April 18, 19, & 21: Simone Menezes conducts works by Ibert, Mozart, Villa-Lobos, and Ravel featuring rising pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason; April 18 includes free pre-concert art and music event with Gesher Human Services
April 25–28: Violinist and conductor Dmitry Sinkovsky conducts and performs works by Handel, Corelli, Vivaldi, Rebel, and Stravinsky
April 16 Chamber Recital: Quintets with the DSO Principal Winds at the Ferndale First United Methodist Church
Subscriptions and tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (March 27, 2024) – This April, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will continue its William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series with two weekends of concerts at community venues across Metro Detroit conducted by Simone Menezes and Dmitry Sinkovsky, respectively. The first weekend will feature rising British pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason as soloist in her DSO debut, plus a pre-concert event on April 18 in partnership with Gesher Human Services’ Creative Expressions program, which provides arts programming to people in Oakland and Wayne County who live with mental health challenges, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and more.
On April 18, 19, and 21, Menezes will lead the DSO in a program including beloved works by Jacques Ibert (Hommage à Mozart), Heitor Villa-Lobos (Sinfonietta), Maurice Ravel (Suite from Ma mère l'oye [Mother Goose]), and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major) featuring Kanneh-Mason as soloist. The concerts will take place on April 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, April 19 at 8 p.m. at Meyer Theater in Monroe, and April 21 at 3 p.m. at the Seligman Performing Arts Center in Beverly Hills.
On April 25–28, Sinkovsky will conduct the DSO in a program including Handel’s Overture to Messiah, Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, Rebel’s Selections from Les Élémens, Stravinsky’s Suite from Pulcinella, and Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in E minor (“Il favorito”) featuring Sinkovsky himself as soloist. The concerts will take place on April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield, April 26 at 8 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Plymouth, April 27 at 8 p.m. at Kirk in the Hills in Bloomfield Hills, and April 28 at 3 p.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe.
On Tuesday, April 16 at 7 p.m., DSO musicians Hannah Hammel Maser (flute), Alexander Kinmonth (oboe), Ralph Skiano (clarinet), Scott Strong (horn), and Conrad Cornelison (bassoon) will perform a chamber recital at the Ferndale First United Methodist Church (22331 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, MI 48220). The program will feature Quintet for Winds by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison. This performance is 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 Gesher artists at each venue, plus an art viewing and music performance pre-concert event on April 18.
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.
Gesher’s free pre-concert event at Congregation Shaarey Zedek on April 18 will feature music and art by participants in their Clubhouse, Skill Building, and Choices programs, including works by featured artist Jill Robinson. Artists from the Skill Building program will present works created in their design class; artists from the Choices program will present art inspired by music; and artists from the Clubhouse program will present works including a collection produced for Northville Art House. Select artworks will be available for purchase at the end of the event.
The event will also include Kosher food and socializing, plus a capstone music performance at 6 p.m. featuring Skill Building and Clubhouse participants alongside DSO musicians Hannah Hammel Maser (flute), Jack Walters (clarinet), Jeremy Crosmer (cello), and Chris Hamlen (bass).
Patrons who attend the pre-concert Gesher event may use code GESHER20 to access $20 tickets for the April 18 DSO performance of Ravel’s Mother Goose. The code may be used in advance when purchasing tickets at dso.org, or verbally at the Box Office table on April 18.
Those who plan to attend the Gesher pre-concert event are encouraged to RSVP to Lindsey Fox at lfox@geshermi.org by Monday, April 15.
Robinson’s art will also be on display for the remainder of the weekend at the concerts in Monroe on April 19 and Beverly Hills on April 21. Featured artist Dorothy Harris Moy will have works on display at the Neighborhood Series concerts from April 25 through 28.
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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RAVEL’S MOTHER GOOSE
William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series
Thursday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Shaarey Zedek (27375 Bell Road, Southfield, MI)
Friday, April 19 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, April 21 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)
Simone Menezes, conductor
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, already “a deft and expressive soloist,” (The Guardian) makes her DSO debut with a concerto Mozart likely premiered himself. The program continues with a piece Ibert wrote for Mozart’s birthday and Villa-Lobos exploring the possibilities of Mozart’s themes through his Sinfonietta. Spinning stories into exquisite sounds, Ravel brings out the electric drama of fairy tales in Ma mère l'oye (Mother Goose).
JACQUES IBERT Hommage à Mozart
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488
HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS Sinfonietta
MAURICE RAVEL Suite from Ma mère l'oye (Mother Goose)
VIVALDI & STRAVINSKY
William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series
Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts (6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield Township, MI)
Friday, April 26 at 8 p.m. at NorthRidge Church (49555 N Territorial Rd, Plymouth, MI)
Saturday, April 27 at 8 p.m. at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church (1340 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI)
Sunday, April 27 at 3 p.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church (467 Fairford Road, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI)
Dmitry Sinkovsky, conductor and violin
Conductor and violinist Dmitry Sinkovksy, known for “flourishes that may make your jaw drop,” (The Times, London), leads Baroque showpieces including music from Handel’s Messiah and works by Italian masters. Jumping ahead, Stravinsky finds inspiration in 18th century styles, creating the soundtrack to a hilarious ballet about love, love, and more love.
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Overture to Messiah, HWV 56
ARCANGELO CORELLI Concerto Grosso in Bb Major, Op. 6, No. 11
ANTONIO VIVALDI Violin Concerto in E minor, RV 277 (“Il Favorito”)
JEAN-FÉRY REBEL Selections from Les Élémens
IGOR STRAVINSKY Suite from Pulcinella
QUINTETS WITH THE DSO PRINCIPAL WINDS
Chamber Recital
Tuesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. at the Ferndale First United Methodist Church (22331 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, MI 48220)
Hannah Hammel Maser, flute
Alexander Kinmonth, oboe
Ralph Skiano, clarinet
Scott Strong, horn
Conrad Cornelison, bassoon
The Principal Winds of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra assemble for an adventurous evening of works by American composers. The Quintet for Winds by Pulitzer Prize winner John Harbison is featured, a piece Harbison describes as “extremely challenging to play,” and born from a collaboration with “resourceful, inquisitive, and fearless wind players.”
JOHN HARBISON Quintet for Winds
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About Simone Menezes
Brazilian conductor Simone Menezes is a visionary musician known for her creativity and innovative spirit. Whether as the founder and artistic director of Ensemble K, as a coveted guest conductor with many of the world's most respected orchestras, or in her stunningly creative projects in partnership between music and other arts, Menezes has established herself as a rapidly rising artist of a new generation.
Menezes has conducted orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Symphonic Orchestra of Brazil, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, the Orchestre National de l'Opera de Lorraine, the Orquestra Sinfônica Nacional, the Osaka Symphony Orchestra, and at the Philharmonie de Paris. She has recorded two albums and premiered over 20 works. Her latest critically acclaimed album, Metanoia, was released in February 2022.
The 2022–2023 season saw Menezes conduct performances with the LA Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine, the Orchestre de Douai, and the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen. With Ensemble K, she performed in Pairs, Venice, London, Lille, and Brest. Menezes also conducted a recording of Ravel’s Piano Concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
She has curated various themed projects, including the celebrated Amazonia: a collaboration between Simone and the great Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, shining a spotlight on the ever-changing landscape of the Amazon rainforest.
From 2008 to 2012, Menezes was music director of the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra in Brazil, recording two albums of Brazilian contemporary music, which were awarded "Best Brazilian Musical Project" by the Association of Musical Critics of Sao Paulo. In 2012, Marin Alsop took notice of Menezes’s talents and invited her to conduct at the Festival Campos do Jordão. Other work in Brazil includes several collaborations with EMESP/GURI, the State Youth Orchestra of São Paulo, with whom she has had the opportunity to conduct large-scale symphonic repertoire in concerts at the Sala São Paulo.
Menezes regularly collaborates with her long-term mentor Paavo Järvi, assisting him over the years with orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Staatskapelle Berlin. At the age of 20 she formed her first orchestra in Brazil, the Camerata Latino Americana, a group specializing in the interpretation of Latin American repertoire. The work and model of this ground-breaking ensemble received recognition from the International Society for the Performing Arts of New York.
Menezes studied conducting in Brazil, then at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris where she graduated after only one year of study. She regularly received tutelage from Colin Metters in London and developed her repertoire during residencies with the Remix Ensemble (Portugal) and Ensemble Multilaterale (Paris). Her mentors include Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Leonid Grin, Marin Alsop, Claudio Cruz Thomas Ades, and Lera Auerbach. In 2019, Menezes won second prize at Mawoma (Maestra Music and Women's Competition) in Vienna. In 2020, she launched her new orchestra, Ensemble K, a flexible ensemble specializing in the larger chamber repertoire of the 20th century.
About Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is already captivating audiences with her “maturity in performance and interpretation [...], the former an uncanny phenomenon” (Fraser). The third of the Kanneh-Mason clan to establish herself as a soloist, Jeneba recently made her BBC Proms debut with the Chineke! Orchestra, performing the Florence Price concerto, and was heralded by the press as “demonstrating musical insight, technical acuity, and an engaging performing persona” (Music OMH).
Kanneh-Mason was a Keyboard Category Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018, winner of the Murs du Son Prize at the Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition in France in 2014, and the Nottingham Young Musician in 2013. She was also winner of the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at the Royal Academy of Music, Junior Academy, where she studied with Patsy Toh.
Recent and forthcoming highlights include debuts with the Philharmonia (UK), the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Sinfonia Viva for their New Year Gala. She has also completed an extensive tour with the Chineke! Orchestra across Europe in November 2022, performing Florence Price’s Piano Concerto, where she recorded the piece with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. An avid recital performer, Kanneh-Mason has made solo debuts at the Zurich Tonhalle, the London Wigmore Hall, and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, amongst others, as well as the Lenzburgiade, Rheingau, the Cheltenham, the Bradfield, and the Lamberhurst festivals. In 2022, Jeneba also embarked on tours of Australia, the United States, and Antigua and Barbuda with the Kanneh-Masons.
Kanneh-Mason was named one of Classic FM’s “Rising Stars” and appeared on Julian Lloyd Webber’s radio series in 2021. She has also been featured on several television and radio programs including Radio3, In Tune, the BAFTAs, The Royal Variety Performance, the documentary for BBC4 (Young, Gifted and Classical), and the Imagine documentary for BBC1 (This House is Full of Music). She has recorded for the album, Carnival, with Decca Classics.
Kanneh-Mason holds the Victoria Robey Scholarship at the Royal College of Music, where she studies piano with Vanessa Latarche. She is grateful to Lady Robey, The Nottingham Soroptimist Trust, and The Nottingham Education Trust.
Kanneh-Mason is managed by Enticott Music Management in association with IMG Artists.
About Dmitry Sinkovsky
Dmitry Sinkovsky possesses a rare combination of Russian virtuosity and Italian cantabilità.
Born in Moscow, Sinkovsky started studying violin at the age of 5. During his studies at the Moscow Conservatory, he decided to also study singing to give a broader basis to his dream to become an opera conductor. His deep awareness has always been that to conduct the opera you need a profound knowledge of both instrument and voice. After his violin diploma, he also graduated in choir conducting at the Zagreb Academy under Tomislav Fačini and conducting at the isdaT in Toulouse under Sabrie Bekirova.
In his 20s, Sinkovsky won many European violin competitions (including the 2011 Internationaler Telemann Wettbewerb Magdeburg, 2008 Musica Antiqua Brugge Competition, and 2007 Bach Leipzig Wettbewerb), and started a brilliant international career as soloist and concertmaster on historical instruments and with renowned ensembles including B’Rock, Il Giardino Armonico, Accademia Bizantina, Il Complesso Barocco, Il Pomo d’Oro, Musica Petropolitana, Ensemble Claudiana, Concerto Köln, and Ensemble 1700.
The development of his conducting career happened naturally in 2012 as a featured guest on Joyce DiDonato’s acclaimed “Drama Queens” tour. Soon after his successful debut as conductor, he was invited by many orchestras including Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Radio Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Dublin, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, National Spanish Orchestra, Casa da Música Orchestra Porto, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Australian Brandeburg Orchestra, Musica Viva Orchestra, and MusicAeterna.
Sinkovsky regularly performs in many acclaimed venues including Carnegie Hall, Barbican Centre, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, La Monnaie, Teatro La Fenice, Opernhaus Zürich, Theater an der Wien, Bolshoi Theatre, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Berlin, Sala Verdi Milan, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Franz Liszt Academy Budapest, Philharmonie de Paris, Concert Hall of Moscow, Saint Petersburg Conservatories, Rudolfinum Prague, Musiikkitalo Helsinki, Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid, Palau de la Música Barcelona, and Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
In January 2022, Sinkovsky was appointed as Chief Conductor of the Nizhny Novgorod Opera House, where he conducted new productions of Carmen, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and opera renewals of The Queen of Spades (a production of the Bolshoi Theatre), Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and La Traviata, as well as symphonic concerts and operatic galas. Five new productions under Sinkovsky’s baton are planned next season: Poulenc's La Voix humaine, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, The Love of d’Artagnan by Mieczysław Weinberg, Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and a staged version of Handel’s oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno.
In Nizhny, Novgorod La Voce Strumentale Orchestra regularly performs as a development of La Voce Strumentale, an ensemble on historical instruments founded by Sinkovsky in 2011 as a laboratory joined by talented musicians from many countries. Today, La Voce Strumentale performs as a full-size symphony orchestra, performing both operatic and symphonic repertoire, as well as a chamber orchestra performing on historical instruments.
Among Sinkovsky’s many recordings, Vivaldi’s Concerti per violino V Per Pisendel (naïve) and Il Virtuosissimo (naïve) were awarded a Diapason d’Or. Among his last albums, Idylle heroïque (Glossa, ICMA nomination), with Beethoven’s violin and triple concertos, and Songs & Poems (Glossa) with Sinkovsky and La Voce Strumentale performing works by Sergey Akhunov. In July 2023, Pentatone launched Water & Fire, Sinkovsky’s first album with B’Rock, conducting Handel’s Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
Forthcoming engagements as conductor include tours with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Boris Godunov at the Opéra de Avignon, and Messiah with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
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.