June 13, 14, & 16: Gábor Takács-Nagy conducts three major works by Beethoven featuring violinist William Hagen
July 11-14: Stephanie Childress conducts works by Caroline Shaw, Benjamin Britten, and Felix Mendelssohn featuring soprano Erika Baikoff
Summer Chamber Recitals include Schubert & Black Angels on June 17 and Quartet for the End of Time at Genesis of Ann Arbor on July 9
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (May 30, 2024) – This June and July, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will conclude its 2024 William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series with two weekends of concerts at community venues across Metro Detroit conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy and Stephanie Childress, respectively.
On June 13, 14, and 16, Takács-Nagy will lead the DSO in a program of three major works by Ludwig van Beethoven, including his dramatic Overture to King Stephen, joyous Symphony No. 7 in A major, and iconic Violin Concerto in D major featuring violinist William Hagen as soloist. The concerts will take place on June 13 at 7:30 p.m. at The Hawk in Farmington Hills, June 14 at 8 p.m. at Meyer Theater in Monroe, and June 16 at 3 p.m. at the Seligman Performing Arts Center in Beverly Hills.
On July 11–14, Childress will lead the DSO in a program including Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte (which takes us “to the other side of Alice’s looking glass.”), Felix Mendelssohn’s dazzling Symphony No. 1, and Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations, a brilliant setting of French poetry featuring soprano Erika Baikoff as soloist. The concerts will take place on July 11 at 7:30 p.m. at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield, July 12 at 8 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Plymouth, July 13 at 8 p.m. at Kirk in the Hills in Bloomfield Hills, and July 14 at 3 p.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe.
On Monday, June 17 at 7 p.m., DSO musicians Hae Jeong Heidi Han (violin), Marian Tănău (violin), Will Haapaniemi (violin), and Jeremy Crosmer (cello) will perform a chamber recital at a to be announced location (ticket holders will be notified of the venue change). The program will feature George Crumb's Black Angels and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, “Death and the Maiden.”
On Tuesday, July 9 at 7 p.m., DSO musicians Hai-Xin Wu (violin), David LeDoux (cello), Jack Walters (clarinet), and guest pianist Zhihua Tang will perform a chamber recital at Genesis of Ann Arbor (2309 Packard Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104). The program will feature Olivier Messaien’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time), described by Wu as, “one of the most thrilling and influential compositions in chamber music.”
These chamber recital performances are free to all Neighborhood Series subscribers. Single tickets are also available and start at $15.
In partnership with Gesher Human Services, each William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series performance in 2024 will feature a display of artwork by a Gesher Human Services artist(s) at each venue. Since 2018, the DSO has collaborated with Gesher and other local partners through Gesher's Creative Expressions Program. Creative Expressions provides arts programming to people in Oakland and Wayne County who live with mental health challenges, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and more.
William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series subscriptions and single tickets (beginning at $30, with $10 tickets available for students and teachers) are on sale now and can be purchased at dso.org/neighborhood or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series is made possible by a generous grant from the William Davidson Foundation. WRCJ 90.9 FM also supports the series. Renamed in 2014 in honor of philanthropist William Davidson, the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series brings even more opportunities for Metro Detroiters to experience the DSO close to home. In October 2017, the William Davidson Foundation made a $15 million gift of support to the DSO—one of the orchestra’s largest ever—including continued sponsorship of the series.
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BEETHOVEN’S SEVENTH SYMPHONY
William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series
Thursday, June 13 at 7:30 p.m. at The Hawk - Farmington Hills Community Center (29995 W 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI 48334)
Friday, June 14 at 8 p.m. at La-Z-Boy Center – Meyer Theater on the Monroe County Community College campus(1555 S. Raisinville Road, Monroe, MI)
Sunday, June 16 at 3 p.m. at the Seligman Performing Arts Center on the Detroit Country Day School campus(22305 W. 13 Mile Road, Beverly Hills, MI)
Gábor Takács-Nagy, conductor
William Hagen, violin
Beethoven revolutionized the orchestral world with big, bold, and ambitious works. The drama that erupts from the opening overture gives way to some of the most delightful music imaginable. Violinist William Hagen returns for Beethoven’s iconic concerto while the Seventh Symphony, full of dances, leads us irresistibly to joy.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Overture to King Stephen
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto in D major
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A major
BRITTEN & MENDELSSOHN
William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series
Thursday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts (6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Township, MI)
Friday, July 12 at 8 p.m. at NorthRidge Church (49555 N Territorial Rd, Plymouth, MI)
Saturday, July 13 at 8 p.m. at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church (1340 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI)
Sunday, July 14 at 3 p.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church (467 Fairford Road, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI)
Stephanie Childress, conductor
Erika Baikoff, soprano
Caroline Shaw’s work takes us “to the other side of Alice’s looking glass.” Soprano Erika Baikoff, a recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, joins the DSO to “stretch gold from star to star” in Britten’s brilliant setting of French poetry. Mendelssohn’s First Symphony, written when we he was just 15, dazzles with the fire of youth.
CAROLINE SHAW Entr’acte
BENJAMIN BRITTEN Les Illuminations
FELIX MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 1
SCHUBERT & BLACK ANGELS
Chamber Recital
Monday, June 17 at 7 p.m.
Location to be announced
Hae Jeong Heidi Han, violin
Marian Tănău, violin
Will Haapaniemi, violin
Jeremy Crosmer, cello
DSO violinist Heidi Han always wanted to play “Death and the Maiden.” Schubert’s Quartet is a monumental piece reflecting emotions of fate. George Crumb’s Black Angels, composed for electric string quartet and subtitled “Thirteen Images from the Dark Land,” is similarly driven. Like Schubert’s momentous opus, Crumb hears powerful music in the irresistible pull of destiny.
GEORGE CRUMB Black Angels
FRANZ SCHUBERT String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, “Death and the Maiden”
QUARTET FOR THE END OF TIME
Chamber Recital
Tuesday, July 9 at 7 p.m. at Genesis of Ann Arbor (2309 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104)
Hai-Xin Wu, violin
David LeDoux, cello
Jack Walters, clarinet
Zhihua Tang, piano
Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time is “one of the most thrilling and influential compositions in chamber music,” describes DSO Assistant Concertmaster Hai-Xin Wu. Written and premiered in a prison-of-war camp during the early days of the Second World War, the French composer, inspired by his belief, found resources in such a dark place to create a brilliant and enduring masterpiece.
OLIVIER MESSIAEN Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time)
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About Gábor Takács-Nagy
Born in Budapest, Gábor Takács-Nagy began studying the violin at the age of eight. As a student of the Franz Liszt Academy, he won First Prize in 1979 in the Jeno Hubay Violin Competition and later pursued studies with Nathan Milstein. He studied Bartók’s string quartets with Zoltán Székely, who was Bartók’s best friend and dedicatee of his second violin concerto. Takács-Nagy is considered one of today’s most authentic exponents of Hungarian music, and in particular, the music of Béla Bartók. In 1982, he was awarded the Liszt Prize, in March 2017 the prestigious Béla Bartók-Ditta Pasztory Prize, and in March 2021 the Érdemes Művész (Artist of Merit) award presented by the Hungarian government to artists who have promoted Hungarian national culture throughout their careers.
From 1975 to 1992, he was the founding member and leader of the acclaimed Takács Quartet, performing throughout the world with many legendary artists. In 2002, Takács-Nagy began conducting, and he became the Music Director of the Weinberger Kammerorchestra in 2006 and the Music Director of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in 2007.
His previous conducting positions include Music Director of the MAV Symphony Orchestra Budapest (2010–2012), Music Director of Manchester Camerata (since 2011), Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra (since 2012), and Principal Artistic Partner of the Irish Chamber Orchestra (2013–2017).
He is regularly invited to conduct the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestra Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, the Orchestra Filarmonica de Bologna, l’Orchestre de l’Opéra de Toulon, the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Calgary Philharmonic, and the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Takács-Nagy is the Professor of String Quartet at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, and in June 2012 he was awarded honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
About William Hagen
Riveting American violinist William Hagen has appeared as a soloist with many of the world's great orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, San Francisco Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and many more. Already a seasoned international performer who has won friends around the world, William has been hailed as a “brilliant virtuoso…a standout” (The Dallas Morning News) whose playing is “… captivating, floating delicately above the orchestra” (Chicago Classical Review). He was the third-prize winner of the 2015 Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, one of the highest-ranking Americans ever in the prestigious competition. Hagen performs on the 1732 “Arkwright Lady Rebecca Sylvan” Stradivarius, on generous loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation.
Hagen’s recent performances include appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic and Asheville Symphony, and performances at the Ravinia, Grant Park, Sunriver, and Santa Fe chamber music festivals and Tippet Rise Art Center. Hagen’s 2023–2024 season highlights include performances for the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a European tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and collaborations with cellist Andrei Ioniță, and pianists Orion Weiss and Albert Cano-Smit. This season Hagen offers a new community engagement initiative that combines conversations with local gardening experts with an interactive performance and explores the ways in which music and nature are connected.
Hagen has performed with conductor Nicolas McGegan both at the Aspen Music Festival and with the Pasadena Symphony, and made his debut with the Oregon Symphony under Carlos Kalmar, performed with the Brussels Chamber Orchestra in Beijing and at the Aspen Music Festival with conductor Ludovic Morlot, and played recitals in Paris, Brussels, and at the Ravinia Festival. Collaborations include those with Steven Isserlis at Wigmore Hall, with Tabea Zimmermann at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, with Gidon Kremer, Steven Isserlis, and Christian Tetzlaff in Germany, and in New York City with the Jupiter Chamber Players.
Since his debut with the Utah Symphony at age nine, Hagen has performed with conductors including Marin Alsop, Christian Arming, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Michel Tabachnik, and Hugh Wolff. A native of Salt Lake City, Hagen first heard the violin when he was three and began taking lessons at age four with Natalie Reed, followed by Deborah Moench. At age 10, he began studying with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he studied until the age of 17.
After studying at The Juilliard School for two years with Itzhak Perlman, Hagen returned to Los Angeles to continue studying with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Conservatory. He then went on to study at the Kronberg Academy in Germany with Christian Tetzlaff. Hagen is an alumnus of the Verbier Academy in Switzerland, the Perlman Music Program, and the Aspen Music Festival.
About Stephanie Childress
Strong ideas, lucid communication, and intensely focused energy are among the qualities that define Stephanie Childress among today’s most compelling young musicians. Recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, her musicianship and command of a broad scope of repertoire have led to renown on both sides of the Atlantic.
Inspired to start conducting due to her love of opera, the Franco-British conductor began the 2023–2024 season making her Hamburg Staatsoper debut in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and returning to Glyndebourne’s autumn season for Don Giovanni. Together they marked the latest milestone in the development of a fine Mozartian, hailed by the Guardian for the “lithe vitality” of her interpretation of Le nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne and on tour last year. In the 2023–2024 season she will also make her conducting debut with Detroit Opera in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves.
On the orchestral podium, Childress continues to be reinvited internationally and returns to the Barcelona and North Carolina symphonies. In North America, she will have debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and National Arts Centre Ottawa. In Europe, Childress will also make her first appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Dresden Philharmonic, and make her Japanese debut with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.
2022–2023 season highlights included debuts with l’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and New World Symphony Orchestra, as well as returns to the North Carolina Symphony and l’Orchestre National de Montpellier. That season also marked the conclusion of her time as Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under Stéphane Denève and Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, a post she held from September 2020.
Childress has very strong ties to the French cultural scene following her second-prize win at the 2020 inaugural conducting competition, La Maestra. Since then, she has conducted some of the top French orchestras including l’Orchestre de Paris, the Paris Mozart Orchestra, and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. In September 2023, following her involvement as one of the first conducting fellows of l’Académie de l’Opéra de Paris, she made her debut at the Palais Garnier with l’Orchestre Pasdeloup for l’Opéra’s opening gala concert. In previous seasons, she has also made several exciting appearances with UK orchestras, including debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and the London Mozart Players.
A passionate advocate for amplifying the role of music within today’s world, Childress previously undertook an artistic residence at the Villa Albertine, a network for arts and ideas spanning France and the United States. She is also a member of the Franco-British Young Leaders’ Program, created by the Franco-British Council to further cooperation across both sides of the Channel. Stephanie is an active supporter of the Tri-borough Music Hub, an award-winning organization for music education. She has taken part in several programs with the association, including leading the junior string ensemble at an “Artists for Inclusivity” event and speaking at the Youth Music Conference 2020, held at the Royal College of Music.
About Erika Baikoff
Russian American Soprano, Erika Baikoff, is a recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. As a Lindemann Young Artist, she sang the roles of Xenia in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Barbarina in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. At Nézet-Séguin's invitation, she joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra's tour of Das Rheingold and was featured as the soprano soloist in Mahler's Fourth Symphony with Rustioni and the Ulster Orchestra. Equally passionate about chamber music, she made her debuts with Schubertíada and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, both of which she will return to in future seasons. The 2023–2024 season includes debuts with the Houston Grand Opera, London Symphony Orchestra, and Ciclo de Lied.
From 2018 to 2020, Baikoff was a member of the Opéra National de Lyon Studio, where her roles included Le Feu/ Princesse/ Rossignol in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Juliet in Boris Blacher’s Romeo and Juliet, Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco, and the soprano solo in Mahler's Fourth Symphony.
Baikoff is the first prize winner of the 2019 Helmut Deutsch Liedwettbewerb and the 10th Concours international de chant-piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger with her duo partner, Gary Beecher. Other awards include the 6th Prize, Oratorio-Lied Prize, and Schubert Prize at the Tenor Viñas Contest, George London Award, Sullivan Foundation Career Development Grant, 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions semi-finalist, Career Bridges Grant, Mondavi Young Artist Founders’ Prize, and the Bouchaine Young Artist Scholarship.
Baikoff is an alumni of the Atelier Lyrique at the Verbier Festival, where she sang Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème, and the Académie Vocal Residency of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French Studies from Princeton University and a Master of Music from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a performance schedule that features the PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in metro area venues, as well as eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings. A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.