For more information or photographs, contact DSO Director of Community Engagement Mark Mobley 302.656.7442, ext. 104; markm@delawaresymphony.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/4/09
Delaware Symphony Orchestra to record two concertos with GRAMMY®winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet for Telarc
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE -- May 15 and 16 at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and music director David Amado perform concerts including Ravel's Bolero and two concertos with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
May 17 and 18, the DSO, the LAGQ and Maestro Amado return to the stage at the Grand to record the Concierto Andaluz by Joaquin Rodrigo and the new Interchange for Guitar Quartet and Orchestra by legendary Brazilian guitarist Sergio Assad.
The recording will be issued on CD and as a digital download by Telarc, an award-winning label that for 30 years has been an international leader in audiophile sound. The project continues a relationship that began when the LAGQ performed with Maestro Amado and the DSO in 2006.
"This is a big first for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra," Amado says. "I am thrilled with the opportunity to work with world-class musicians like the LAGQ and Sergio Assad. It is heartening to know that they, together with Telarc, have discovered what a gem we have in the Delaware Symphony. And now the rest of the world can know too."
"It should come as no surprise that David Amado and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra were an attractive prospect to Telarc and the LAGQ," says DSO Executive Director Lucinda Williams. "Our musicians, our maestro, the patrons who attend our concerts, our funders and corporate sponsors have believed all along that we are an important orchestra."
Tickets are still available for the pre-recording concerts Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17 at 8 p.m. Call the box office at 800.37.GRAND or order on-line at www.ticketsatthegrand.org
Friday, May 15, 2009 and Saturday, May 16, 2009
8 PM The Grand Opera House, Wilmington
David Amado, conductor
LA Guitar Quartet
FALLA Three Cornered Hat Suite No. 2
RODRIGO Concierto Andaluz for Four Guitars and Orchestra
ASSAD Interchange for Guitar Quartet and Orchestra
RAVEL Bolero
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) did a smashing job performing a new, ink-still-wet concerto by Sérgio Assad, Interchange for Guitar Quartet and Orchestra . . . LAGQ, for whom the piece was specifically written and tailored, trafficked in festive virtuosity with an orchestra up to the challenge of navigating Assad's swinging, Brazilian-esque phraseology.--The Santa Barbara Independent, April 2, 2009
About Sergio Assad
Sérgio Assad is widely considered one of the most popular and virtuosic guitarists in the world. His exceptional artistry and uncanny ensemble playing come from both a family rich in Brazilian musical tradition and from studies with the best guitarists in South America. In addition to setting new performance standards, Mr. Assad, along with his brother Odair, has played a major role in creating and introducing new music for guitar. Their virtuosity has inspired a wide range of composers to write for them: Astor Piazzolla, Terry Riley, Radamés Gnatalli, Marlos Nobre, Nikita Koshin, Roland Dyens, Jorge Morel, Edino Krieger and Francisco Mignone.
Now Mr. Assad is adding to their repertory by composing music for the duo and for various musical partners both with symphony orchestra and in recitals. They have worked extensively with such renowned artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Fernando Suarez Paz, Paquito D'Rivera, Gidon Kremer and Dawn Upshaw.
About the LAGQ
The world's hottest classical ensemble or its tightest pop band? However it helps you to think about the LAGQ, keep the emphasis on superlatives for its unrivaled joy, technical élan and questing spirits. - Los Angeles Times
Recognized as one of America's premier instrumental ensembles and winner of a 2005 Grammy Award, the L.A. Guitar Quartet - John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and Matthew Greif - is one of the most charismatic and versatile groups performing today. Popularly known as the LAGQ, these four virtuosi bring a new energy to the concert stage with their eclectic programs and dynamic musical interplay. Their inventive, critically-acclaimed transcriptions of concert masterworks provide a fresh look at the music of the past, while their interpretations of works from the contemporary and world-music realms continually break new ground.
The Quartet currently records for Telarc and their most recent release "LAGQ-Latin" received a GRAMMY® nomination in the Best Classical Crossover Album category. The above and their two records for Sony Classical have appeared on the Billboard charts. The LAGQ continues to set new standards for the guitar quartet medium.
About the Delaware Symphony
The earliest ancestor of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, the Tankopanicum Orchestra, was founded by Alfred I. du Pont. He took the name Tankopanicum from the Native American name for the Brandywine River. The small amateur orchestra was initially comprised of mill workers, a doctor, a machinist, a clerk, a millwright, a blacksmith, a contractor, laborers and several of du Pont's relatives.
Today the Delaware Symphony is the state's pre-eminent performing arts organization. It performs a seven-program Classical Series and a three-program pops series called DSO Plugged In at the Grand Opera House, as well as a Champagne Chamber Series at the Hotel du Pont. Its concerts are heard regularly on WHYY, one of National Public Radio's leading member stations.
The Delaware Symphony Orchestra is devoted to bringing music to Delaware's children. Each year more than 11,000 students are treated to in-school ensembles, youth concerts, soloist competitions, family concerts and discounted concert tickets.
About David Amado
The Delaware Symphony Orchestra thrives under the direction of one of the country's most talented young conductors.-Southern Living
David Amado has been praised by the media, audiences and fellow musicians for his deep musical insight and visceral energy. These qualities have allowed Maestro Amado to reinvigorate the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, turning it into a premier regional orchestra during his short tenure. His innovative programming, his approachable demeanor and his natural and instinctive music-making make him a formidable musical presence.
Descended from a long line of fine musicians including his grandmother, violist Lillian Fuchs, and great-uncle, violinist Joseph Fuchs, David Amado continues his family's tradition of making great music. He showed a predilection for music at a very early age, beginning piano lessons at age four. But it was not until his high school years that he became dedicated to a musical career, thanks to the galvanizing force of his teachers and peers in the Pre-College Division of Juilliard. David continued his college years at Juilliard, studying piano with Herbert Stessin while simultaneously exploring other facets of music, including the world of the orchestra.
Maestro Amado's fascination with the orchestra led him to Indiana University, where he received his Master's in Instrumental Conducting. After graduating he returned to New York to study again at Juilliard, but this time as a conductor with Otto-Werner Mueller. The following three years both reignited David's dedication to musical excellence and groomed him for entry into the professional world.
David's first job was an apprenticeship with the Oregon Symphony, followed by a six-year tenure with the Saint Louis Symphony in Missouri. While in Saint Louis, David was both the Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and staff conductor for the Saint Louis Symphony. David greatly expanded the types and number of concerts offered to young people, introducing symphonic music to 55,000 young people annually. In addition to his conducting duties, David was a producer for Arch Media, the Symphony's own record label.
Maestro Amado is a prominent leader of the Delaware arts community. His unique and appealing programming, which blends familiar orchestral repertoire with modern pieces, has propelled the DSO to new artistic heights. With his disarming and accessible demeanor as well as his innate teaching ability, David draws new audiences to the concert hall.
Maestro Amado continues to be an enduringly popular figure in Saint Louis where he was the Associate Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) from 2001-2004. In November, he conducted the Virginia Symphony in a program including Holst's Planets. Other recent highlights of his career include engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony.
Maestro Amado lives in Wilmington with his wife, violinist Meredith Amado, and their three children.
About Telarc
The Telarc Sound. Everything You Hear is True.®
Telarc achieved its reputation for the exceptionally clear, natural sound of its recordings. Even before the public had heard of the digital process, they were embracing the sound of Telarc. Critics have praised it, and Telarc's artists rely on it, knowing that Telarc's recorded sound gives them the most faithful possible representation of their artistry. "From their very first recordings," said renowned conductor Robert Shaw of his twenty-year recording history with Telarc, "Robert Woods and Jack Renner have brought intelligence, care and creativity to their work, which immediately challenged the standards of the entire recording industry. All audiophiles and lovers of music are in their debt."
Since 1980, Telarc has been honored with over sixty GRAMMY® Awards for performance, production, and engineering, as well as Label of the Year from Gramophone, the French Grand Prix du Disque and Diapason d' Or; Japan's Record of the Year; and Germany's Audiophile CD of the Year.
Although it began as a classical-only recording company, Telarc now boasts a catalog of more than 800 recordings, ranging from classical, classical-crossover, jazz, contemporary jazz, blues and country.
About the Grand Opera House
The historic Grand Opera House has been a landmark for the residents of Wilmington and the surrounding region for more than 135 years. Opened in 1871 as a home for the Grand Lodge of the Masons for the lordly sum of $100,000, The Grand has played host to thousands of renowned entertainers and performing artists over the years, including Ethel Barrymore, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Philip Sousa and the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University.
Designed by Delaware architect Thomas Dixon in the Second Empire style, The Grand features a distinctive façade of cast iron adorned with Masonic images. The first season of operation presented more than seventy performances that included everything from serious dramas to minstrel shows to lectures and exhibitions.
In 1909, The Grand was briefly converted into a regular stop on the vaudeville circuit and then transitioned into a movie theater. The building was allowed to fall into decline and closed its doors in 1967.
On December 22, 1971, the hundredth anniversary of its original grand opening, The Grand Opera House was again packed with people and excitement, as plans were unveiled to renovate the theater to its former splendor; it was rededicated February 1, 1973. Today The Grand presents more than 75 shows each season, ranging from dance companies to rock and comedy stars, with jazz, folk, and family artists as well.
