A bright young talent comes to the Waltham Symphony!

Next month, the Waltham Symphony Orchestra will welcome rising piano star George Li to the stage! This is exciting not only because it promises to be an unforgettable night of music, but because we will have the rare opportunity to witness an incredible talent at the start of what is already proving to be an impressive career.

Barely a teenager, Li brings a musical depth and technique to the instrument that is far beyond his years. The performance quality and deep background in music that the members of the WSO bring to the stage should provide a very rich accompaniment to Li’s impressive skill and artistry. We look forward to watching him light up the stage with his passion for music and his youthful charisma!

March 28, 2009 – 8:00 p.m. – George Li, Pianist, Patrick Botti, Conductor

Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto No1 in G minor, Rossini, William Tell Overture , Beethoven Symphony No5 in C minor

Get a taste of what makes George Li so special by listening in to the WGBH Classical Performance podcast.

– AdB

A summer of conducting!

It was an exhaustive and yet exhilarating summer of music making.

After our highly successful inaugural concert in May, I went to Denver for the National Performing Arts Convention. It was a huge affair with close to 5,000 people from all venues. As expected, symphony orchestras and theatre were the most represented. You can visit they Convention web site: http://www.nationalperformingartsconvention.org/faqs.htm

It was exhausting, but very succesful as we shape the future of the performing arts in this country. Resolutions were taken for improving all of the arts in all domains and places throughout the country.

It was also the occasion to do some socializing, touching bases with old friends and colleagues. It was also the occasion to hear the Colorado Symphony conducted by Jeffrey Kahane and also the Colorado Opera conducted by Marin Alsop. Both concerts were geared toward contemporary American music. The Colorado Opera presented a revamped version of “Nixon in China” which I did not like as far as staging was concerned. However the orchestra was great and Marin’s conducting was as usual superb. I am so impressed by what she does! So much talent.

Then, no sooner was I back from the conference that I hope on a place to France where I was to conduct the Concilium Musicum de Paris. I had also meetings in the South of France to put into place a new Festival.

Then, back from Paris, I spent almost three weeks in a fabulous environment, surrounded by fellow colleague conductors, and under the guidance of the extraordinary Ken Kiesler. That was in Maine, at the famed “Medmoak Retreat for Conductors” which he founded eleven years ago. Ken has the true vision of what a conductor is all about: service to music and to others, humility, greatness of soul and strength or intellect and character allied to true scholarship. I was lucky enough to conduct among amazing peer, in a very difficult program: Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Moussorgsky-Ravel, Pictures at an Exhibition, Vaugn Williams, Thomas Tallis Fantasy, Brahms 4th Symphony etc…

Then back to France again, this time for a two week vacation.

However, vacation is not in a conductor’s vocabulary as I spent a great deal of my time thinking about music, the Waltham Symphony Orchestra, the upcoming seasons, the potential soloists, the fund-raising and all.

PBotti conducts Brahms 3rd.

Beethoven on Wikipedia

Ludwig van Beethoven (English IPA: /ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən/; German IPA: [ˈluːtvɪç fan ˈbeːthoːfn], baptized December 17, 1770,^[1] died March 26, 1827) was a German composer and virtuoso pianist. He was an important figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most famous and influential musicians of all time.

Born in Bonn, Germany, he moved to Vienna, Austria, in his early twenties and settled there, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. Beethoven’s hearing gradually deteriorated beginning in his twenties, yet he continued to compose masterpieces, and to conduct and perform, even after he was completely deaf.