Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Performers

• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus
  Norman Mackenzie, Director
• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
  Robert Spano, Music Director and Conductor
• Burak Bilgili, Bass
• John Mac Master, Tenor
• Monica Groop, Mezzo-Soprano
• Twyla Robinson, Soprano

Program

• PÄRT Fratres
• BARTÓK The Miraculous Mandarin Suite
• JANÁCEK Glagolitic Mass
• 
  Program is approximately 1 hour, 35 minutes, including one intermission

Bios

• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus
  
  The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus is featured in seven concert programs during the 2010–2011 season, including Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Britten’s “Spring” Symphony, Rachmaninoff’s rarely performed “Spring” Cantata, and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Acclaimed for the beauty, precision, and expressive qualities of its singing, the chorus has been an important part of the orchestra’s programming since its founding by Robert Shaw in 1970. Composed entirely of volunteers, the 200-voice ASO Chorus and 60-voice ASO Chamber Chorus also are featured on many of the ASO’s recordings, which have earned 14 Grammy Awards—nine for Best Choral Performance; four for Best Classical Recording, and one for Best Opera Recording.
  
  The chorus made its Carnegie Hall debut in 1976, and has returned on many occasions, most recently in November 2009 for Stravinsky’s The Nightingale. The chorus performed at the Kennedy Center for President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural concert in 1977, and in 1988, it accompanied the orchestra on its first European tour. It has appeared with the ASO for several televised concerts—including the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games—and has performed at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. In December 2003, the chorus made its debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Britten’s War Requiem, and also performed with the orchestra in 2008 and 2009.
  
  
  Norman Mackenzie
  
  Director of Choruses for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 2000, Norman Mackenzie has carried forward the creative vision of legendary founding conductor Robert Shaw. During Mr. Mackenzie’s tenure, the chorus has made numerous tours and won several Grammy Awards. At the ASO, Mr. Mackenzie prepares the choruses for all concerts and recordings, works closely with Robert Spano on the commissioning and realization of new choral-orchestral works, and conducts holiday concerts. Mr. Mackenzie also serves as Director of Music and Fine Arts for Atlanta’s Trinity Presbyterian Church, and pursues an active recital and guest-conducting schedule.
  
  In his 14-year association with Mr. Shaw, Mr. Mackenzie served as keyboardist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, principal accompanist for the ASO choruses, and assistant choral conductor. In addition, he was musical assistant and accompanist for the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers, the Robert Shaw Institute Summer Choral Festivals in France and the US, and the Carnegie Hall choral workshops. This season, he partners with Robert Spano for the 2011 workshop featuring the Berlioz Requiem.

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• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
  
  Currently in its 66th season, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is one of America’s leading orchestras, known for the excellence of its live performances and presentations, its renowned choruses, and its impressive list of Grammy Award–winning recordings. The orchestra performs more than 200 concerts each season, including educational and community concerts.
  
  As the leading cultural organization in the Southeast, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra serves as the region’s cornerstone for artistic development and music education. Music Director Robert Spano’s Atlanta School of Composers reflects the orchestra’s commitment to nurturing and championing music through multiyear partnerships that have defined a new generation of American composers, notably Michael Gandolfi, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Theofanidis, and Adam Schoenberg. Now in his 10th season with the orchestra, Mr. Spano has conducted more than 100 concerts that feature contemporary works, including 16 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra–commissioned world premieres and five additional world premieres.
  
  The orchestra’s Theater of a Concert initiative provides audiences with a creative programming mix as well as innovative visual presentations that feature various formats, settings, and enhancements to the concert experience. The series has included events such as the first concert performances of John Adams’s opera Doctor Atomic in November 2008.
  
  During its 32-year history with Telarc, the orchestra has made more than 100 recordings, 27 of which have earned Grammy Awards in categories that include Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, Best Choral Performance, and Best Opera Performance.
  
  A recognized leader and supporter of contemporary American music, the orchestra recently received the 2007 award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. In addition, Mr. Spano was named Musical America’s 2008 Conductor of the Year.
  
  ASO Presents, the contemporary concerts brand of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, has consistently been ranked in Pollstar magazine’s Top 100 promoters worldwide. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, which serves as the orchestra’s summer home, was nominated in 2009 and 2010 by Pollstar Concert Industry Awards as the Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue, and the Orchestra’s Delta Classic Chastain concert series at Chastain Park Amphitheater attracts nearly 100,000 concertgoers every summer.
  
  
  Robert Spano
  
  Currently in his 10th season as Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Spano is recognized internationally as one of today’s most imaginative conductors. Since 2001, he has invigorated and expanded the orchestra’s repertoire, while elevating the ensemble to new levels of international prominence and acclaim.
  
  Mr. Spano has led the orchestra’s performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Ravinia, Ojai, and Savannah music festivals. His additional conducting engagements include performances with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, the San Francisco Symphony, the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In addition, he has conducted at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Welsh National Opera; Lyric Opera of Chicago; Houston Grand Opera; and Seattle Opera for its Ring cycles in 2005 and 2009. Mr. Spano’s discography with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra consists of nine recordings, six of which have been honored with Grammy Awards. He was Musical America’s Conductor of the Year in 2008.
  
  In March 2010, Mr. Spano began a three-year tenure as Emory University’s Distinguished Artist in Residence, in which he spends three weeks each year leading intensive seminars, lecturing, and presenting programs on science, math, philosophy, literature, and musicology. In its 165-year history, Emory has honored only seven other individuals with such expansive residencies, including the Dalai Lama, President Jimmy Carter, and author Salman Rushdie.

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• Burak Bilgili
  
  Since making his professional operatic debut in the 2002–2003 season as Don Alfonso in Lucrezia Borgia at Teatro alla Scala, Turkish-born bass Burak Bilgili has enjoyed a busy international schedule. Engagements this season include Leporello in Don Giovanni at Michigan Opera Theatre, the title role in Simon Boccanegra in Montreal, Verdi’s Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and his Bayerische Staatsoper debut as Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Recent engagements include Leporello in Don Giovanni in Geneva, Ferrando in Il trovatore at San Francisco Opera, Giorgio in I puritani at Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, the Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann at Virginia Opera, his debut at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino under Zubin Mehta, and Nourabad in Les pêcheurs de perles at Florida Grand Opera.
  
  Highlights of recent seasons include Escamillo in Carmen at Den Norske Opera, Walter in Luisa Miller with the Canadian Opera Company, Ramfis in Aida at Cincinnati Opera, Timur in Turandot at New York City Opera, his Seattle Opera debut as Banquo in Macbeth, his debut at the Liceu in Barcelona as Timur, and his Metropolitan Opera debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni under Sir Andrew Davis. Concert performances include Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass with the Istanbul European Choir, Fauré’s Requiem with the Orchestre national de Lyon, and Abimélech in Samson et Dalila with the Istanbul State Opera.
  
  Mr. Bilgili participated in the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. He received first prize at the Belvedere International Competition in Vienna in 2002, at the International Alfredo Kraus Competition in Las Palmas (also in 2002), and at the Neue Stimmen International Competition in 2001.
  
  
  Peter Marshall
  
  A versatile musician who performs on the piano, harpsichord, and organ, Peter Marshall has appeared as soloist with major orchestras across the US—including the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC—as well as with the chamber groups Hesperus and Folger Consort. In addition, he has given solo recitals in the US and abroad. Active as an accompanist and coach in Atlanta since 1993, Mr. Marshall is in frequent demand as a collaborative pianist in vocal and instrumental recitals. He has appeared with the contemporary ensemble Bent Frequency, and in 2004 he joined the roster of the Southeastern Festival of Song.
  
  Mr. Marshall joined the faculty of Georgia State University’s School of Music in 2001. In addition to teaching accompanying, he is the musical director of the opera workshop during the academic year, and serves as a coach for the Harrower Summer Opera Workshop. He currently holds the Hugh and Jessie Hodgson Keyboard Chair at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and performs numerous concerts with the ASO throughout the year.
  
  Mr. Marshall chaired the organ department at The Catholic University of America from 1984 to 1993. He also taught at Duke University and served as its chapel organist. He holds degrees from Oberlin College and Yale University, and studied at the Musikhochschule Lübeck as a Fulbright Scholar.

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• John Mac Master
  
  Since winning critical acclaim for his portrayal of Canio in Pagliacci at Glimmerglass Opera, John Mac Master has been in demand worldwide as a dramatic tenor. Recent performances and recording projects include Florestan in Fidelio with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra, his Dresden Semperoper debut as Calàf in Turandot conducted by Fabio Luisi, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Mac Master made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Canio in performances that included a live radio broadcast, and returned to sing the title role in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde under James Levine. He has also sung Tristan for Welsh National Opera under Mark Wigglesworth. Other recent engagements include the Verdi Requiem at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa with Pinchas Zukerman, Aegisthus in Elektra at the Canadian Opera Company, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with William Eddins and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Pagliacci and Ariadne auf Naxos for Vancouver Opera.
  
  Highlights of the 2009–2010 season included Florestan in Fidelio with Valery Gergiev; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Dallas; concert performances of Act II of Tristan und Isolde in Italy, France, and Germany with Daniel Harding and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Vancouver and at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre; Otello at Edmonton Opera, Verdi’s Requiem for Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and Pagliacci in Kentucky.

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• Monica Groop
  
  Finnish mezzo-soprano Monica Groop enjoys a multifaceted career that combines opera, recital, concert, and chamber music engagements with a discography of critically acclaimed recordings. Since her professional debut in 1987, Ms. Groop has remained a consistent and thoughtful musician whose artistry evolves with every performance.
  
  Engagements in the 2010–2011 season include Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Real Orquesta Sinónica de Sevilla, and at the MITO festival with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi; Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at the Finnish Medical Society’s 175-year Jubilee; Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich; and an all-Bach program with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra.
  
  Ms. Groop made her professional debut as Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther with the Finnish National Opera in 1987, and her Covent Garden debut in 1991 in Wagner’s Ring cycle, conducted by Bernard Haitink. Her roles include Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande, The Pilgrim in Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin, and the title role in Saariaho’s Adriana Mater. Recent highlights include Sibelius’s Kullervo with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis for Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series, and recitals with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Ms. Groop is currently a professor at the Sibelius Academy, where she heads the vocal department. She lives in Helsinki, Finland, with her husband and son.

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• Twyla Robinson
  
  Twyla Robinson has consistently earned praise for her consummate musicianship and dramatic sensibility. She has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Staatskapelle Berlin, under such conductors as Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, Franz Welser-Möst, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
  
  Engagements this season include Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with the Rotterdam Philharmonic conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a gala performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at Arizona Opera, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Nashville Symphony, Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Rochester Philharmonic, and Verdi’s Requiem with the National Symphony Orchestra and at the Aspen Music Festival. In addition, Ms. Robinson performs a recital at Stephen F. Austin State University and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Bochum, Germany.
  
  Highlights of recent seasons include Four Last Songs with the American Symphony Orchestra in New York, at the Fisher Center at Bard College, and with Opéra national de Paris as part of a tribute to choreographer Maurice Béjart; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Arizona Opera; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’s Absolute Ocean with Hans Graf and the Houston Symphony; works by Berg, Haydn, and Poulenc with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro; and Verdi’s Requiem with Donald Runnicles at the Grand Teton Music Festival.

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