HOUSTON (Feb. 26, 2019) – The Houston Symphony announces today that violin star Jennifer Koh is stepping in to perform Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto with the Houston Symphony under the baton of former music director Christoph Eschenbach this weekend: 8 p.m., Feb. 28 & March 2, and 2:30 p.m. March 3 at Jones Hall. Koh replaces the previously announced Leila Josefowicz, who is forced to withdraw from the performances due to illness.
Known for her broad and eclectic repertoire, the Chicago-born American violin star Jennifer Koh is known for expanding the standard concert repertoire by commissioning new works, and has premiered more than 70 works written expressly for her. This season alone, she performs the Salonen Violin Concerto (with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra), Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and Ligeti’s Violin Concerto (with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), as well as Bernstein’s Serenade (with the Philadelphia Orchestra), Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (with the Los Angeles Philharmonic), and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and top prize winner at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, Koh was named Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year. She records for the Cedille Records label, her most recent of 12 recordings being devoted to the work of contemporary Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, whose music Koh has long championed.
In addition to the Salonen Violin Concerto, this weekend’s concerts also feature former Houston Symphony music director Christoph Eschenbach leading the orchestra in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, Romantic. Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony is full of lyrical melodies, intense harmonies, and thundering climaxes inspired by the imagery of medieval romance, including vivid images of knights riding forth from castles and the sounds and sights of nature.
Eschenbach Conducts Buckner, sponsored by Rand Group, takes place at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana Street, in Houston’s Theater District. For tickets and information, please call (713) 224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the Houston Symphony Patron Services Center in Jones Hall (Monday–Saturday, 12–6 p.m.). All programs and artists are subject to change.
ESCHENBACH CONDUCTS BRUCKNER
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 2, 2019, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 3, 2019, 2:30 p.m.
Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Jennifer Koh, violin
Esa-Pekka Salonen: Violin Concerto
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4, Romantic
About Jennifer Koh
Recognized for intense, commanding performances delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance, violinist Jennifer Koh is a forward-thinking artist dedicated to exploring a broad repertoire and promoting diversity in classical music. She has expanded the contemporary violin repertoire through diverse commissioned projects and has premiered more than 70 works written especially for her.
This season, Jennifer performs a broad range of concertos, including Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bernstein’s Serenade with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Ligeti’s Violin Concerto with the Camerata Salzburg and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto here and with The Phoenix Symphony and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Cedille Records releases Jennifer’s recording of works by Kaija Saariaho, whose music she has long championed and with whom she has closely collaborated. The album is her 12th release on the Chicago-based label.
Jennifer has performed with leading orchestras, including the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics; the Cleveland, Mariinsky Theatre, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Philharmonia Orchestras; Houston, Nashville, New World, St. Louis and Seattle Symphonies; the Atlanta, Baltimore, BBC, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, Montreal, National, New Jersey, NHK, Pittsburgh, RAI National and Singapore Symphony Orchestras; the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and other ensembles. She has worked with conductors John Adams, Marin Alsop, James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Giancarlo Guerrero, Manfred Honeck, Louis Langrée, Carlos Kalmar, Lorin Maazel, Sakari Oramo, Salonen, Juraj Valčuha, Osmo Vänskä, Alexander Vedernikov and Edo de Waart. A particular career highlight was performing for former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama and former First Lady of South Korea Kim Yoon-ok in 2011.
Jennifer is active not only in the concert hall, but also as a lecturer and teacher. She was in residence at Cornell and Tulane Universities in October, during which she performed, gave masterclasses and spoke about diversity and contemporary composition. She has won high praise for her performances in classrooms around the country under her innovative “Music Messenger” outreach program; she is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, a scholarship program for high school students. Jennifer is also the artistic director of arco collaborative, an artist-driven non-profit that fosters a better understanding of our world through a musical dialogue inspired by ideas and the communities around us.
Born in Chicago of Korean parents, Jennifer began playing the violin by chance, choosing the instrument in a Suzuki-method program only because spaces for cello and piano had been filled. She made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. She has been honored as Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year, top prize winner at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Oberlin College and Conservatory. She studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked extensively with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir. Visit jenniferkoh.com.
About the Houston Symphony
During the 2018-19 season, the Houston Symphony celebrates its fifth season with Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada and continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $33.9 million, the full-time ensemble of 88 professional musicians presents nearly 170 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Additionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s four Community-Embedded Musicians offer over 900 community-based performances each year, reaching thousands of people in Greater Houston.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Naxos, Koch International Classics, Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics and, most recently, Dutch recording label PENTATONE. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Eric Skelly: (713) 337-8560, eric.skelly@houstonsymphony.org
Mireya Reyna: (713) 337-8557, mireya.reyna@houstonsymphony.org
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