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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 20, 2012 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ANNOUNCES 2012 HOLIDAY CONCERTS HOLIDAY BRASS CONCERT with the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet and Lee Musiker Jazz Trio December 16, 2012 HANDEL’S MESSIAH LED BY EMMANUELLE HAЇM in Her Philharmonic Conducting Debut, December 1822, 2012 ONE SINGULAR SENSATION: CELEBRATING MARVIN HAMLISCH New York Philharmonic To Salute Late Composer-Conductor with New Year’s Eve Concert Conducted by Paul Gemignani Directed by Lonny Price and Featuring All-Star Line-Up of Artists Nationally Telecast on Live From Lincoln Center December 31, 2012 The New York Philharmonic will celebrate the 2012 holiday season with timeless classics and family favorites: the annual Holiday Brass Concert with the Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet, joined for the second consecutive year by Grammy and Emmy Awardwinning pianist/arranger Lee Musiker and his Jazz Trio; Handel’s Messiah, led by Emmanuelle Haïm in her Philharmonic conducting debut; and the nationally telecast New Year’s Eve concert, One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch, a concert to salute the late composer-conductor. Conducted by Paul Gemignani and directed by Lonny Price, the New Year’s Eve program features the Orchestra and artists who collaborated with Marvin Hamlisch, including Joshua Bell, Raúl Esparza, Michael Feinstein, Maria Friedman, Josh Groban, Megan Hilty, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, and Frederica von Stade. December 16, 2012, at 3:00 p.m. Holiday Brass Concert The New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet shares the stage with Grammy and Emmy Awardwinning pianist, composer, and arranger Lee Musiker along with jazz bassist Jay Leonhart and percussionist/drummer Rick Cutler for the 18th-annual Holiday Brass Concert. The program which includes new arrangements by Mr. Musiker will feature a genre-crossing mix of (more)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 20, 2012

Contact: Katherine E. Johnson

(212) 875-5718; [email protected]

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ANNOUNCES 2012 HOLIDAY CONCERTS

HOLIDAY BRASS CONCERT

with the New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet and

Lee Musiker Jazz Trio

December 16, 2012

HANDEL’S MESSIAH LED BY EMMANUELLE HAЇM

in Her Philharmonic Conducting Debut,

December 18–22, 2012

ONE SINGULAR SENSATION: CELEBRATING MARVIN HAMLISCH New York Philharmonic To Salute Late Composer-Conductor with

New Year’s Eve Concert Conducted by Paul Gemignani

Directed by Lonny Price and Featuring All-Star Line-Up of Artists

Nationally Telecast on Live From Lincoln Center

December 31, 2012

The New York Philharmonic will celebrate the 2012 holiday season with timeless

classics and family favorites: the annual Holiday Brass Concert with the Philharmonic

Principal Brass Quintet, joined for the second consecutive year by Grammy and Emmy

Award–winning pianist/arranger Lee Musiker and his Jazz Trio; Handel’s Messiah, led

by Emmanuelle Haïm in her Philharmonic conducting debut; and the nationally telecast

New Year’s Eve concert, One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch, a

concert to salute the late composer-conductor. Conducted by Paul Gemignani and

directed by Lonny Price, the New Year’s Eve program features the Orchestra and artists

who collaborated with Marvin Hamlisch, including Joshua Bell, Raúl Esparza, Michael

Feinstein, Maria Friedman, Josh Groban, Megan Hilty, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara,

and Frederica von Stade.

December 16, 2012, at 3:00 p.m. — Holiday Brass Concert

The New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet shares the stage with

Grammy and Emmy Award–winning pianist, composer, and arranger Lee

Musiker along with jazz bassist Jay Leonhart and percussionist/drummer Rick

Cutler for the 18th-annual Holiday Brass Concert. The program — which includes

new arrangements by Mr. Musiker — will feature a genre-crossing mix of

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 2

traditional and contemporary holiday classics with a jazzy twist including “Jingle

Bells,” a Nutcracker Suite, “Charlie Brown Christmas Medley,” “Sleigh Ride,”

and “Winter Wonderland,” with featured solos by each performer and sing-a-

longs to “Silent Night” and “White Christmas.”

December 18–22, 2012, all at 7:30 p.m. — Handel’s Messiah

Presented by the Robert Hekemian Family Foundation

Handel’s celebrated and celebratory oratorio returns conducted by Baroque

specialist Emmanuelle Haïm, in her New York Philharmonic conducting debut,

and sung by soprano Camilla Tilling (debut), countertenor Tim Mead (debut),

tenor Kenneth Tarver, and bass Alastair Miles, with the New York Choral Artists,

directed by Joseph Flummerfelt.

In a Pre-Concert Talk, composer Joelle Wallach will introduce the program one

hour before the start of each performance.

December 31, 2012, 7:30 p.m. — One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin

Hamlisch, Conducted by Paul Gemignani and Directed by Lonny Price

The New York Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert is a salute to the late

composer-conductor Marvin Hamlisch with One Singular Sensation: Celebrating

Marvin Hamlisch, a program featuring the Orchestra and artists who collaborated

with Marvin Hamlisch, including Joshua Bell, Raúl Esparza, Michael Feinstein,

Maria Friedman, Josh Groban, Megan Hilty, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, and

Frederica von Stade. Paul Gemignani will conduct and Lonny Price will direct the

performance, which will include repertoire from Marvin Hamlisch’s works for

stage and film, including A Chorus Line and Sweet Smell of Success. The concert

will be nationally broadcast on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS stations at

8:00 p.m. [Check local listings]

Artists

HOLIDAY BRASS CONCERT (December 16, 2012)

Lee Musiker — pianist, conductor, music director, arranger, and orchestrator — is well

known for his wealth of experience working with the premiere artists in the jazz,

classical, Broadway, and pop genres. These include Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, Barbara

Cook, Maureen McGovern, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell,

Joel Grey, James Taylor, Renée Fleming, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, Deborah Voigt,

Kathleen Battle, Denyce Graves, Nathan Gunn, Sylvia McNair, Julia Migenes, Joshua

Bell, Buddy Rich, Doc Severinson, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, and John Pizzarelli.

Since 2001 Mr. Musiker has been touring with Tony Bennett, and he served as music

director and pianist for the Grammy Award–winning album Tony Bennett: Duets — An

American Classic and the recent Duets 2.

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 3

A Steinway Artist, Mr. Musiker has performed with the New York Philharmonic, New

York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York

Pops, Boston Pops, and the London Symphony Orchestra, and has conducted the New

York Philharmonic and the Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, and

Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. He has also conducted the Jerry Lewis Muscular

Dystrophy Labor Day Telethon, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Jazz at Lincoln Center

orchestras and the Henry Mancini Institute. As an arranger and orchestrator, Mr. Musiker

has written for symphony orchestras, recordings, movies, and television and has shared

Grammy and Emmy Awards.

A native New Yorker and fourth-generation musician, Lee Musiker received degrees

from the Manhattan and Eastman Schools of Music, with further studies at The Juilliard

School. He has served on the faculties of Mannes College of Music, New School, and

New York University (as part of the distinguished Piano Faculty Master Class Series).

After a two-year tour as pianist with the Buddy Rich Band, he returned to New York and

began playing in the orchestra pits of many hit Broadway shows. He was a guest on

Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz and has been featured in Steinway and Keyboard

magazines. He last appeared with the New York Philharmonic with his Jazz Trio for

Holiday Brass in December 2011.

The New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet, a quintet of principal brass

players from the Orchestra, enjoys worldwide exposure and an international reputation.

The group made its debut in 1983 when they joined with The Canadian Brass for a

concert in Ottawa, Canada. This was the beginning of a regular musical collaboration

between these two brass quintets, with subsequent joint performances at the summer

festivals of Tanglewood, Wolf Trap, Great Woods, and Mostly Mozart; concerts in cities

throughout Canada and the United States; and on four recordings. The Principal Brass

Quintet have also joined their brass colleagues from the Boston Symphony Orchestra and

The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Principal Brass Quintet has hosted an annual Christmas Holiday Concert at Avery

Fisher Hall since 1995. Joining as guests on this extravaganza have been Lee Musiker

and his jazz trio; the Canadian Brass; the German Brass; the West Point Brass,

Percussion, and Vocalists; Sesame Street’s Bob McGrath; and the Salvation Army’s New

York Staff Band. The Principal Brass Quintet and the New York Staff Band have also

joined forces in two Gala Festivals at Alice Tully Hall in New York. In addition, the

group performed with the Empire Brass at the Carnegie Hall Centennial Gala in May

1991.

The Principal Brass Quintet has been a regular encore feature on the Philharmonic’s tours

of Europe, South America, Asia, and the United States, as well as the Orchestra’s

residencies in Cagliari, Italy, and in Vail, Colorado. In addition to performing at the 2009

International Trumpet Guild Conference, the ensemble has performed solo concerts in

major universities and cities throughout the United States. International visits have

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 4

included Germany (in Berlin and Munich), Luxembourg, Mexico (Monterey), China

(Shanghai), and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo). Having toured Japan in 1999,

2003, and 2007 the Principal Brass Quintet will return there again in 2012.

HANDEL’S MESSIAH (December 18–22, 2012) Emmanuelle Haïm is artistic director of the orchestra and chorus of Le Concert

d’Astrée, which she formed in 2000. She and the ensemble have achieved worldwide

success as interpreters of the French Baroque and the works of Monterverdi, Purcell,

Handel, and Mozart. She has led the ensemble in works including Lully’s Thésée,

Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro,

and Handel’s Giulio Cesare at the Paris Opéra.

After studying harpsichord and winning numerous awards at the Conservatoire National

Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Ms. Haïm’s love for the voice led her to

concentrate on conducting vocal music, first at the Centre de Musique Baroque de

Versailles, then at the Paris Conservatoire, where she taught from 1990 to 2002. In 2001

she conducted Handel’s Rodelinda for Glyndebourne Touring Opera; in 2003 she led the

same ensemble in Handel’s Theodora.

Ms. Haïm was the first woman to be invited to conduct at Chicago Lyric Opera, where

she led Giulio Cesare in 2007. She has appeared regularly at the Glyndebourne Festival,

conducting Giulio Cesare in 2006 and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea in 2008.

She has also led the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber

Orchestra, Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra,

Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Berlin Philharmonic. She has collaborated with stage

directors such as Robert Carsen, Peter Sellars, Jean-François Sivadier, Jean-Louis

Martinoty, Jean-Marie Villégier, Robert Wilson, and David McVicar.

In the 2012–13 season Ms. Haïm conducts new productions of Charpentier’s Médée at

the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Lille Opera, Charpentier’s Actéon in Dijon and

Lille, and a revival of Laurent Pelly’s production of Giulio Cesare at the Palais Garnier in

Paris. She will also conduct a series of concerts of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610.

Born in France, Emmanuelle Haïm was named Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2009

and is Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She is an honorary member of

London’s Royal Academy of Music. She has recorded exclusively for Virgin Classics

since 2001.

Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling’s international career was launched at New York City

Opera, where she appeared as Corinna in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims. She has since

appeared at the world’s major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent

Garden, The Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Lyric Opera of

Chicago, and Teatro Real Madrid, as well as the Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne, and

Drottningholm festivals.

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 5

In the 2012–13 season Ms. Tilling returns to the Opéra National de Paris and Teatro Real

Madrid (conducted by Simon Rattle). She sings with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in

Budapest, Berlin, and New York and appears at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. In concert

she sings with the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the

Boston Symphony, and Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Hong Kong

Philharmonic.

Ms. Tilling has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni

and Nanetta in Verdi’s Falstaff and, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as Sophie (Der

Rosenkavalier). In concert, she has sung Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Dallas (Jaap van

Zweden); Haydn’s The Creation with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Esa-Pekka

Salonen); Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the San Francisco and Chicago Symphony

Orchestras, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with the Berlin Philharmonic at

Carnegie Hall (Simon Rattle).

Ms. Tilling is featured on numerous recordings, including Cherubini’s Mass in D minor

with Riccardo Muti; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4; Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; and as the

Angel in Handel’s The Resurrection with Emmanuelle Haïm. She has also made two solo

recordings on BIS: Rote Rosen, a selection of Lieder by Richard Strauss, and Bei dir

allein!, a selection of Schubert songs, both with accompanist Paul Rivinius.

Countertenor Tim Mead was a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, and studied

singing at London’s Royal College of Music. His opera engagements include Handel’s

Giulio Cesare and Rinaldo for Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Admeto for Händel-

Festspiele Göttingen and the Edinburgh Festival; Orlando for Scottish Opera and

Chicago Opera Theatre; Rinaldo with Bach Collegium Japan; Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice

with Akademie für Alte Musik; Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea for English

National Opera, Opéra de Lyon, and Den Norske Opera, Oslo; Cavalli’s La calisto for

Bayerische Staatsoper; Steffani’s Niobe at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden;

Handel’s Giulio Cesare for Deutsche Oper am Rhein; Cavalli’s Ercole amante for De

Nederlandse Opera; and Handel’s Agrippina and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di

Poppea in Dijon and Lille.

In concert, Mr. Mead has collaborated with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,

Academy of Ancient Music, Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert d’Astrée, Akademie für

Alte Musik, Accademia Bizantina, Bach Collegium Japan, Nederlandse Bachvereniging,

Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, and Kammerorchester Basel under the direction of

conductors including Ivor Bolton, William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Christian

Curnyn, Alan Curtis, Ottavio Dantone, Paul Goodwin, Emmanuelle Haïm, Thomas

Hengelbrock, Vladimir Jurowski, Alessandro de Marchi, Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki

Suzuki, and Mark Minkowski.

Mr. Mead’s recordings include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Handel oratorios Saul,

Solomon, and Israel in Egypt; the Handel operas Admeto, Flavio, Riccardo Primo, and

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 6

Rinaldo; and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. He has recorded for a variety of

labels, including EMI Classics, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Chandos, Carus, Channel

Classics, Linn, Opus Arte, Arthaus Musik, Unitel Classica, and EuroArts.

Tim Mead’s current and future engagements include: George Benjamin’s Written on Skin

at the Théâtre du Capitole, La Calisto at Bavarian Staatsoper, Julius Caesar and Death in

Venice for English National Opera, Messiah with Orchestra of the Age of

Enlightenment, Rodelinda for Mercury Baroque (Houston), Rinaldo for Glyndebourne,

and Theodora with The English Concert.

Tenor Kenneth Tarver has appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, The

Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Bavarian

Staatsoper, Dresden Semperoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Opéra Comique

París, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. The conductors he has worked with include

Claudio Abbado, Adam Fisher, Jeremie Rhorer, Alessandro De Marchi, and Nikolaus

Harnoncourt.

Recent performances include Terradellas’s Sesostri with Royal Chamber Opera Company

(Barcelona, also released on CD); Berlioz’s Te Deum with the Oslo Philharmonic; the

title role in Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira with Opera Rara and the London

Philharmonic; Mozart’s Coronation Mass in Rome; Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette in

Valencia; The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Sessions’s Montezuma in

Berlin; Rossini’s La Cenerentola in Buenos Aires; and Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes in

Toulouse. Future engagements include a gala concert at Winterthur; Rossini’s The Barber

of Seville in Santiago, Chile; Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri in Paris; and The Abduction

from the Seraglio in Berlin.

In concert, Mr. Tarver has performed with conductors including Alberto Zedda, Ricardo

Chailly, and Bobby McFerrin. Highlights of the tenor’s recording catalog include

Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été and Roméo et Juliette with Pierre Boulez and The Cleveland

Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon) and Berlioz’s Les Troyens with Sir Colin Davis and

the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live), which won Grammy Awards for Best

Opera Recording and Best Classical Recording. Mr. Tarver is a graduate of Interlochen

Arts Academy, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and Yale School of Music.

Alastair Miles was born in Harrow, England, and he studied flute at the Guildhall School

of Music before embarking on his vocal career. He has performed at renowned opera

houses including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Vienna Staatsoper,

Bavarian Staatsoper, Netherlands Opera, and Teatro alla Scala. He has a stylistically wide

repertoire and has made more than 70 recordings.

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 7

In the U.K. Mr. Miles appears regularly at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. and

English National Opera, as well as Welsh National Opera, Opera North, and

Glyndebourne. His recent roles include Narbal in Berlioz’s Les Troyens for Netherlands

Opera; Creonte in Mayr’s Medea in Corinto for Bavarian Staatsoper; Zaccaria in Verdi’s

Nabucco for Vienna Staatsoper; Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Pogner in

Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for Glyndebourne Festival; Poliferno in

Steffani's Niobe, Regina di Tebe at Covent Garden; Osmin in Mozart’s Die Entführung

aus dem Serail with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Duke Alfonso in

Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia for English National Opera; Claudio in Handel’s Agrippina

for Opéra de Dijon and Opéra de Lille with Emmanuelle Haïm; Daland in Wagner’s The

Flying Dutchman for Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liège; and Philip II in Verdi’s Don

Carlo for Deutsche Oper Berlin.

In concert, Alastair Miles has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras and

conductors. Recent highlights include Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and Handel’s

Messiah with Sir Colin Davis and London Symphony Orchestra; Schumann’s

Faustszenen with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw

Orchestra; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San

Francisco Symphony; Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with Daniel Harding at the

Lucerne Festival; and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Miles’s future engagements include Pogner in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger for

Netherlands Opera; Enrico in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena for Welsh National Opera; and

Raimondo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at The Metropolitan Opera.

New York Choral Artists, a professional chorus founded and directed by Joseph

Flummerfelt, has been heard with the New York Philharmonic in recent seasons

performing repertoire ranging from Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time to Mozart’s

Requiem. Memorable collaborations with the New York Philharmonic include the

concert on September 20, 2001, of Brahms’s A German Requiem, commemorating the

events of September 11, which was broadcast nationally. The chorus opened the

Philharmonic’s 2002–03 subscription season performing the World Premiere of John

Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic

with Lincoln Center’s Great Performers. Other highlights of the group’s history include

participation in the 1995 New York Philharmonic concert celebrating the 50th

anniversary of the United Nations, and a televised performance of the 1986 Statue of

Liberty Concert in Central Park. The chorus performed Britten’s War Requiem and

Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in June 2009 during Lorin Maazel’s final weeks as the New

York Philharmonic’s Music Director; in May 2010 in the Philharmonic’s staged

presentation of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre; in June 2010 for Beethoven’s Missa

solemnis; and in June 2012 for Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Great, on the final program of

the season.

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 8

ONE SINGULAR SENSATION: CELEBRATING MARVIN HAMLISCH

(December 31, 2012)

As composer, Marvin Hamlisch won virtually every major award that exists: three

Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe awards. For

Broadway he wrote the music for his groundbreaking show A Chorus Line, which

received the Pulitzer Prize, as well as They’re Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl, and

Sweet Smell of Success. He was the composer of more than forty motion picture scores

including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of

Scott Joplin’s music for The Sting, for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific

output of scores for films includes original compositions and/or musical adaptations for

Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles,

Take the Money and Run, Bananas, Save the Tiger, and The Informant!, starring Matt

Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh. Mr. Hamlisch was Musical Director and

arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the U.S. and England as well as of the

television special Barbra Streisand: The Concert (for which he received two of his

Emmys). Marvin Hamlisch held the position of principal pops conductor for the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony

Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, The

Buffalo Philharmonic, and The National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. At

the time of his passing he was working on a film project about Liberace, starring Michael

Douglas and Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh. Hamlisch was a graduate

of The Juilliard School and Queens College (where he earned a bachelor’s of arts

degree). He believed in the power of music to bring people together.

Paul Gemignani has been the music director for more than 40 Broadway and West End

shows, including Follies, Pacific Overtures, Candide, A Little Night Music, Sweeney

Todd, Evita, Dreamgirls, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park

with George, Crazy For You, Passion, High Society, and Kiss Me Kate. Mr. Gemignani

has made recordings with the American Theatre Orchestra in addition to many cast

albums; appeared as guest conductor with numerous orchestras; and is a regular guest

conductor at the New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Royal Opera Company,

and the New York City Ballet. His film work has included Sweeney Todd starring Johnny

Depp, Kramer vs. Kramer, Reds, and Eyewitness. Mr. Gemignani received the 2001 Tony

Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award

(1994), and a special Drama Desk Award (1989) for “consistently outstanding musical

direction and commitment to the theater.” In 2003 he was awarded an honorary doctorate

of musical arts from the Manhattan School of Music; in 2006 he received a Prime Time

Emmy Award for Best Musical Direction for a Great Performances presentation of South

Pacific; and the Drama League of New York honored him for Distinguished

Achievement in Musical Theatre in 2008. Mr. Gemignani served as the music director of

the New York Philharmonic’s concert performance of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies in

September 1985; in May 2008 he was the conductor and music supervisor of the

Orchestra’s semi-staged performances of Camelot; and in March 2010 he conducted the

Philharmonic’s production of SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert, which aired on PBS

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 9

and was released on DVD in November 2010. On January 24, 2011, he was inducted into

the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Lonny Price most recently directed the stage and film version of the New York

Philharmonic’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, which played in more than

700 movie theaters across the country. Mr. Price also directed the stage and film versions

of Sondheim: The Birthday Concert! in March 2010, for which he received a 2011 Emmy

Award. Mr. Price’s other Philharmonic collaborations include the Live From Lincoln

Center broadcast of Camelot; Candide (broadcast on Great Performances); and Sweeney

Todd, for which he won an Emmy. Mr. Price directed the Emmy Award–winning

production of Sondheim’s Passion, starring Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, and Michael

Cerveris. On Broadway, he directed Audra McDonald in 110 in the Shade, Danny Glover

in Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” ... and the Boys; Joan Rivers in Sally Marr and Her

Escorts (which he co-wrote with Ms. Rivers and Erin Sanders); Jenn Colella in Urban

Cowboy; and himself in A Class Act, for which he earned a Tony nomination and the

book of which he co-wrote with Linda Kline. Lonny Price’s Off-Broadway directorial

work includes Visiting Mr. Green, Grown Ups, and Stopping Traffic. He made his opera

directing debut at the Houston Grand Opera directing Audra McDonald in Poulenc’s La

Voix Humaine and Michael John LaChiusa’s Send. He recently finished shooting his first

feature film, “Master Harold” ... and the Boys and has directed several episodes of

ABC’s Desperate Housewives. As an actor, he appeared on and Off-Broadway in a

variety of plays and musicals, including Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” ... and the

Boys, Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, and Lanford Wilson’s Burn This. On

film he is best remembered for playing Neil Kellerman, the hotel owner’s grandson in

Dirty Dancing. For his acting work, he has received Obie, Theatre World, Drama League,

and Drama-Logue awards.

Violinist Joshua Bell’s stunning virtuosity, beautiful tone, musical intelligence, and

charismatic stage presence have brought him universal acclaim. Mr. Bell is an Avery

Fisher Prize recipient, Musical America’s 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year, and was

recently named Music Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. In summer

2012, Mr. Bell and Edgar Meyer premiered a new concerto for violin and double bass by

Mr. Meyer at Tanglewood, Aspen, and the Hollywood Bowl. Mr. Bell launched the San

Francisco Symphony’s 2012–13 season, followed by appearances with the Philadelphia

Orchestra and Boston, Seattle, Cincinnati, and Detroit symphonies. Additional fall

highlights include a South-African tour, a European tour with the Academy of St. Martin

in the Fields, and a recital tour with pianist Sam Haywood. In 2013 Mr. Bell tours Europe

with the New York Philharmonic and the U.S. with The Cleveland Orchestra, and he

performs with the Tucson, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Nashville symphony orchestras.

An exclusive Sony Classical artist, Joshua Bell has recorded more than 40 CDs,

garnering Mercury, Grammy, Gramophone, and Echo Klassic Awards. His discography

encompasses critically acclaimed performances of most of the major violin concerto and

solo repertoire, including the Oscar-winning soundtrack to The Red Violin. Recent

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 10

releases include French Impressions with pianist Jeremy Denk, At Home With Friends,

the Defiance soundtrack, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto

with the Berlin Philharmonic. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Bell received his first violin

at age four, and at age 12 he began serious study with Josef Gingold at Indiana

University. Two years later Bell came to national attention in his debut with Riccardo

Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, followed by his Carnegie Hall debut at age 17. Mr.

Bell is senior lecturer at the Jacobs School of Music at his alma mater, Indiana

University. He performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius and uses an 18th-century

Francoise Tourte bow.

Raúl Esparza recently starred in the Broadway production of Leap of Faith. He made his

New York debut in the Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show. Other Broadway

credits include Arcadia, Speed-the-Plow (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), The

Homecoming (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award - Ensemble), Company (Tony

nomination, Drama Desk Award), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Taboo (Tony nomination,

Drama Desk Award) and Cabaret. He appeared in Shakespeare in the Park’s Twelfth

Night and Off-Broadway in The Normal Heart, Comedians, and tick, tick... BOOM!,

which earned him an Obie Award. In 2005, he received the HOLA José Ferrer Acting

Award. Outside New York, Mr. Esparza portrayed Che in the national tour of Evita and

starred in the 2002 Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration: Sunday in the Park with

George and Merrily We Roll Along. Regional credits include work at Steppenwolf,

Goodman in Chicago, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Coconut Grove Playhouse,

and the Ahmanson in Los Angeles. Raúl Esparza made his film debut in Sidney Lumet’s

2006 Find Me Guilty. Other films include Wes Craven’s My Soul to Take and GWB. Mr.

Esparza’s television series credits include recurring roles on A Gifted Man, Pushing

Daisies, and Law & Order: SVU in addition to numerous guest-star appearances.

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy

Award-nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American

Songbook,” is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-

plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House

and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace. Feinstein

has received national recognition for his commitment to celebrating America’s popular

song and preserving its legacy. In 2007, he founded the Michael Feinstein Great

American Songbook Initiative, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it

through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Vocal

Academy and Competition. Michael serves on the Library of Congress’ National

Recording Preservation Board, dedicated to the survival and availability of America’s

sound recording heritage. Feinstein’s earned his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 2009

for The Sinatra Project from Concord Records. The Sinatra Project, Volume II: The

Good Life was released last year. The first two seasons of his PBS TV series “Michael

Feinstein’s American Songbook” are now available on DVD; the third season will air in

2013. For his nationally-syndicated public radio program “Song Travels,” Michael

interviews and performs alongside luminaries like Bette Midler, Moby and Rickie Lee

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 11

Jones. His new book The Gershwins and Me, featuring a new CD of Gershwin standards,

was published by Simon & Schuster. Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the

Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel,

Indiana, home to an annual international Great American Arts festival, live programming

and a museum for his rare memorabilia. In 2010, he became the director of the Jazz and

Popular Song Series at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2013, he will replace the

late Marvin Hamlisch as the conductor of the Pasadena Pops.

A three-time Olivier Award–winner, Maria Friedman is best known as an interpreter of

the works of Stephen Sondheim, starring in Sunday in the Park with George (National

Theatre), Passion, Sweeney Todd (with Bryn Terfel), and Merrily We Roll Along. In

concert, she has starred in Follies and A Little Night Music and sang at Sondheim’s 80th

birthday celebrations in New York, Washington, D.C., and London. Other musicals

include The King and I (Albert Hall), Ragtime, Lady In The Dark (National), The Witches

of Eastwick, Chicago, The Woman In White (London and Broadway, Theatre World

Award), Blues In The Night, and Ghetto. In 1994 the Donmar Warehouse presented the

Olivier Award–winning Maria Friedman: By Special Arrangement, transferring to the

Whitehall Theatre. In 2008 a new version of the show Maria Friedman: Re-arranged

transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Trafalgar Studios. On screen, Maria

played the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny

Osmond as well as the role of Trish Baynes in Casualty. Concerts include three sell-out

seasons at New York’s Cafe Carlyle and appearances with Michel Legrand and Marvin

Hamlisch. Recordings include Maria Friedman Sings the Great British Songbook.

Internationally renowned singer, songwriter, and actor Josh Groban has entertained fans

across the globe with his multi-platinum albums and DVDs, electrifying live

performances, and comedic film and television appearances. Over the last year and a half

alone, the 30-year-old Los Angeles native has released his fifth studio album, the

platinum-selling Illuminations; completed a sold-out world tour; and appeared in the

feature film Crazy, Stupid, Love and on NBC’s The Office. Mr. Groban first broke

through in 2001 with his self-titled double-platinum debut album, followed by the multi-

platinum Closer, featuring the smash hit “You Raise Me Up,” and the double-platinum

Awake. In 2007 he became the best-selling recording artist of the year thanks to sales of

Awake and his Grammy-nominated Christmas album, Noel — the best-selling album of

2007. According to Billboard, Mr. Groban is the only artist to have two albums appear on

the Top 20 best-selling albums list of the past decade. In November 2010 Groban

released the Rick Rubin-produced Illuminations, which debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s

Top 200 chart (Groban’s fourth consecutive Top 5 chart bow) and reached platinum

status two months later. In May 2011 Groban launched the “Straight to You” World Tour

to the U.S., Europe, and South Africa. During the tour, Mr. Groban partnered with

Americans for the Arts to launch a joint text-to-give campaign to raise money for his

newly created Find Your Light Foundation, dedicated to enriching the lives of young

people through arts education. Mr. Groban has been featured on The Simpsons, Tim and

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 12

Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and Glee; co-hosted Live With Regis and Kelly; and

paid tribute to Oprah Winfrey during Finale Week of her long-running series. Mr. Groban

shot the big-screen workplace comedy Coffee Town. Mr. Groban is currently recording

songs for his next record, due early 2013.

Megan Hilty stars in NBC’s musical drama Smash as Ivy Lynn. Ms. Hilty recently

signed to Sony Music in a partnership between Sony Masterworks and Columbia

Records, and her new album will be released next spring. Ms. Hilty most recently

appeared as Lorelei Lee in the Encores! production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at New

York City Center. A native of Seattle, Ms. Hilty moved to New York City after

graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and quickly made her Broadway debut as

Glinda in Wicked. She went on to perform the role in both the national tour and in Los

Angeles. After receiving rave reviews for her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes in Broadway’s

9 to 5: The Musical, Ms. Hilty was honored with nominations for Lead Actress in a

Musical at the Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Drama League

Awards, and L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. She starred in Two by Two as part of

the reprise series in Los Angeles opposite Jason Alexander, Steve Weber, and Faith

Prince. Megan Hilty has also performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and at

Feinstein’s in New York City. Her voice has been featured on Disney’s The Secret Life of

Magic Gourd, Phineas & Ferb, Glenn Martin DDS, American Dad, Tinker Bell and the

Pixie Hollow Games, Robot & Monster, and as Snow White in Shrek the Third. Her voice

will also be heard as Rosetta in Disney’s Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings. Ms. Hilty is

currently in production on Summertime Entertainment’s animated film Dorothy of Oz

with Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Dancy, and Lea Michele. Her television credits include

guest-starring roles in Melissa & Joey, Bones, The Closer, Desperate Housewives, CSI,

Shark, Ugly Betty, Eli Stone, and The Suite Life of Zach & Cody.

Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a

singer and actress. With a record-tying five Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and a

long list of other accolades to her name, she is among today’s most highly regarded

performers. Blessed with a luminous soprano and an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-

telling, she is equally at home on Broadway, opera stages, film, and television. In

addition to her theatrical work, she maintains a major career as a concert and recording

artist, regularly appearing with leading international orchestras. After four seasons

playing Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC’s hit television series Private Practice, Ms.

McDonald returned to Broadway in 2012, winning her fifth Tony and her first in the

leading actress category for her role in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. The honor places

her in the illustrious company of Broadway legends Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury as

the only people in Tony history to win five performance awards. Born into a musical

family, Audra McDonald grew up in Fresno, California, and received her classical vocal

training at The Juilliard School. An ardent proponent of marriage equality, Ms.

McDonald sits on the advisory board of the advocacy organization Broadway Impact and

has been featured in campaigns for Freedom to Marry and NOH8. Of all her many roles,

her favorite is that of mother to her daughter, Zoe Madeline.

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 13

Kelli O’Hara has established herself as one of Broadway’s great leading ladies. She

currently stars in the ten-time Tony-nominated Broadway musical Nice Work If You Can

Get It opposite Matthew Broderick, in which she received her fourth Tony nomination for

Lead Actress in a Musical. Ms. O’Hara garnered rave reviews for her recent role as Cathy

Whitaker in the musical adaptation of Far From Heaven at Williamstown Theater

Festival. Ms. O’Hara earned her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for her

role in The Light in the Piazza in 2005. In 2006 she joined Harry Connick, Jr. on

Broadway in the Tony-winning production of The Pajama Game and received Tony,

Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. Ms. O’Hara starred in the Tony-

winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, garnering Tony and Drama Desk

nominations. In 2011 Ms. O’Hara made her Public Theater debut in King Lear and in

2010 starred as Ella Peterson in City Center Encore’s production of Bells Are Ringing. In

addition to her critically acclaimed performance as Eliza Doolittle in the New York

Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, Ms. O’Hara has performed at Carnegie Hall

with the New York Pops, at the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra

with Marvin Hamlisch, and with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart. She has

performed three times at the Kennedy Center Honors in tributes for Barbara Cook, Jerry

Herman, and Barbra Streisand. Her film and television credits include Sex & the City 2,

Blue Bloods, The Key to Reserva, The Dying Gaul, Alexander Hamilton, NUMB3RS, All

My Children, and the animated series Car Talk. Ms. O’Hara’s voice can be heard on

numerous cast recordings, and her two solo albums, Always and Wonder in the World, are

currently available on Ghostlight Records.

Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, Frederica von Stade has sung nearly all of

her great roles with that company. Miss von Stade’s artistry has inspired the revival of

neglected works such as Massenet’s Cherubin, Rameau’s Dardanus, and Monteverdi’s Il

ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Her ability as a singing actress has allowed her to perform

operetta and musical theater, including the title role in The Merry Widow and Desirée

Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. She created the role of Tina in Dallas Opera’s world-

premiere production of Dominick Argento’s The Aspern Papers (a work written for her)

as well as Madame de Merteuil in the Conrad Susa’s Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs.

Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, both for San Francisco Opera.

She has made over seventy recordings with every major label, garnering her six Grammy

nominations and two Grand Prix du Disc awards. She enjoyed the distinction of

simultaneously holding the first and second places on national sales charts for

Angel/EMI’s Show Boat and Telarc’s The Sound of Music. In 2002 Ms. von Stade

performed at the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. She can be

seen in Live from The Met performances and PBS broadcasts celebrating American song

with Thomas Hampson, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, and Jerry Hadley. Frederica von

Stade holds honorary doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, San Francisco

Conservatory of Music (which holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in

Voice), Georgetown University School of Medicine, and her alma mater, the Mannes

School of Music. In 1998 Miss von Stade was awarded France’s highest honor, an officer

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 14

of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 1983 President Reagan honored her with an award

at The White House in recognition of her contributions to the arts.

* * *

Credit Suisse is the Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic.

* * *

The New York Philharmonic gratefully acknowledges support for its activities from the

Gurnee and Marjorie Hart Endowment Fund.

* * *

The performances of Handel’s Messiah are presented by the Robert Hekemian Family

Foundation. Emmanuelle Haïm’s appearance with the New York Philharmonic is made

possible through the Claudette Sorel Performance Endowment Fund.

* * *

Programs of the New York Philharmonic are supported, in part, by public funds from the

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council,

the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

* * *

Single tickets for the Holiday Brass performance start at $52. Single tickets for Messiah

start at $32. Single tickets for One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch

start at $69 (Limited availability). Tickets for Open Rehearsals are $18. Pre-Concert

Talks for Messiah concerts are $7; discounts are available for multiple concerts, students,

and groups (visit nyphil.org/preconcert for more information). All other tickets may be

purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.,

Monday through Saturday, and 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets may also be

purchased at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m.

Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box

Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m.

A limited number of $13.50 tickets for Messiah may be available through the Internet for

students within 10 days of the performance, or in person the day of. Valid identification

is required. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic’s Customer Relations

Department at (212) 875-5656. [Ticket prices subject to change.]

For press tickets, call Lanore Carr in the New York Philharmonic Communications

Department at (212) 875-5714, or e-mail her at [email protected].

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 15

HOLIDAY BRASS

Avery Fisher Hall

Sunday, December 16, 2012, 3:00 p.m.

New York Philharmonic Principal Brass Quintet

Lee Musiker, piano

Lee Musiker Trio

Program to feature traditional and contemporary holiday classics with a jazzy

twist including “Jingle Bells,” a Nutcracker Suite, “Charlie Brown Christmas

Medley,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Silent Night,” and “White

Christmas,” with new arrangements by Lee Musiker.

HANDEL’S MESSIAH

Avery Fisher Hall

Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, December 20, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, December 21, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 22, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Emmanuelle Haïm, conductor*

Camilla Tilling, soprano*

Tim Mead, countertenor*

Kenneth Tarver, tenor

Alastair Miles, bass

New York Choral Artists,

Joseph Flummerfelt, director

HANDEL Messiah

Pre-Concert Talk (one hour before each concert) with composer Joelle Wallach

*denotes New York Philharmonic debut

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2012 Holiday Concerts / 16

ONE SINGULAR SENSATION: CELEBRATING MARVIN HAMLISCH

Avery Fisher Hall

Monday, December 31, 2011, 7:30 p.m.

Live From Lincoln Center telecast on PBS stations, 8:00 p.m. [check local listings]

Paul Gemignani, conductor

Lonny Price, director

Joshua Bell, violin

Raúl Esparza, vocalist

Michael Feinstein, piano and vocalist

Maria Friedman, vocalist

Josh Groban, vocalist*

Megan Hilty, vocalist*

Audra McDonald, vocalist

Kelli O’Hara, vocalist

Frederica von Stade, vocalist

Program to feature Marvin Hamlisch’s music for stage and film, including selections

from A Chorus Line and Sweet Smell of Success.

*denotes New York Philharmonic debut

# # #

Tumblr — Your Backstage Pass

Photography is available by contacting the Communications Department at

(212) 875-5700; [email protected].