Coming this Sunday May 14! Cape Ann Symphony news from Heidi Dallin:
The Cape Ann Symphony presents The Colors of Music featuring the world renown pianist Michael Lewin and dynamic music from Mozart, Hayden and Brahms on Sunday, May 14 at 2 pm at the CAS performance venue, Manchester-Essex High School Auditorium on 36 Lincoln Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. For tickets or information, call 978-281-0543 or visit www.capeannsymphony.org
The orchestra opens the concert with the Mozart’s joyous Overture to the Marriage of Figaro from his famed comic opera followed by Hayden’s charming Symphony No. 101 Clock Symphony. Cape Ann Symphony welcomes back pianist Michael Lewin to close the concert with Brahms’ powerful Piano Concerto No. 1.
“Michael Lewin is an incredible musician. The musicians of the orchestra and I are thrilled to be able to have a chance to perform the fiery Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with him. The Brahms is full of passion and great beauty, and Michael plays it like no one else. We can’t wait to share it with our wonderful audience!”
CAS Music Director and Conductor Yoichi Udagawa
Michael Lewin is one of America’s foremost concert pianists, winning over audiences in 30 countries. His career was launched with top prizes in the Franz Liszt International Competition, the American Pianists Association Award and the William Kapell (University of Maryland) International Piano Competition. His recordings have won a Grammy Award and a Roundglass Music Award.
Mr. Lewin has appeared as orchestral soloist with the Netherlands Philharmonic, Cairo Symphony, China National Radio Orchestra, Bucharest Philharmonic, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, State Symphony of Greece, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and the Phoenix, Indianapolis, Miami, North Carolina, West Virginia, Nevada, New Orleans, Colorado, Guadalajara, and Puerto Rico Symphonies. Solo appearances include New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall Theatre, Holland’s Muziekcentrum, Moscow’s Great Hall, the Athens Megaron, the National Gallery of Art, the Newport, Ravinia and Spoleto Festivals and PBS Television. His extensive repertoire includes over 40 piano concertos, with particular interest in the music of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and a host of American and Latin American composers.
An award-winning recording artist, Mr. Lewin’s discography on Sono Luminus, Naxos and Centaur includes a pair of acclaimed Debussy recordings entitled Beau Soir and Starry Night, the complete piano music of Charles T. Griffes and Scarlatti Sonatas for Naxos, Michael Lewin plays Liszt, A Russian Piano Recital, “Bamboula!” piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, “Piano Phantoms,” “If I Were a Bird” and the 4 Violin Sonatas by William Bolcom with Irina Muresanu.
An educator as well. Michael Lewin is Professor and Head of Piano at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Classical Music Director for Ethos Music in China. He gives master classes worldwide, directs the Boston Conservatory Piano Masters Series and has taught many prize-winning and successful pianists. He is a Juilliard School graduate and a Steinway Artist. His teachers included Leon Fleisher, Yvonne Lefebure, Adele Marcus and Irwin Freundlich.
About Cape Ann Symphony
Founded in Gloucester in 1951, the Cape Ann Symphony is a professional orchestra of over 70 players from throughout the New England area. They perform a subscription season of four concerts per year plus several Pops and youth concerts. The Symphony Board of Directors named Yoichi Udagawa the Music Director and Conductor of the Cape Ann Symphony in the summer of 2000 after a yearlong search. In addition to his leadership of Cape Ann Symphony, he is Music Director and Conductor of the Melrose Symphony Orchestra, and the Quincy Symphony Orchestra and a cover conductor at the Boston Pops Orchestra. Maestro. Udagawa is on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory where he teaches conducting. Frequently invited to guest conduct, Maestro Udagawa has worked with many different orchestras including the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Nobeoka Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, the Indian Hill Symphony, the Garden State Philharmonic, the Brown University Orchestra, the Syracuse Society for New Music, the Boston Conservatory Orchestra, the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra, the Newton Symphony, the Austin Civic Orchestra, and the Mid-Texas Symphony. Maestro Udagawa is at home in popular and contemporary music as well as the standard symphonic repertoire. He is known for his relaxed manner and ability to speak from the podium which has helped new audiences as well as enthusiasts gain a greater appreciation for symphonic music. His programs often include premieres of new works – some specially commissioned for the orchestra — as well as great orchestral works across the symphonic repertoire and lively Pops programs. He is also an integral part of the Cape Ann Symphony Youth Initiative.
Yoichi Udagawa, the son of a nuclear physicist father and singer/artist mother, was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. His family immigrated to the United States soon thereafter. He began playing the violin at age four and made his conducting debut at age fifteen. After receiving a music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, he continued advanced studies in conducting with Gunther Schuller, Seiji Ozawa, Morihiro Okabe, and Henry Charles Smith. A fan of many different styles of music, Mr. Udagawa also enjoys performing gospel music in addition to his conducting activities. He is also an accomplished violinist and an avid fan of exercise and yoga.
The Cape Ann Symphony’s May concert The Colors of Music is Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 2:00 pm at the Manchester-Essex High School Auditorium on 36 Lincoln Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. Manchester-Essex High School Auditorium is handicapped accessible. Ticket prices are $45 for adults, $40 for senior citizens, $5 for Youth (12 years old and under). For information, call 978-281-0543 or visit www.capeannsymphony.org
Good Morning Gloucester 