Presented at the Morris Performing Arts Center, this exciting Series features some of the classical repertoire’s most popular works and world-renowned soloists.
The South Bend Symphony Orchestra is happy to announce that we will continue to feature five outstanding concerts in the Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks Series – one of which you will receive absolutely FREE when you subscribe.
Boulanger – D’un Matin de Printemps Borodin – In the Steppes of Central Asia Azmeh – Suite for Improvisor & Orchestra with Kinan Azmeh, clarinet Chagnard – Terra Nostra |
Boulanger – D’un Matin de Printemps
Borodin – In the Steppes of Central Asia
Azmeh – Suite for Improvisor & Orchestra with Kinan Azmeh, clarinet
Chagnard – Terra Nostra
Coming Soon.
Kinan Azmeh: Clarinet, Composer
Hailed as “intensely soulful” and a “virtuoso” by The New York Times and “spellbinding” by The New Yorker, Winner of Opus Klassik award in 2019 clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh has gained international recognition for what the CBC has called his “incredibly rich sound” and his distinctive compositional voice across diverse musical genres.
Originally from Damascus, Syria, Kinan Azmeh brings his music to all corners of the world as a soloist, composer and improviser. Notable appearances include the Opera Bastille, Paris; Tchaikovsky Grand Hall, Moscow; Carnegie Hall and the UN General Assembly, New York; the Royal Albert Hall, London; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; Philharmonie, Berlin; the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Washington DC; the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie; and in his native Syria at the opening concert of the Damascus Opera House.
He has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Dusseldorf Symphony, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic and the Syrian Symphony Orchestra among others, and has shared the stage with such musical luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, Marcel Khalife, John McLaughlin, Francois Rabbath Aynur and Jivan Gasparian.
Kinan’s compositions include several works for solo, chamber, and orchestral music, as well as music for film, live illustration, and electronics. His resent works were commissioned by The New York Philharmonic, The Seattle Symphony, The Knights Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Elbphilharmonie, Apple Hill string quartet, Quatuor Voce, Brooklyn Rider, Cello Octet Amsterdam, Aizuri Quartet and Bob Wilson.
An advocate for new music, several concertos were dedicated to him by composers such as Kareem Roustom, Dia Succari, Dinuk Wijeratne, Zaid Jabri, Saad Haddad and Guss Janssen, in addition to a large number of chamber music works.
In addition to his own Arab-Jazz Quartet CityBand and his Hewar trio, he has also been playing with the Silkroad Ensemble since 2012, whose 2017 Grammy Award-winning album “Sing Me Home” features Kinan as a clarinetist and composer.
Kinan Azmeh is a graduate of New York’s Juilliard School as a student of Charles Neidich, and of both the Damascus High institute of Music where he studied with Shukry Sahwki, Nicolay Viovanof and Anatoly Moratof, and Damascus University’s School of Electrical Engineering. Kinan earned his doctorate degree in music from the City University of New York in 2013.
He is currently working on his first opera which is scheduled to premiere in Osnabruck, Germany in June 2022
www.kinanazmeh.com
Meet the people of the symphony here!
Thank you to our generous series sponsor Jack M. Champaigne.
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Mason – A Joyous Trilogy Price – Piano Concerto in One Movement with Michelle Cann, piano Dawson – Negro Folk Symphony |
Coming Soon
“A compelling, sparkling virtuoso” (Boston Music Intelligencer), pianist Michelle Cann made her orchestral debut at age fourteen and has since performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
A champion of the music of Florence Price, Ms. Cann performed the New York City premiere of the composer’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in July 2016 and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra in February 2021, which the Philadelphia Inquirer called “exquisite.”
Highlights of her 2021–22 season include debut performances with the Atlanta, Detroit, and St. Louis symphony orchestras, as well as her Canadian concert debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. She also receives the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization. Embracing a dual role as both performer and pedagogue, her season includes teaching residencies at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association.
Ms. Cann regularly appears in solo and chamber recitals throughout the U.S., China, and South Korea. Notable venues include the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), and the Barbican (London). She has also appeared as cohost and collaborative pianist with NPR’s From The Top.
An award winner at top international competitions, in 2019 she served as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s MAC Music Innovator in recognition of her role as an African-American classical musician who embodies artistry, innovation, and a commitment to education and community engagement.
Ms. Cann studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, where she holds the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies.
Meet the people of the symphony here!
Thank you to our generous series sponsor; Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks Series
In the spirit of “Tchaikovsky’s Circles” and “Vienna Riches,” Music Director Alastair Willis presents a dramatic Parisian tableau featuring music of French masters Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, and Franck, plus highlights from Stravinsky’s music for the Ballet Russes. Aaron Nichols, guest actor.
Franck Symphony in D minor, Movement III (excerpt)
Debussy L’Apres Midi d’un Faun
Stravinsky Firebird – (1919) – Infernal dance
Stravinsky Petrushka (1947) – Dance Russe
Stravinsky Rite of Spring – Sacrificial Dance
INTERMISSION
Loewe, Gigi, arr. R.R. Bennett (Chappell)
Ibert Divertissement – I. Introduction
Milhaud Bouef sur le Toit
Offenbach Can Can
Poulenc Les Biches, (excerpt – two movements)
II. Adagietto V. Final
Ravel La Valse, Poeme Choreographique
Coming Soon
Meet the people of the symphony here!
Thank you to our generous series sponsor; Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks Series
