September 23, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Music Director and Conductor James DePreist will conduct an evening of all-French music in an Oregon Symphony Classical Bravo concert featuring the brilliant violin virtuoso Joshua Bell performing Ravel's "Tzigane" and Chausson's "Poème" on Oct. 19th and 20th at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. An additional performance will be held Oct. 22nd at 8 p.m. at Salem's Smith Auditorium at Willamette University. Bell last appeared with DePreist and the Symphony in April of 2001, when he performed Beethoven's Violin Concerto. Media support is provided by The Oregonian.
Bell's Grammy award-winning performances on recent albums such as his Sony Classical recording of "West Side Story Suite," based on Leonard Bernstein's works, and banjo player Bela Fleck's "Perpetual Motion" demonstrates his wide-ranging interest in music of all kinds. Bell's ongoing desire to obscure the boundaries between musical categories and styles has led him down some unconventional paths and has resulted in a remarkable career unlike that of any of his peers. He is one of the first classical artists to make a music video, for example, which was broadcast on A&E, Bravo and VH1. In addition to his other recent collaborations, Bell teamed up with bassist Edgar Meyer and bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall on the Grammy-nominated "Short Trip Home", a distinctive and unusual mixture of classical and bluegrass styles. Bell also served as artistic consultant and featured performer on the Academy Award-winning film score of "The Red Violin," composed by John Corigliano.
Bell's 2002-03 performance season began with summer appearances at the Aspen, Verbier, Tanglewood, Saratoga and Blossom festivals, as well as the Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London. North American performances include a 13-city tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under his own direction, concerts with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall, and the San Francisco Symphony. European highlights consist of performances at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Tonhalle Orchestra under David Zinman, a Scandinavian tour with the Stockholm Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, as well as concerts with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Valery Gergiev and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome.
Conductor DePreist opens the concert with Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin" (The Memorial of Couperin), originally scored for piano. Composed during World War I, Ravel dedicated each movement of this work to the memory of a friend killed on the Western Front. Bell's remarkable gifts as an interpreter are contrasted in the haunting and lyrical "Poème" of Ernest Chausson with the dazzling virutosic fireworks of Ravel's "Tzigane". The second half of the concert features Debussy's "Nocturnes," which pays homage to the visual impressions and effects of light and shadow suggested by the title. "Nocturnes" will feature the women of Portland Symphonic Choir. The concert concludes with the perennial audience favorite, Ravel's "Bolero," which Ravel composed originally as a simple exploration of orchestral colors and timbres.
In addition to pre-concert talks one hour before the concert, Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
One hour before the concert Conducting Assistant Jonathan Pasternack will preview the works to be performed.
Music Director James DePreist will discuss the program from the podium in "Saturday Interactive." Media support for "Saturday Interactive" is provided by KINKfm102.
Audience members will be invited to stay for a 15-20 minute panel discussion with Conducting Assistant Jonathan Pasternack and guest violinist Joshua Bell. Media support for "Sunday Post-Concert Discussion" is provided by KBPS.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19th and 20th, at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 21st at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert. Tickets range in price from $16 to $72 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Grammy award-winning violinist Joshua Bell has been captivating audiences around the globe for more than 20 years. Known for his poetic musicality, Joshua first came to national attention at age 14 when he made his highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. That performance, soon followed by his Carnegie Hall debut and subsequent recording contract, created a sensation that spread throughout the music world. Now in his thirties, Joshua has performed with nearly every leading symphony orchestra and conductor, recorded 26 albums and has earned the rare title of classical music superstar. "Bell has evolved from a technical whiz to a true artist and intellectual whose music feeds both your brain and your heart," said Newsweek.
Joshua and his two sisters were raised on a farm in Bloomington, Indiana. As a child Joshua indulged in many passions outside of music, becoming an avid computer game player and a competitive athlete. He placed fourth in a national tennis tournament at age 10 and still keeps his racquet close by. Joshua received his first violin at age four after his parents, both psychologists by profession, noticed him plucking tunes with rubber bands he had stretched around the handles of his dresser drawers. By 12 he was serious about the instrument thanks in large part to the inspiration of renowned violinist and pedagogue Josef Gingold, who had become his beloved teacher and mentor.
Equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and now conductor, Joshua Bell's career is exceptionally varied. Joshua's 2002-03 performance season began with summer appearances at the Aspen, Verbier, Tanglewood, Saratoga and Blossom festivals, as well as the Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London. North American performances include a 13-city tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under his own direction and concerts with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Toronto Symphony, as well as a recital tour with pianist Simon Mulligan. European highlights consist of performances at the Musikverein in Vienna with the Tonhalle Orchestra under David Zinman, a Scandinavian tour with the Stockholm Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, as well as concerts with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Valery Gergiev and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome.
At the age of 18, Joshua signed his first recording contract with London/Decca for whom he went on to record much of the classical violin repertoire. Searching to expand his musical horizons, he joined Sony Classical in 1996, a relationship that has yielded a diverse collection of albums. His most recent releases are the Mendelssohn & Beethoven violin concertos with Camerata Salzburg conducted by Sir Roger Norrington (featuring Bell's original cadenzas), and the Iris motion picture soundtrack composed by James Horner. In 2002, his Grammy-winning recording of West Side Story Suite, based on Leonard Bernstein's works, was spotlighted by a performance on the 44th Annual Grammy Awards telecast. The same music was featured on the 2001 PBS Great Performances special, "Joshua Bell: West Side Story Suite from Central Park," which received an Emmy® nomination for Best Classical Music-Dance Program. In 2001, Joshua received the Grammy Award and a Mercury Music Prize for the Nicolas Maw Violin Concerto. Written expressly for Joshua, the concerto featured Sir Roger Norrington conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Joshua's recording of the Sibelius & Goldmark violin concertos with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic captured the Echo Klassik Award for Best Concerto Recording. Joshua also received a Grammy nomination for Gershwin Fantasy - derived from Porgy and Bess - featuring John Williams as conductor and pianist.
Eager to further blur the lines between musical genres, Joshua hooked up in 1998 with longtime friend, bassist and composer Edgar Meyer. Together they organized a quartet with legendary bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall. This resulted in the Grammy Award-nominated Short Trip Home, which they performed on the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards telecast. Other 'crossover' projects include collaborations with Wynton Marsalis on Listen to the Storyteller, a spoken word children's album, and with Bèla Fleck on Perpetual Motion. Both albums received Grammy Awards.
Joshua's most mainstream effort yielded the ultimate accolade during the 72nd Academy Awards telecast. Following his three-year involvement with the film "The Red Violin," where he was responsible for all violin sound for the movie and soundtrack recording composed by John Corigliano, the album captured the Oscar for Best Original Score. Before a worldwide television audience, a jubilant Corigliano proclaimed in his acceptance speech, "Joshua plays like a god."
A chamber music enthusiast, Joshua initiated an annual series of chamber music concerts at London's Wigmore Hall in 1997 that was so successful, he was invited by the Auditorium du Louvre to bring the series to Paris. He enjoys chamber music collaborations with artists such as Pamela Frank, Steven Isserlis, Edgar Meyer and Yefim Bronfman as well as occasional collaborations with artists outside the classical arena including Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea and James Taylor.
Joshua has been enthusiastically embraced by the media. In addition to his appearance as co-host (with Whoopi Goldberg and John Lithgow) of the Trio Arts Cable series "Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic," his PBS "Great Performances" special, "Joshua Bell: West Side Story Suite from Central Park," and his recent participation in the Korbel Celebration of Olympic Champions which aired on NBC, Joshua has appeared on many programs over the years. These include "The Tonight Show," "Nightline," "Charlie Rose," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "CBS This Morning," A&E's "Biography," and the PBS programs "Evening at Pops" and "Live from Lincoln Center". He was one of the first classical musicians to be the focus of a music video, which has been broadcast on the VH1, A&E and Bravo television networks. Joshua was the subject of the 1995 documentary film presented on BBC's "Omnibus," and later broadcast on Bravo. He has been featured on National Public Radio and profiled in publications including People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People issue, The New York Times, Esquire, Newsweek, New York, Vogue, Travel & Leisure, Gramophone, Classic CD, Pulse, Strad and Strings. Elle Magazine stated that Joshua "is the most celebrated American-born violinist of the modern era."
Joshua holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. In 1998, he began teaching a series of master classes at London's Royal Academy of Music and he has served as Adjunct Professor at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, helping to develop a new generation of high tech instruments and toys.
A New York City resident, when Joshua is not busy playing sports, video games or maintaining his website, (www.joshuabell.com) he can be found with his Antonio Stradivarius violin dated 1713 known as the "Gibson ex Huberman."