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Andrew Litton and Minnesota Orchestra announce plans for summer 2012 concerts, to be held at Ted Mann Concert Hall

Andrew LittonHighlights of Litton’s tenth Sommerfest include solos by Minnesota Orchestra Concertmaster Erin Keefe and British pianists Danny Driver and Benjamin Grosvenor; “Summer in Vienna” and all-Tchaikovsky programs; Dvořák’s New World Symphony; Rigoletto opera finale

Osmo Vänskä conducts two all-Beethoven concerts including the Third (Eroica) Symphony; popular Beatles tribute band “1964” returns; live music to be offered outdoors before concerts

(January 20, 2012) Sommerfest Artistic Director Andrew Litton and the Minnesota Orchestra today unveiled plans for their tenth Sommerfest together, to be held this summer at Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota while the Orchestra’s home venue, Orchestra Hall, closes temporarily for the beginning of a major renovation due for completion in summer 2013.

Highlights of the 33rd annual festival include performances of such popular works as Dvořák’s New World Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, the latter under the baton of Music Director Osmo Vänskä; a waltz-themed “Summer in Vienna” program; the Minnesota Orchestra concerto solo debuts of Concertmaster Erin Keefe and British pianists Danny Driver and Benjamin Grosvenor; all-Tchaikovsky and all-Beethoven programs; a patriotic Star-Spangled Salute to America; a tribute to the classic songs of American songwriter Harold Arlen; a visit by the popular Beatles tribute band “1964”; and a concert performance of the beloved Verdi opera Rigoletto, featuring Maureen O’Flynn, Stephen Powell and Gwyn Hughes Jones in principal roles, under Litton’s direction.

“We’re delighted to bring the music and magic of Sommerfest to Ted Mann Concert Hall,” says Litton.  “Audiences are sure to enjoy the intimate environment, the warm acoustics and, most of all, the stellar line-up of great artists performing a wide range of music.  Ted Mann will be an outstanding venue for our first Sommerfest to be performed away from home.”

Sommerfest’s traditional outdoor component will continue, with all ticketholders invited to enjoy live music on the Ted Mann Terrace—to the north of the Hall—before all concerts.  Food and beverages will be available on the Terrace for purchase by ticketholders before concerts and during intermission.

Sommerfest tickets go on sale to the general public on March 16, 2012, via the Orchestra’s website at minnesotaorchestra.org.  Tickets are available beginning on March 20, 2012, at the Orchestra Hall Box Office and by phone at (612) 371-5656.  Subscribers to any Minnesota Orchestra concert series may purchase tickets beginning February 7, 2012.

SUMMER 2012 AT A GLANCE

  • Litton leads “Tchaikovsky Spectacular,” “Summer in Vienna”

Andrew Litton leads his first program on Friday, July 13, with a “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” concert featuring one of the most famous piano concertos ever written, Tchaikovsky’s First, performed by Danny Driver in his Minnesota Orchestra debut.  The concert also features Tchaikovsky’s final work, the Sixth (Pathétique) Symphony.  The weekend continues on Saturday, July 14, with two performances of a “Summer in Vienna” program featuring selections from the “Waltz King,” Johann Strauss, Jr., and other members of the Strauss family.  Led by Litton, the program offers a jaunt into the 20th century with a performance of British composer Franz Reizenstein’s Concerto popolare, a piano concerto that includes humorous references to the music of Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Gershwin and other composers.  Driver returns as soloist in the latter work, which he performed with Litton and the BBC Concert Orchestra at the 2011 BBC Proms.

  • Litton conducts the New World Symphony and Rigoletto

At Sommerfest’s core are four orchestral programs led by Litton, starting with the Tchaikovsky and Vienna-themed programs and continuing on Friday, July 27, with a performance of Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9, From the New World.  That program includes the Minnesota Orchestra debut of one of Britain’s top emerging pianists, 19-year-old Benjamin Grosvenor, who performs Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto.  For Sommerfest’s finale on Saturday, July 28, the Orchestra gives a concert performance of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, featuring soprano Maureen O’Flynn as Gilda, baritone Stephen Powell as Rigoletto and tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones as the Duke.

  • Additional Orchestra concerts feature Vänskä and Beethoven’s Third Symphony

On Thursday, July 19, and Saturday, July 21, Music Director Osmo Vänskä conducts all-Beethoven concerts featuring the Third (Eroica) Symphony—which the Orchestra has performed and recorded to acclaim—as well as the Violin Concerto, the latter featuring Erin Keefe, who will take the solo spotlight for the first time since becoming the Orchestra’s concertmaster in September 2011.  The concerts also include the Coriolan Overture, which the Orchestra will record in a future season as part of a new series of the complete Beethoven overtures.  The all-Beethoven program is also performed on July 22 at Winona’s Minnesota Beethoven Festival.

  • Outdoor concerts, Over the Rainbow and a Star-Spangled Salute to America

As in previous seasons, the Orchestra presents free outdoor “Symphony for the Cities” concerts led by Associate Conductor Courtney Lewis at Plymouth’s Hilde Center for the Performing Arts (July 3), Excelsior Commons in Excelsior (July 4), Riverfront Park in Winona (July 5) and Phipps Center in Hudson (July 8).  In addition, the Orchestra celebrates the Independence Day weekend with a Star-Spangled Salute to America at Ted Mann Concert Hall on July 1, with Lewis conducting a range of marches and other American fare.  New this year, on June 29 and 30 the Orchestra will perform Over the Rainbow: Celebrating the Music of Harold Arlen, the world premiere performance of a tribute to the Academy Award-winning composer of The Wizard of Oz famous for writing such hit songs as “I’ve Got the World on a String” and “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” as well as “Over the Rainbow,” conducted by Sarah Hicks and featuring special guest vocalists, as well as newly orchestrated versions of Arlen’s songs.

  • Music and food on Ted Mann Terrace

The Terrace adjacent to Ted Mann Concert Hall, which will be festively decorated for Sommerfest, is the setting for live music outdoors before all performances from June 29 through July 28, with a wide variety of local artists performing for ticketholders.  In addition, food and beverages will be available for purchase before concerts and during intermission.

  • Purchasing tickets

Beginning on March 16, 2012, individual tickets for Sommerfest 2012 will be available for purchase to the general public through the Orchestra’s website at minnesotaorchestra.org.  Tickets will be available beginning March 20, 2012, in person during regular hours at the Orchestra Hall Box Office at 11th and Marquette in Minneapolis, or by phone at (612) 371-5656 or (800) 292-4141.

For groups of 10 or more, call (612) 371-5662 or (800) 292-4141, ext. 662, or visit minnesotaorchestra.org/groups.

PROFILES

Andrew Litton
Andrew Litton has won accolades on the Orchestra Hall podium and at the keyboard, both as a concerto soloist and as a collaborator in chamber music concerts.  His creative programming and spirit of collegiality have contributed to the appeal of Sommerfest for audiences and artists alike.

Litton is in his ninth season as the first American music director of Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic.  Under Litton, the orchestra has toured Europe extensively.  In recent seasons he has led it at Vienna’s Musikverein, in debuts at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and London’s BBC Proms, and in a triumphant American tour, the ensemble’s first in 41 years.  In addition, Litton and the Bergen musicians won the Spellemann Prize (the Norwegian Grammy) for their first CD together, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

In 2006 Litton concluded an acclaimed 12-year tenure as music director of the Dallas Symphony.  During this period he led the orchestra on three European tours and four visits to Carnegie Hall; he conducted six nationally broadcast television programs and 28 recordings, with repertoire ranging from Gershwin to Mahler.  Continuing as music director emeritus of the Dallas Symphony, Litton returns annually for concerts at the Meyerson Symphony Center. He also remains conductor laureate of Britain’s Bournemouth Symphony, which he previously led.

During the 2011-12 season, Litton’s engagements in Bergen include two all-Russian programs featuring major works by Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Strauss and collaborations with violinist Vadim Gluzman and pianist Yevgeny Sudbin; he also leads a highly anticipated concert of music by Gershwin, another of his specialties.  Elsewhere this season he debuts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Bonn’s Beethovenhalle Orchestra, among other ensembles, and guest conducts across Europe and North America, leading orchestras including the Netherlands Philharmonic, the MDR Sinfonie of Leipzig, the Hamburg Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, Bournemouth and City of Birmingham symphony orchestras, the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., and the Vancouver Symphony.  In February 2012 he makes his annual appearance on the Minnesota Orchestra’s classical subscription series, leading works of Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

Minnesota Orchestra
Led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra is recognized as one of America’s leading orchestras.  Founded in 1903, it presents nearly 200 concerts each year, with 400,000 attending, and reaches more than 85,000 young people annually through its educational programs.  The Orchestra is heard through an award-winning series of weekly radio broadcasts produced by Minnesota Public Radio; on American Public Media’s national programs, SymphonyCast and Performance Today; and through its vast collection of recordings dating to the 1920s.  Having commissioned and/or premiered more than 300 compositions since its founding, the Orchestra continues to nourish a strong commitment to contemporary composers.  The Orchestra makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, a venue which will undergo a $50 million renovation set for completion in 2013.

Ted Mann Concert Hall
Poised atop the bluffs of the Mississippi River, Ted Mann Concert Hall has played host to a wide variety of cultural, corporate and educational events since its dedication in 1993.  Located next to Ferguson Hall, the home of the University of Minnesota’s School of Music on the West Bank of the Minneapolis campus, Ted Mann Concert Hall is centrally located within the Twin Cities and is easily accessible from all directions.

The Hall’s lobby overlooks the Mississippi River and offers glorious views from a three-story glass wall, while the stylish, comfortable concert hall interior has superb acoustics for symphonic, chamber and voice performances.  The auditorium is a traditional European shoebox design with a capacity of 1,126 seats, including two shallow tiers and a raised mezzanine.  Comfortable seats in generously spaced rows offer outstanding sight lines from everywhere in the hall.  For more information, visit music.umn.edu.

For more information, call Minnesota Orchestra Ticket Services at (612) 371-5656 or (800) 292-4141, or visit the Orchestra’s website at minnesotaorchestra.org.

All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.

Delta Air Lines is the official airline of the Minnesota Orchestra’s 2011-12 season.

The Star Tribune and 830 WCCO-AM are the Minnesota Orchestra’s media partners for the 2011-12 season.

This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the State’s general fund and its arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

PRESS CONTACTS:

Gwen Pappas, Director of Public Relations
(612) 371-5628 • This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sandi Brown, Public Relations Coordinator
(612) 371-5641 • This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.