Conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and Cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras Will Join DSO for Program of Schumann, J. Strauss Jr., and R. Strauss, December 14-15

- Program includes Schumann’s Cello Concerto and R. Strauss’s Rosenkavalier Suite

- December 15 concert will be webcast for free at dso.org/live

Detroit, (November 29, 2018) – Conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras will appear with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) for concerts featuring classics of the Austrian and German repertoire.

The program includes Johann Strauss, Jr.’s Overture to Die Fledermaus, Robert Schumann’s Manfred Overture and Cello Concerto (with Queyras as featured soloist), and Richard Strauss’s Suite from Der Rosenkavalier.

The concerts take place Friday, December 14 at 10:45 a.m., and Saturday, December 15 at 8 p.m. at Orchestra Hall, within Midtown Detroit’s Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center.

One hour prior to each performance, guests are invited to enjoy an informative onstage Concert Talk about the program. These lectures and discussions will be made available for later viewing on the DSO’s YouTube channel.

Watch Live around the world: the Saturday evening concert will be webcast for free atdso.org/live and via Facebook Live, as part of the DSO’s groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series. The series is presented by Ford Motor Company Fund and made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Thanks to a generous grant from the FCA Foundation, the charitable arm of North American automaker FCA US, the DSO welcomes military veterans, active military, and their families to access discounted tickets for the 10:45 a.m. performance on Friday, December 14. See below for more information about the ticket discount. Discounts are available for 19 concerts throughout the 2018-2019 Season, including six Friday evening PNC Pops Series concerts and every Friday morning Classical Series Coffee Concert. The FCA Foundation and the DSO thank our veterans and active military members for their service.

The DSO Classical Series is generously sponsored by PVS Chemicals, Inc.

About Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider

Danish musician Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider performs at the highest level as both conductor and virtuoso violin soloist with the world’s most distinguished orchestras. He has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Mariinsky Orchestra since 2010 and was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

This season and next, Szeps-Znaider returns to the Orchestre National de Lyon, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and Luxembourg Philharmonic, and debuts with the Semperoper Dresden and the Hamburg Opera. He also continues his Nielsen project with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, conducting and recording the Danish composer’s complete symphonies. He will also be featured as Artist in Residence with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, both performing with and conducting the orchestra in a series of concerts, including his conducting debut at the Musikverein and a European tour with Philippe Jordan.

Szeps-Znaider’s extensive discography includes the Nielsen Concerto with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, Elgar’s Concerto in B minor with the late Sir Colin Davis and the Staatskapelle Dresden, award-winning recordings of the Brahms and Korngold concertos with Valery Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic, the Beethoven and Mendelssohn concertos with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic, the Prokofiev Concerto No. 2 and Glazunov Concerto with Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and the Mendelssohn Concerto on DVD with Riccardo Chailly and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Szeps-Znaider has also recorded the complete works of Brahms for violin and piano with Yefim Bronfman.

Szeps-Znaider is passionate about supporting the next generation of musical talent and spent ten years as Founder and Artistic Director of the annual Nordic Music Academy summer school, and is now President of the Nielsen Competition, which takes place every three years in Odense, Denmark. Szeps-Znaider plays the “Kreisler” Guarnerius “del Gesu” 1741 on extended loan by The Royal Danish Theater through the generosity of the VELUX Foundations, the Villum Fonden, and the Knud Højgaard Foundation.

About Jean-Guihen Queyras

Jean-Guihen Queyras is a French cellist born in Montreal, who enjoys a busy career as an orchestra soloist, chamber musician, and solo performer. He has worked with many of the world’s top orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Zürich, Philadelphia Orchestra, and others. He is a regular soloist with several early music ensembles, including Freiburg Baroque and Akadamie für Alte Musik Berlin. He also serves as a professor at the Musikhochschule Freiburg and artistic co-director of the Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence.

Queyras’s repertoire incorporates several contemporary works, and he has presented many world premieres, including Ivan Fedele’s cello concerto with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Leonard Slatkin and Gilbert Amy’s cello concerto with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. His focus on repertoire for solo cello led him to devise and perform several series of concerts featuring suites by Bach alongside new commissioned works by György Kurtág, Jonathan Harvey, Misato Mochizuki, Gilbert Amy, Ichiro Nodaira, and Ivan Fedele.

Queyras records extensively for Harmonia Mundi. Highlights include the award-winning complete Bach solo Suites in 2008 (which earned a Diapason d’Or and other prizes), an album of Debussy and Poulenc with pianist Alexandre Tharaud in that same year, and Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano with pianist Alexander Melnikov in 2014. Earlier this year, he teamed up with Tharaud again to release an album of cello sonatas and excerpts of the Hungarian Dances by Brahms for Warner Classics. 

Queyras has played a cello made by Gioffredo Cappa in 1696, on loan from Mécénat Musical Société Générale, since November 2005.

Ticket Information

Tickets for Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier begin at $15 and can be purchased at dso.org, by calling (313) 576-5111, or in-person at the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center Box Office (3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit).

Groups of 10 or more can save up to 30% on the price of a single ticket for most DSO concerts. For more information, contact Group Sales Manager Jim Sabatella at (313) 576-5130 or jsabatella@dso.org.

Veterans, active military, and their families may use the code HEROES1819 to unlock $10 tickets for the Friday, December 14 concert. The code can be used at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at (313) 576-5111.

Performance Details

Friday, December 14 at 10:45 a.m.

Saturday, December 15 at 8 p.m.

Orchestra Hall at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center

 

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, conductor

Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello

 

J. STRAUSS, JR.                    Overture to Die Fledermaus

 

SCHUMANN                         Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 129

                                                            Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello

 

   Overture to Manfred, Op. 115

 

R. STRAUSS                         Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59

 

About the DSO

The most accessible orchestra on the planet, 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. As a community-supported orchestra, generous giving by individuals and institutions at all levels drives the continued success and growth of the institution. Conductor Leonard Slatkin, who recently concluded an acclaimed decade-long tenure at the helm, now serves as the DSO’s Music Director Laureate, endowed by the Kresge Foundation. Celebrated conductor, arranger, and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, while the outstanding trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard holds the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair. Making its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, the DSO offers a performance schedule that features Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. One of America’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall will celebrate its centennial in 2019-2020. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in seven metro area venues, as well as a robust schedule of 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 radio broadcast and continues today with the free Live from Orchestra Hall webcast series, which also reaches tens of thousands of children with the Classroom Edition expansion. With growing attendance and unwavering philanthropic support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to embrace and inspire individuals, families, and communities through unsurpassed musical experiences.