Pioneering Violinist Leila Josefowicz Returns to Chicago in Recital with Pianist John Novacek

Pioneering Violinist Leila Josefowicz Returns to Chicago in Recital with Pianist John Novacek

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 10/05/2017

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CHICAGO – On Friday, November 3, 2017, at 7:30 PM, in Mandel Hall, path-breaking violinist Leila Josefowicz returns to Chicago in recital at UChicago Presents. Fresh off of performances of John Adams’ Scheherazade.2 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in March, Josefowicz comes to the University of Chicago in a recital with pianist John Novacek.

Josefowicz presents a program of twentieth and twenty-first century music, including solo arrangements of Gustav Mahler’s Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 and of Jean Sibelius’ Valse Triste. Also on the program are Prokofiev’s first violin sonata, Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Sonata for solo violin, and Kaija Saariaho’s Calices, music that Josefowicz describes as “a really unique, special, extraterrestrial world.”

Josefowicz’s partner on the program is pianist John Novacek. Novacek regularly tours the world as a solo recitalist and concertist in addition to his many collaborative projects. The two have been performing together since Josefowicz was just eight years old. Their partnership has become “an incredibly close friendship,” one that is evident in the music they make together. “It’s a true collaboration,” says Josefowicz, “and when you have someone that clicks, you have to stick together, because it’s rare.” Together the two have released four albums and appear together on the 2004 GRAMMY nominated Road Movies (Nonesuch).

FRIDAY / NOVEMBER 3 / 7:30PM / MANDEL HALL

Leila Josefowicz, violin

John Novacek, piano

SIBELIUS/arr. FRIEDRICH HERMANN: Valse Triste, Op. 44

PROKOFIEV: Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 80

MAHLER/arr. OTTO WITTENBECHER: Adagietto (from Symphony No. 5)

KAIJA SAARIAHO: Calices

BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN: Sonata

CONCERT LOCATION
Mandel Hall, 1131 E 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637

TICKETS

$38 | $20 Under 35 | $10 Students

Call 773.702.ARTS (773.702.2787) or visit tickets.uchicago.edu

BOX OFFICE

UChicago Arts Box Office, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E 60th Street

Regular hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 12 pm – 6 pm and through concert intermission;

1 – 4 pm on concert Sundays.

Concert information online at chicagopresents.uchicago.edu

ABOUT LEILA JOSEFOWICZ

Leila Josefowicz’s passionate advocacy of contemporary music for the violin is reflected in her diverse programs and enthusiasm to perform new works. She frequently collaborates with leading composers and works with orchestras and conductors at the highest level around the world. In 2008 she was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, joining prominent scientists, writers, and musicians who have made unique contributions to contemporary life.

Violin concertos have been written especially for Leila Josefowicz by composers including John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Colin Matthews, and Steven Mackey. Scheherazade.2 (Dramatic Symphony for Violin and Orchestra) by Adams was given its world premiere by Josefowicz in March 2015 with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Alan Gilbert. Luca Francesconi’s concerto Duende – The Dark Notes, also written for Josefowicz, was given its world premiere by her in 2014 with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Susanna Mälkki before being performed by Josefowicz, Mälkki, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms in July 2015.

Recent highlights include performances with the Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Melbourne Symphony orchestras, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Filarmonica della Scala, and the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester.

Josefowicz has released several recordings, notably for Deutsche Grammophon, Philips/Universal, and Warner Classics and was featured on Touch Press’ acclaimed iPad app, The Orchestra. Her latest recording, Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2014.

For stage, Josefowicz wears designs by NOT, by designer Jenny Lai.

ABOUT JOHN NOVACEK

Pianist John Novacek regularly tours the Americas, Europe, and Asia as solo recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist; in the latter capacity, he has presented over thirty concerti with dozens of orchestras.

John Novacek’s major American performances have been heard in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Symphony Space; Washington’s The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Boston’s Symphony Hall; Chicago’s Symphony Center; and Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Hollywood Bowl, and Royce Hall; while international venues include Paris’ Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Salle Gaveau, and Musée du Louvre; London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre; as well as most of the major concert halls of Japan. He is also a frequent guest artist at festivals, here and abroad, including New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival, California’s Festival Mozaic, and those of Aspen, Cape Cod, Caramoor, Chautauqua, Colorado College, Mimir, Ravinia, Seattle, SummerFest La Jolla, Wolf Trap, BBC Proms (England), Braunschweig (Germany), Lucerne, Menuhin and Verbier (Switzerland), Majorca (Spain), Sorrento (Italy), Stavanger (Norway), Toulouse (France), and Sapporo (Japan).

Often heard on radio broadcasts worldwide, John Novacek has appeared on NPR’s Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday and, as both featured guest composer/performer, on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. He was also seen and heard on television, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Entertainment Tonight and CNN International.

John Novacek is a much sought-after collaborative artist and has performed with Joshua Bell, Matt Haimovitz, Leila Josefowicz, Cho-Liang Lin, Yo-Yo Ma, Truls Mork, Elmar Oliveira, and Emmanuel Pahud, as well as the Colorado, Harrington, Jupiter, New Hollywood, St. Lawrence, SuperNova, and Ying string quartets. He also tours widely as a member of Intersection, a piano trio that includes violinist Kaura Frautschi and cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper. Mr. Novacek has also given numerous world premieres and worked closely with composers John Adams, John Harbison, Jennifer Higdon, George Rochberg, John Williams, and John Zorn.

John Novacek took top prizes at both the Leschetizky and Joanna Hodges international piano competitions, among many others. He studied piano with Polish virtuoso Jakob Gimpel at California State University, Northridge, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude. Subsequently, he earned a Master of Music degree from New York City’s Mannes College of Music, where his instructors were Peter Serkin in piano and Felix Galimer in chamber music. Mr. Novacek’s coaches in composition included Frederick Werle, Aurelio de la Vega and Daniel Kessner.

John Novacek’s own compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Pacific Symphony, The 5 Browns, Concertante, Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo, Harrington String Quartet, Ying Quartet, Millennium, Quattro Mani, and The Three Tenors. He has recorded over 30 CDs, encompassing solo and chamber music by most major composers from Bach to Bartók, as well as many contemporary and original scores. Mr. Novacek records for Philips, Nonesuch, Arabesque, Warner Classics, Sony/BMG, Koch International, Universal Classics, Ambassador, Pony Canyon, Four Winds, Arkay, Virtuoso and EMI Classics. CD titles include Road Movies (2004 GRAMMY nomination as “Best Chamber Music Performance”), Great Mozart Piano Works, Spanish Rhapsody, Novarags (original ragtime compositions), Classic Romance, Hungarian Sketches, Intersection, Romances et Meditations and, with Leila Josefowicz, Americana (Gramophone: “Editor’s Choice”), For the End of Time, Shostakovich, and Recital (BBC Music Magazine: 5 stars/June 2005's chamber choice).

John Novacek is a Steinway Artist.

ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESENTS

Now in its 74th year of bringing the world's best artists to Chicago, The University of Chicago Presents offers 25 unique performances in six distinct series in the 2017/18 season, from early music to classical, contemporary, and jazz. This season celebrates the richness that music has to offer with unrivaled musical experiences that bring passion and virtuosity to the stage.

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