, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley
Beethoven | Wilson
10.24.19
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Symphonic I: Celebrating a New Era
We open the new season with Olly Wilson’s Shango Memory, inspired by the Yoruban deity Shango, god of thunder and lightning. As a ground-breaking composer, Wilson taught at UC-Berkeley and lived here until his death in 2018. Our friend Conrad Tao returns to the Zellerbach stage to perform Ravel’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto in G Major, which premiered in 1932 with Ravel conducting. Getting a head start on Beethoven’s 250th birthday celebration in 2020, we conclude this evening’s performance with his joyfully triumphant Symphony No. 5. Let the celebration begin!
The recording of this concert will be broadcast on KALW on November 4, 2019 at 9:00 PM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Joseph Young, Music Director
Increasingly recognized as “one of the most gifted conductors of his generation,” Joseph Young recently concluded a three-year tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony conducting more than 50 concerts per season, including programs on the Delta Classical Series and Concerts for Young People and Families. Mr. Young also served as the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he was the driving force behind the ensemble’s artistic growth. Previous appointments have included Resident Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony and the League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony. He currently serves as the Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Artistic Director of Ensembles at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. In 2018 he became the Resident Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra (USA).
Joseph made his major American orchestral debut in 2008 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and has…Read More
Conrad Tao
Conrad Tao has appeared worldwide as a pianist and composer, and has been dubbed a musician of “probing intellect and open-hearted vision” by the New York Times, a “thoughtful and mature composer” by NPR, and “ferociously talented” by TimeOut New York. In June of 2011, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the Department of Education named Tao a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts awarded him a YoungArts gold medal in music. Later that year, Tao was named a Gilmore Young Artist, an honor awarded every two years highlighting the most promising American pianists of the new generation. In May of 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Conrad Tao
Conrad Tao has appeared worldwide as a pianist and composer, and has been dubbed a musician of “probing intellect and open-hearted vision” by the New York Times, a “thoughtful and mature composer” by NPR, and “ferociously talented” by TimeOut New York. In June of 2011, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the Department of Education named Tao a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts awarded him a YoungArts gold medal in music. Later that year, Tao was named a Gilmore Young Artist, an honor awarded every two years highlighting the most promising American pianists of the new generation. In May of 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.