole Percifield, mezzo-soprano
Mario Davidovsky: Concertino
with Andrew Beer, violin
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Richard Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20 TrV 156
For more information, call the NEC Concert line at 617-585-1122 or visit NEC on the web at www.newenglandconservatory.edu/concerts
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
NEC is co-founder and educational partner of “From the Top,” a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.