The Bard Conservatory Orchestra will undertake a tour of Cuba, June 4-9. Award-winning U.S. pianist Peter Serkin will perform the final piece of each concert.
Conducted by maestro Leon Botstein, the youth symphony orchestra will perform on Saturday, June 4, in Cienfuegos’ Terry Theater; on Monday, June 6, in the La Caridad Theater, Santa Clara; before offering two concerts in Havana on Wednesday, June 8 in the Covarrubias Hall together with the Camerata Romeu all-female string orchestra, conducted by Zenaida Romeu; and on Thursday, June 9, in the Avellaneda Hall, both at the National Theater.
The Bard’s conductor has selected for the program the overture to the opera William Tell, by Italian Gioachino Rossini; the Matthias the Painter symphony, by German Paul Hindemith; and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2. Meanwhile, Serkin will play Piano Concerto No. 2 by Hungarian Bela Bartok, to conclude.
Born in Switzerland in 1946 and a naturalized United States citizen, Botstein has been president of the Bard College Conservatory of Music since 1975, and is also music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra. He was also principal conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony from 2003-2010.
The Bard College Conservatory, one of the most prestigious musical education institutions in the U.S., based in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, offers classes by several professors who also teach at The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, also recognized for the quality of their training.
Teaching in the piano department of the music faculty, Serkin proved his own talent from a very young age, carving out a career for himself, beyond the shadow of his father, Rudolf Serkin, one of the most celebrated pianists of the twentieth century. Aged just 19, he won a Grammy. He has performed as a soloist in concerts conducted by Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, James Levine and Pierre Boulez and collaborated with cellist Yo Yo Ma, violinist Frank Panela and the Budapest Quartet.
During their visit to Cuba, members of the youth orchestra will exchange experiences with Cuban students and professionals, and learn more about traditional Cuban music.
The tour is coordinated by the Classical Movements concert touring company (which long before the reestablishment of relations between Cuba and the United States promoted tours by U.S. artists on the island), and the Cuban Institute of Music.
A total of ninety young performers enrolled in the conservatory, from 16 countries, will make up the visiting symphony.
