Mannes Orchestra Presents Two Concertos with
Soloist Vladimir Felstman and New York City Premiere of
Jennifer Higdon Work in Free Concert at Carnegie Hall

Mannes Orchestra at Carnegie Hall  
Tuesday, February 19, 8:00 p.m.   
Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium – 57th Street and Seventh Avenue
Admission: Free.  Free tickets are available in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office: 212.247.7800

NEW YORK, New York, January 10, 2008 — Renowned pianist and Mannes faculty member Vladimir Feltsman will perform as soloist with the Mannes Orchestra in the second of its two Carnegie Hall appearances during the 2007/2008 season. The first portion of the program on Tuesday, February 19 at 8:00 p.m. will feature Mr. Feltsman in J.S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor (conducted by Mr. Feltsman from the piano) and Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings. The second portion of the program will be the New York City premiere of 2007/2008 Mannes Composer-in-Residence Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra, under the direction of Mannes’s director of orchestral and conducting studies, David Hayes. The Times of London said of Concerto for Orchestra, “It is rare to witness a big new orchestral piece being acclaimed as Concerto for Orchestra was cheered on Friday after its first British performance.” 

The Mannes Orchestra will also perform Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra and Mozart’s Wind Serenade No. 10 “Grand Partita,” K. 361 at a free performance at the Fisher Center of Bard College on Saturday, February 16, 2008, under the direction of David Hayes.  Higdon’s works will also be featured at the Mannes Contemporary Music Festival, April 28-May 1, 2008. 

About Vladimir Feltsman

Born in Moscow in 1952, Mr. Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11. In 1969, he entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory of Music to study piano under the guidance of Professor Jacob Flier. He also studied conducting at both the Moscow and the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, Mr. Feltsman won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris; this was followed by intensive concert tours throughout Europe, Japan, and the former Soviet Union.

In 1979, because of his growing discontent with the official Soviet ideology and rigid governmental control of the arts, Mr. Feltsman made clear his intention to emigrate from the Soviet Union by applying for an exit visa. He was immediately banned from performing in public. After eight years of struggle and virtual artistic exile, he was finally granted permission to leave the Soviet Union. Upon his arrival in the United States in 1987, Mr. Feltsman was warmly greeted at the White House, where he performed his very first concert in North America. That same year, his debut at Carnegie Hall immediately established him as a major pianist on the American scene. Today, he is a regular guest soloist with every leading orchestra in the United States and appears in the most prestigious concert series and music festivals all over the world.  Mr. Feltsman is a longtime Mannes faculty member.
As part of the worldwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, Feltsman performed all of Mozart’s piano sonatas, as well as a selection of other important Mozart works for solo piano, on a replica of a fortepiano by Anton Walter, Mozart’s favorite keyboard maker, in a series of five concerts at The New School in fall 2006.

Mr. Feltsman’s extensive discography has been released on the Sony Classical, Music Heritage Society, and Camerata Tokyo. His discography includes six albums of clavier works of J.S. Bach, recordings of Beethoven's last five piano sonatas, solo piano works of Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, and Messiaen, as well as concertos by Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev.

Mr. Feltsman, who became a U.S. citizen in 1995, lives in upstate New York.

About Jennifer Hidgon

Ms. Hidgon holds a PhD and a MA from the University of Pennsylvania in composition, a BM in flute performance from Bowling Green State University, and an Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she is currently a faculty member. Ensembles that have commissioned works from her include the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Atlanta, Chicago, and National Symphony Orchestras; the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and the Tokyo and Ying String Quartets.

Higdon’s compositions are performed more than 200 performances a year, making her one of America’s most frequently performed living composers. Her sweeping orchestral work blue cathedral—written after the death of her brother, Andrew Blue Higdon—has been performed by 100 orchestras since its 2000 premiere. Her music has also been recorded on more than two-dozen CDs, including the Grammy-winning Higdon: Concerto for Orchestra/City Scape, performed by the Atlanta Symphony.

About The Mannes Orchestra

Mannes College has a single orchestra that includes about half of its 300 college students. This allows younger undergraduates to learn from their more experienced graduate-level colleagues who, in turn, serve as mentors.  Under the leadership of David Hayes, Director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies at Mannes, the highly regarded Mannes Orchestral Studies Program prepares young musical artists for careers as orchestral musicians. During each academic year in public concerts, The Mannes Orchestra performs a comprehensive symphonic repertoire ranging from classical to modern in a series of public concerts and participates in Mannes Opera productions.  Guest conductors who have led concerts or readings in recent years include Philippe Entremont, Paul Nadler, Leonard Slatkin, and Mannes graduates Yves Abel and JoAnn Falletta. 

Kurt Masur, after directing a reading of Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony, was inspired to write, “I must tell you what a joy it was to rehearse the Mannes Orchestra. It is clear from the students’ responsiveness, musicality, and willing eagerness to try new ideas that Mannes provides them with a thorough, comprehensive musical education.”

About Mannes College The New School for Music

Mannes College The New School for Music is a leading conservatory located in New York City, the American capital of classical music.  Founded in 1916, Mannes nurtures tomorrow’s musical leaders in an intimate, supportive community true to the values of classical music. Its eminent faculty and comprehensive curriculum teach musical artistry and impart deep knowledge of music and its structures. Mannes College’s connection to The New School and its location in New York City—just minutes from the world’s great concert halls and museums—offer an exceptional setting for musicians to grow into great artists. Mannes students are featured in most of the more than 400 concerts produced by the school each year at its two concert halls and in venues throughout the New York metropolitan area.  For more than 90 years, the artistic ideals of David and Clara Mannes, the college’s founders, have sustained a vibrant international community of musicians whose diversity stretches across races, cultures, and ethnicities.  For more information, visit www.mannes.newschool.edu.