- Program also includes Bedřich Smetana’s Overture to The Bartered Bride and The Moldau
- December 4 concert will be webcast for free at dso.org and on Facebook as part of DSO’s Live from Orchestra Hall series; December 3 concert broadcast and streamed live on 90.9 WRCJ in Detroit and network of stations across Michigan
- Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (November 23, 2021) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and Music Director Jader Bignamini will welcome renowned violinist Hilary Hahn to Orchestra Hall on December 2-4 for a program of Dvořák’s Violin Concerto on the PVS Classical Series.
The program will include two audience-favorite works by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana: The Moldau and the Overture to The Bartered Bride. Hahn will join for Antonín Dvořák’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor. The program concludes with the Third Symphony of African American orchestral pioneer Florence Price, which had its world premiere at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1940 by the Detroit Civic Orchestra featuring members of the DSO.
To protect the health and well-being of its patrons, musicians, and staff due to the ongoing pandemic, the DSO has implemented new safety policies including mask and COVID-19 vaccine or test requirements for all guests and contactless e-ticketing. Visit dso.org/safetyplan for more information.
Jader & Hilary Hahn will take place Thursday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, December 3 at 10:45 a.m., and Saturday, December 4 at 8 p.m. at Orchestra Hall.
The December 4 performance will also be webcast for free at dso.org and via Facebook Live as part of the DSO’sLive from Orchestra Hall series. The December 3 concert will be broadcast and streamed live on 90.9 WRCJ in Detroit and a network of stations across Michigan.
Tickets for these performances start at $15 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.
The title sponsor of the DSO’s Classical Series is PVS Chemicals, Inc. DSO Live is presented by Ford Motor Company Fund and made possible by 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
Thursday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, December 3 at 10:45 a.m.
Saturday, December 4 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Jader Bignamini, conductor
Hilary Hahn, violin
Jader Bignamini welcomes renowned violinist Hilary Hahn back to Orchestra Hall to perform Dvořák’s violin concerto. Also, Smetana’s two audience favorites, The Moldau and the Overture to The Bartered Bride, and the third symphony of African American orchestral pioneer Florence Price, which had its world premiere in Detroit at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
BEDŘICH SMETANA Overture to The Bartered Bride
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 53
BEDŘICH SMETANA The Moldau
FLORENCE PRICE Symphony No. 3 in C minor
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About Jader Biganmini
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, Jader 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 symphonies of greats like Mahler and Tchaikovsky, Jader 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, Jader 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 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; Traviata in Tokyo directed by Sofia Coppola; Andrea Chénier at New National Theatre in Tokyo; Rossini’s Stabat Mater at Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy; Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle at Teatro dell’Opera in Rome; return engagements with Oper Frankfurt (La forza del destino) and Santa Fe Opera (La Bohème); Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi; 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 Jader 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 Hilary Hahn
Three-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn melds expressive musicality and technical expertise with a diverse repertoire guided by artistic curiosity. Her barrier-breaking attitude towards classical music and her commitment to sharing her experiences with a global community have made her a fan favorite. Hahn is a prolific recording artist and commissioner of new works, and her 21 feature recordings have received every critical prize in the international press.
As Virtual Artist-in-Residence with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Hahn performed three programs last season, including the world premiere of her newly composed cadenza to Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5.
Hahn went on to perform the concerto with the Houston and Dallas Symphony Orchestras; in Dallas, she also delivered the keynote speech of the Second Annual Women in Classical Music Symposium. Hahn also took the time last season to perform the Dvoˇrák Violin Concerto, appearing with both the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.
In March 2021, Deutsche Grammophon released Hahn’s 21st album, Paris, recorded with Mikko Franck and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Paris features the world premiere recording of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Two Serenades, a piece written for Hahn and completed posthumously by Kalevi Aho, which Hahn premiered in 2019. The album also includes performances of Ernest Chausson’s Poème and Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a long-time signature piece of Hahn’s.
A strong advocate for new music, Hahn has championed and commissioned works by a diverse array of contemporary composers. In the 2018-19 season, she premiered two new works written for her: Two Serenades, and Lera Auerbach’s Sonata No. 4: Fractured Dreams. The season was bookended by another major release: her most recent solo commission, 6 Partitas by the late Antón García Abril. García Abril, Auerbach, and Rautavaara had been contributing composers for In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores, Hahn’s Grammy Award-winning multi-year commissioning project to revitalize the duo encore genre.
Hahn is a prolific and celebrated recording artist whose twenty feature albums on Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, and Sony have all opened in the top ten of the Billboard charts. Three of Hahn’s albums—her 2003 Brahms and Stravinsky concerto disc, a 2008 pairing of the Schoenberg and Sibelius concerti, and her 2013 recording of In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores— have been awarded Grammys. Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto, which was written for Hahn and which she recorded along with the Tchaikovsky concerto, went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. Hahn is the subject of two documentaries by filmmaker Benedict Mirow: Hilary Hahn – A Portrait, filmed in 2004, and Hilary Hahn – Evolution of an Artist, which chronicles the subsequent 16 years of her career.
Hahn has also participated in several non-classical productions. She was featured in the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to The Village and has collaborated on two records by the alt-rock band ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, on the album Grand Forks by Tom Brosseau, and on tour with folk-rock singer-songwriter Josh Ritter. In 2012, Hahn launched Silfra, a free- improv project with experimental prepared-pianist Hauschka, following an intensive period of development.
Visit hilaryhahn.com for more.
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 organization. In January 2020, Italian conductor Jader Bignamini was named the DSO’s next music director to commence with the 2020-2021 season. Celebrated conductor, arranger, and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, while Oscar-nominated 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 the world’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall celebrated its centennial in 2019-2020. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in eight 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 live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts, 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.