Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Performers

• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
  Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor
• Yo-Yo Ma, Cello

Program

• BRAHMS Tragic Overture
• SCHUMANN Cello Concerto
• DVORÁK Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"
• 
  Program is approximately 1 hour, 55 minutes, including one intermission
• 
  Encores:
• BACH Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
• BERNSTEIN Waltz from Divertimento for Orchestra

Bios

• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
  
  There is perhaps no other musical ensemble more consistently and closely associated with the history and tradition of European classical music than the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In the course of its more than 160-year history, the musicians of this most prominent orchestra of the capital city of music have been an integral part of a musical epoch that—thanks to an abundance of uniquely gifted composers and interpreters—must certainly be regarded as unique.
  
  The orchestra’s close association with this rich musical history is best illustrated by the statements of countless preeminent musical personalities of the past. Richard Wagner described the orchestra as among the most outstanding in the world; Anton Bruckner called it “the most superior musical association”; Johannes Brahms counted himself a “friend and admirer”; Gustav Mahler claimed to be joined with the ensemble through “the bonds of musical art.” Richard Strauss summarized these sentiments by saying, “All praise of the Vienna Philharmonic reveals itself as understatement.”
  
  The Vienna State Opera Orchestra holds a special relationship with the private association known as the Vienna Philharmonic. In accordance with Philharmonic statutes, only a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra can become a member of the Vienna Philharmonic. The engagement in the Vienna State Opera Orchestra provides the musicians a financial stability that would be impossible to attain without relinquishing their autonomy to private or corporate sponsors.
  
  The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s mission is to communicate the humanitarian message of music into the daily lives and consciousness of its listeners. In 2005, the orchestra was named Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organization, and since 2006, the orchestra has also been a supporter of the Phonak initiative Hear the World. As of November 2008, Rolex is the worldwide presenting sponsor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The musicians endeavor to implement the motto with which Ludwig van Beethoven—whose symphonic works served as a catalyst for the creation of the orchestra—prefaced his Missa solemnis: “From the heart, to the heart.”
  
  
  Gustavo Dudamel
  
  Internationally acclaimed conductor Gustavo Dudamel continues to share his magnetic enthusiasm for music with audiences of all ages around the world. In addition to beginning his 12th year as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in fall 2010, he enters his second season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and his fourth season with the Gothenburg Symphony. Armed with unparalleled passion, energy, and artistic excellence, Mr. Dudamel is dedicated both to leading these orchestras and to increasing his commitment to opera.
  
  Mr. Dudamel became involved in music at a young age, and is devoted to investing in classical music as an engine of social change. The message of his ongoing work in Venezuela through El Sistema, which influences hundreds of thousands of children each year, is being carried now into the US through the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. This program for children targets underserved Los Angeles communities, and continues to grow and expand under Mr. Dudamel’s leadership as well as that of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Dudamel also advises pilot programs in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Raploch, Scotland.
  
  Following a summer 2010 concert performance of Bizet’s Carmen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and semi-staged performances of Verdi’s La traviata with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in Caracas, Mr. Dudamel began his 2010–2011 season in Gothenburg, followed by a European tour with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. His Los Angeles Philharmonic season begins on October 7, with an Opening Night Gala concert that features guest artist Juan Diego Flórez, to be telecast worldwide by PBS. Also this fall, Mr. Dudamel conducts Bizet’s Carmen at La Scala, and leads an operatically themed series of concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker and soloist Elina Garanča, culminating in a nationally televised New Year’s concert. In January and February 2011, Mr. Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic on his first international tour as Music Director, with concerts in Lisbon, Madrid, Cologne, London, Paris, Budapest, and Vienna. Other season highlights with the Los Angeles Philharmonic include the Brahms Unbound festival, a series of seven concerts pairing Brahms’s complete symphonic pieces with premieres and newly commissioned works.
  
  Gustavo Dudamel has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2005. His latest recording with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra—Rite, featuring Revueltas’s La noche de los mayas and Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps—was released
  in June 2010.
  
  Mr. Dudamel is the recipient of many international prizes, including the 2008 Q Prize from Harvard University and the 2009 Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in Paris.

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• Yo-Yo Ma
  
  The many-faceted career of cellist Yo-Yo Ma is testament to his continuous search for new ways to communicate with audiences and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Whether performing a new concerto, revisiting a familiar work from the cello repertoire, coming together with colleagues for chamber music, or exploring musical forms outside of the Western classical tradition, Mr. Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination.
  
  Mr. Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras throughout the world and his recital and chamber music activities. Expanding upon this interest, Mr. Ma established the Silk Road Project to promote the study of the cultural, artistic, and intellectual traditions along the ancient Silk Road trade route that stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
  
  Mr. Ma is an exclusive Sony Classical artist, and his discography of over 75 albums (including more than 15 Grammy Award winners) reflects his wide-ranging interests. In addition to the standard concerto repertoire, Mr. Ma has recorded many of the large body of works that he has commissioned or premiered.
  
  Mr. Ma is strongly committed to educational programs that not only bring young audiences into contact with music, but also allow them to participate in its creation. While touring, he takes time whenever possible to conduct master classes and more informal programs for both student-musicians and non-musicians.
  
  Mr. Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris. He began to study the cello with his father at age four, and soon came with his family to New York, where he spent most of his formative years. Later, his principal teacher was Leonard Rose at The Juilliard School. He sought out a traditional liberal arts education to expand upon his conservatory training, graduating from Harvard University in 1976. He has received numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Prize (1978), the Glenn Gould Prize (1999), the National Medal of the Arts (2001), the Dan David Prize (2006), and the Sonning Award (2006). Mr. Ma and his wife have two children. He plays two instruments, a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.

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