William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series continues with performances at seven Metro Detroit venues

- Upcoming concerts include Piazzolla’s Argentinian tango take on The Four Seasons and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5

- DSO Acting Concertmaster Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy will be featured soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 2 

Detroit, (February 11, 2020) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) returns to seven Metro Detroit venues as the 2020 William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series continues in February and March. Over two weekends, the symphony will appear at community venues in West Bloomfield, Plymouth, Bloomfield Hills, Grosse Pointe, Southfield, Clinton Township, and Beverly Hills, performing concert programs designed specifically for the series.

During the first weekend, conductor Paolo Bortolameolli will conduct a program featuring Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, a tango-infused response to Vivaldi’s classic The Four Seasons. Violinist Angelo Xiang Yu is featured soloist in the Piazzolla; the program also includes music by Shostakovich and Aldemaro Romero.

The concerts will take place:

  • Thursday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield
  • Friday, February 28 at 8 p.m. at Plymouth First United Methodist Church in Plymouth
  • Saturday, February 29 at 8 p.m. at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills
  • Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Grosse Pointe

Later in March, DSO Acting Concertmaster Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy (Katherine Tuck Chair) will be featured soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 2 on a program conducted by Kahchun Wong. The program also includes Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountain and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.

The concerts will take place:

  • Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield
  • Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m. at Macomb Center for the Performing Arts in Clinton Township
  • Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. at Seligman Performing Arts Center (on the campus of Detroit Country Day School) in Beverly Hills

See below for complete program details.

The William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series is made possible by a generous grant from the William Davidson Foundation. Renamed in 2014 in honor of philanthropist William Davidson, the 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. WRCJ 90.9 FM also supports the series.

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 performances on March 19 and 20. See below for more information about the ticket discount. The FCA Foundation and the DSO thank our veterans and active military members for their service.

About Paolo Bortolameolli

Chilean-Italian conductor Paolo Bortolameolli was recently named associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also serves as principal guest conductor at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile.

In addition to performing with the DSO, this season Bortolameolli appears with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; he will also conduct at the Hollywood Bowl and tour with the Orchestra della Toscana (Florence), the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Lisbon), and the Orchestra of the Americas (Mexico).

Bortolameolli has conducted every major orchestra in Chile and several others throughout South and Central America – including the Orquesta Sinfónica Simon Bolivar (Venezuela), Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Orquesta Sinfónica del SODRE (Uruguay), and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minerfa (Mexico). He has won three Symphonic and Opera Conductor of the Year prizes from Chile’s Arts Critics Association.

Bortolameolli is passionately committed to new music and audiences. He developed the innovative RiteNow, a celebration of the centennial of The Rite of Spring; and created “Ponle Pausa,” a project that seeks to revolutionize the concept of music education through the implementation of short videos and concerts targeting social network users. In 2019 he gave a TED Talk titled Why are we excited about music? in New York.

Bortolameolli studied at Yale School of Music, the Peabody Institute, Universidad Católica de Chile, and Universidad de Chile.

About Angelo Xiang Yu

Angelo Xiang Yu is a recipient of a 2019 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2019 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award. He won First Prize in the 2010 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition.

Recent and upcoming highlights include performances with the San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and others; overseas, he has appeared with the New Zealand Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Symphony, and Munich Chamber Orchestra, among others. Yu has had the fortune of giving recitals in world-renowned venues including the Berlin’s Konzerthaus, the Louvre, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, Singapore’s Victoria Theater, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Oslo Opera House, Alice Tully Hall, and Boston’s Symphony Hall.

Yu is also a frequent guest at major music festivals including the Ravinia Festival, Grant Park, Music @ Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest, and Bridgehampton Music Festival, as well as at the Verbier and Bergen Festivals in Europe. He made his Aspen Music Festival and Saratoga Performing Arts Center debuts last summer.

Born in Inner Mongolia, China, Yu moved to Shanghai at the age of 11 and received his early training from violinist Qing Zheng at the Shanghai Conservatory. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees as well as the prestigious Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where he was a student of Donald Weilerstein and Miriam Fried. Yu currently resides in Boston. He performs on the 1715 “Joachim” Stradivarius violin, generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

About Kahchun Wong

Singaporean conductor Kahchun Wong came to international attention as the winner of the Gustav Mahler Competition in 2016, following in the footsteps of Gustavo Dudamel, who immediately invited him to the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a conducting fellow in the 2016-2017 season. Following a last-minute acclaimed debut with the Nuremberg Symphony, he was swiftly appointed as the orchestra’s next chief conductor beginning in the 2018-2019 season.

Wong has conducted eminent orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, and others; during the current season he will make his debut with the Japan Philharmonic, National Centre for Performing Arts Orchestra (Beijing), and Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg. Wong is a frequent guest conductor in Japan and has conducted most of the country’s major orchestras.

Wong is a protégé of the late Kurt Masur and had the privilege of sharing the podium with Masur on several occasions. He has also assisted Valery Gergiev, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, and Ivan Fischer.

Wong believes in the power of education to inspire and uplift, mirroring his own journey as a musician from a young Southeast Asian country. Together with Marina Mahler, the granddaughter of Gustav Mahler, Wong co-founded Project Infinitude, a grassroots initiative that encourages children to explore and enjoy music. Supported by Singapore’s National Arts Council, Wong is currently in his third year of collaborations with Child at Street 11, a nonprofit agency supporting children from underserved and diverse backgrounds.

About Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy

Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy joined the DSO violin section in 1998; in 2003 she was named Associate Concertmaster, and she currently serves as Acting Concertmaster.

Kennedy began playing the violin at age 5 and studied at Brevard Music Center, Interlochen Arts Camp (as the Governor’s Scholar for the state of Ohio), Sarasota Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival (on Fellowship), Harid Conservatory, and the University of Michigan. She joined the DSO halfway through her senior year at Michigan, where she was a student of Paul Kantor.

Kennedy is a recipient of the Grand Prize in the National MTNA competition and First Prize in the Greek Women’s National Competition in Chicago. She has also won awards from the Skokie Valley Concerto Competition, where she performed Barber Violin Concerto; the University of Michigan Concerto Competition, where she performed Ravel’s Tzigane; and the Harid Conservatory Concerto Competition, where she performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Kennedy was one of few Americans invited to the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis in 1998.

Kennedy enjoys performing chamber music regularly around Michigan and is a member of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. She has also performed on series including Chamber Music North, Fairlane Concert Guild, Pro Mozart, Classical Brunch in Birmingham, and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.

Kennedy is married to Bryan Kennedy, DSO horn. They live in Plymouth, MI and have two children and several pets.

Ticket Information

Single tickets for William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series performances start at $25 for adults and $10 for children and students, and can be purchased online at dso.org/neighborhood.

Tickets can also be purchased by calling (313) 576-5111 or in-person at the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center Box Office (3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit).

Please note: tickets will not be sold online past 8 p.m. the night prior to each performance, but will still be available for purchase at each venue on the days of the concerts.

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 HEROES1920 to unlock $10 tickets for the performances on March 19 (Southfield) and March 20 (Clinton Township). The code can be used at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at (313) 576-5111.

Performance Details

Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires

Thursday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m.
at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts (West Bloomfield, MI)

Friday, February 28 at 8 p.m.
at Plymouth First United Methodist Church (Plymouth, MI)

Saturday, February 29 at 8 p.m.
at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church (Bloomfield Hills, MI)

Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m.
at Our Lady Star of the Sea (Grosse Pointe, MI)

Paolo Bortolameolli, conductor
Angelo Xiang Yu, violin

SHOSTAKOVICH: Chamber Symphony, Op. 73A

PIAZZOLLA: The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (Angelo Xiang Yu, violin)

ROMERO: Fuga Y Pajarillo

-

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony

Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek (Southfield, MI)

Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts (Clinton Township, MI)

Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m.
at Seligman Performing Arts Center (on the campus of the Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills, MI)

Kahchun Wong, conductor
Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin

MUSSORGSKY (Orch. Rimsky-Korsakov): A Night on Bald Mountain

MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major (Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin)

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

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. Conductor Leonard Slatkin, who concluded a decade-long tenure at the helm in 2018, 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 the world’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall celebrates 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 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.