Concert program at Orchestra Hall features Gershwin’s landmark work, plus music from West Side Story, and other works inspired by Shakespeare.
October 12 performance webcast for free at dso.org, YouTube, and via Facebook Live as part of DSO’s Live from Orchestra Hall series; October 11 concert broadcast and streamed live on 90.9 WRCJ in Detroit and a network of stations across Michigan
Subscriptions and single tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (October 3, 2024) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and Music Director Jader Bignamini will welcome acclaimed British pianist Wayne Marshall to Orchestra Hall on October 11 through 13 for his DSO debut in a weekend of concerts on the PVS Classical Series. The program will feature Marshall as soloist in George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which celebrates a century in 2024.
Conducted by Bignamini, the program will also include Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Othello Suite, Giuseppe Verdi’s Ballet Music from Act III of Macbeth, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture.
The Saturday, October 12 performance will be webcast for free at dso.org, YouTube, and via Facebook Live as part of DSO’s Live from Orchestra Hall series; The Friday, October 11 concert will be broadcast and streamed live on 90.9 WRCJ in Detroit and a network of stations across Michigan.
Tickets for Rhapsody In Blue start at $20 and can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2024–2025 PVS Classical Series and Create Your Own subscription packages are also available.
The title sponsor of the DSO’s Classical Series is PVS Chemicals, Inc. DSO Live is presented by Ford Philanthropy. Technology support comes from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Digital programming is produced from the Al Glancy Control Room.
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PVS Classical Series
Friday, October 11 at 10:45 a.m.
Saturday, October 12 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, October 13 at 3 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Jader Bignamini, conductor
Wayne Marshall, piano
Shakespeare inspired many thrilling orchestral odes. Music Director Jader Bignamini leads dances from Bernstein’s West Side Story and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture, two starkly different takes on star-crossed lovers. In his DSO debut, pianist Wayne Marshall performs Gershwin’s breakout hit Rhapsody in Blue.
LEONARD BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
GEORGE GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Othello
GIUSEPPE VERDI Ballet Music from Act III of Macbeth
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture
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About Jader Bignamini
Jader Bignamini was introduced as the 18th music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in January 2020, commencing with the 2020–2021 season. He kicked off his tenure as DSO Music Director with the launch of DSO Digital Concerts in September 2020, conducting works by Copland, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Georges. His infectious passion and artistic excellence set the tone for the season ahead, creating extraordinary music and establishing a close relationship with the orchestra. A jazz aficionado, he has immersed himself in Detroit’s rich jazz culture and the influences of American music.
A native of Crema, Italy, Bignamini studied at the Piacenza Music Conservatory and began his career as a musician (clarinet) with Orchestra Sinfonica La Verdi in Milan, later serving as the group’s resident conductor. Captivated by the music of legends like Mahler and Tchaikovsky, Bignamini explored their complexity and power, puzzling out the role that each instrument played in creating a larger-than-life sound. When he conducted his first professional concert at the age of 28, it didn’t feel like a departure, but an arrival.
In the years since, Bignamini has conducted some of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras and opera companies in venues across the globe including working with Riccardo Chailly on concerts of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in 2013 and his concert debut at La Scala in 2015 for the opening season of La Verdi Orchestra. Recent highlights include debuts with Opera de Paris conducting La forza del destino and with Deutsche Opera Berlin conducting Simon Boccanegra; appearances with the Pittsburgh and Toronto symphonies; debuts with the Houston, Dallas, and Minnesota symphonies; Osaka Philharmonic and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo; with the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Dutch National Opera (Madama Butterfly); Bayerische Staatsoper (La traviata); I puritani in Montpellier for the Festival of Radio France; La traviata in Tokyo directed by Sofia Coppola; return engagements with Oper Frankfurt (La forza del destino) and Santa Fe Opera (La bohème); Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi; La traviata, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot at Arena of Verona; Il trovatore and Aida at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera; Madama Butterfly, I puritani, and Manon Lescaut at Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Simon Boccanegra and La forza del destino at the Verdi Festival in Parma; Ciro in Babilonia at Rossini Opera Festival and La bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Elisir d’amore at La Fenice in Venice.
When Bignamini leads an orchestra in symphonic repertoire, he conducts without a score, preferring to make direct eye contact with the musicians. He conducts from the heart, forging a profound connection with his musicians that shines through both onstage and off. He both embodies and exudes the excellence and enthusiasm that has long distinguished the DSO’s artistry.
About Wayne Marshall
British conductor, organist, and pianist Wayne Marshall is world renowned for his musicianship and versatility on the podium and at the keyboard. He served as Chief Conductor of WDR Funkhaus Orchestra Cologne from 2014 to 2020, became Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in 2007, and is a celebrated interpreter of Gershwin, Bernstein, and other 20th century composers.
Marshall’s recent conducting highlights include his critically-acclaimed debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Waldbuhne in 2021. He also made his debut with the Munich Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, and Chicago Symphony. He conducted a widely-praised new production of Porgy and Bess at the Theater an der Wien in 2020.
He has worked regularly with the Tonkunstler Orchestra, Czech, Rotterdam, Oslo and Strasbourg philharmonic orchestras, and also with Orchestre de Paris. He has worked with the BBC Singers on several occasions and has appeared both as soloist and conductor at the BBC PROMS.
In summer 2021, Marshall made his debut at the Edinburgh International Festival presenting the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein with concerts featuring Danielle de Niese and, in 2022, as conductor with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
His recent debut appearance at the Opera de Lyon was highly praised for the musical performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide.
Highlights of Marshall’s 23–24 season include his conducting debuts with the Vancouver Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and the Orchestra National de Lyon. In 2025, he will make his conducting debut in Japan with the Nagoya and Hiroshima symphony orchestras.
As organ recitalist, he has an exceptionally varied repertoire and performs worldwide. He gave a spectacular online recital at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg in 2021. He also made his debut as organist at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2022 and returns to the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles in 2024. He has performed at prestigious cathedrals and concert halls worldwide, including the concert hall in Dortmund, Essen Philharmonie, Bozar in Brussels, and the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Throughout 2018 he played a key role in leading the Bernstein centenary celebrations. Highlights included Bernstein’s Mass with Orchestre de Paris at the Philharmonie de Paris and “Kaddish” with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse later in the year. He also made his debut with Zurich Philharmonie in an all-Bernstein program and conducted the rarely-performed White House Cantata in Utrecht with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He also worked with the Munich Rundfunkorchester at the Prinzregententheater and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
He conducted the first performance of the highly-acclaimed orchestra Chineke! at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Marshall has conducted Porgy and Bess numerous times, including at the Opera Comique in Paris, Washington National Opera, and Dallas Opera.
He conducted Bernstein’s Candide and Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin and Harbison’s The Great Gatsby at the Semperoper in Dresden. Marshall conducted Jake Heggie’s acclaimed opera Dead Man Walking at Montreal Opera and was immediately reinvited to conduct Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.
Marshall was honored with an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from Her Majesty the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in 2021. In 2004, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 2010. In 2016, Marshall was awarded the prestigious Golden Jubilee Award, presented by the Barbados Government for his services to music. Marshall was proud to be an Ambassador of the London Music Fund from 2018 until 2021.
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.