Returning guest conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier and piano virtuoso and winner of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition Daniil Trifonov will transport the audience for the Canady Symphony Series at West Virginia University to early 20th-century Russia with the music of Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff on Nov. 4.

One of the rising stars of the new generation of pianists, Trifonov tackles Prokofiev’s tumultuous Piano Concerto No. 2, which is known for its impressive technical demands. The concert finishes with the Pittsburgh Symphony performing Rachmaninoff’s passionate and sweeping Symphony No. 2, his answer to the critical failure of his first symphony.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theater on the WVU Evansdale Campus in Morgantown.

Tickets are $27 and $45 and can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900, or by visiting www.pittsburghsymphony.org. Student ticket prices are $13 per concert or $24 for a subscription to all three concerts. Student tickets can be purchased at www.pittsburghsymphony.org/wvu. Tickets also may be purchased the evening of the performance, beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the Creative Arts Center.

Pittsburgh Symphony bassist John Moore will present a free master class at 5 p.m. in room 213 of the Creative Arts Center. Area bass players and music students are invited to attend.

A pre-concert talk with Jim Cunningham of WQED-FM will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is free to ticket-holders.

The 2013-14 title sponsors of the Canady Symphony Series at WVU are William and Loulie Canady in memory of Valerie.

Trifonov is one of the brightest names of the next generation of pianists. His reputation for outstanding performances, musical insight and expressive intensity has already surpassed the attention he received when, during the 2010-11 season, he won medals at three of the most prestigious competitions in the music world: the Chopin Competition in Warsaw (Third Prize), the Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv (First Prize) and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (First Prize and Grand Prix). In 2012-13, Trifonov made his debut with several international orchestras, including New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and returns to the London Symphony and Mariinsky Orchestra with Gergiev, Russian National Orchestra with Pletnev and Warsaw Philharmonic with Wit. Summer 2013 saw triumphs for Trifonov at the Verbier and Edinburgh Festivals, as well as his London Proms debut in Albert Hall.

He began his musical studies at the age of 5. He studied at Moscow Gnesin School of Music (2000-09), where he also studied composition and has continued to write piano, chamber and orchestral music since. Since 2009, he has studied piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2008, at the age of 17, he received awards at the Scriabin Competition of Moscow and at the San Marino International competition. He also received a Guzik Foundation Career Grant in 2009 and toured the United States and Italy.

Tortelier enjoys a distinguished career as a guest conductor with the world’s most prestigious orchestras. He began his musical career as a violinist and at 14 won first prize for violin at the Paris Conservatoire and also made his debut as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Following general musical studies, Tortelier studied conducting with Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. From 1974 to 1983, he was associate conductor of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Further positions have included principal conductor and artistic director of the Ulster Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He was principal conductor of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and currently holds the position of guest conductor of honour, as which he returns to the orchestra a number of times each season. Following his outstanding work as chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic between 1992 and 2003, he was given the title of conductor emeritus and continues to work with the orchestra regularly. He also holds the position of principal guest conductor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

or

Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
412-392-4827, jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

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