opening night - Eugene Symphony

Nakamatsu—who was a high school German teacher in Mountain View, CA when he won the
classical music world’s prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997—plays
“with the calm assurance that comes of having both a solid technique and a gentle, introspective,
interpretive spirit” (The New York Times, April 2011). His Van Cliburn Gold Medal was
considered all the more astonishing given that the pianist neither studied at a music conservatory
nor majored in music during college. In the 15 years since he was catapulted onto the world’s
stage, Nakamatsu has performed widely in North America, Europe, and the Far East,
collaborating with such conductors as James Conlon, Marek Janowski, Raymond Leppard,
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Osmo Vänskä, and the late Hans Vonk. Nakamatsu’s recital tours
throughout the U.S. and Europe have featured appearances in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center
in New York City, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati,
Paris, London, and Milan. He works with various chamber ensembles—among them the
Brentano, Tokyo, Kuss, Miami, Jupiter, and Ying String Quartets—and has toured repeatedly
with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet. Together with clarinetist Jon Manasse, Nakamatsu
tours continually as a member of the Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo. The Duo also serves as artistic
directors of the esteemed Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival in Massachusetts.
The balance of the program features the Eugene Symphony, first in Bernstein’s sparkling
overture to his musical-turned-opera Candide. Then, to close the program, Rachev and the
orchestra perform a suite of dances from De Falla’s ballet score The Three-Cornered Hat, a
colorful and rhythmically vibrant showcase of Spanish orchestral music at its best.
Tickets to Rhapsody in Blue are still available and can be purchased through the Hult Center box
office (541-682-5000), or online at eugenesymphony.org. The concert is sponsored by Oregon
Eye Associates, Dr. Keyhan Aryah & Dr. Maylon Hsu. Guest artist sponsor is Kernutt Stokes.
Related Calendar Events
# # #
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS – Opening Night, September 20, 8:00 pm; An Evening with John Williams,
September 22, 8:00 pm; Beethoven Symphony No. 5, October 18, 8:00 pm; Mahler Resurrection, November 15,
8:00 pm; Swan Lake, December 6, 8:00 pm; Cirque de Noël, December 16, 2:30 pm; Mozart Piano Concerto,
January 17, 2013, 8:00 pm; The Planets, February 14, 2013, 8:00 pm; Beethoven Violin Concerto, March 21, 2013,
8:00 pm; Carmina Burana, April 18, 2013, 8:00 pm; Dvořák Symphony No. 8, May 16, 2013, 8:00 pm.