Welcome to Carnegie Hall
For more information, please call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800.



Press Releases

Back to Press Release List > 10/17/2007 - Thomas Adès, Debs Composer’s Chair, 2007/08

—RICHARD AND BARBARA DEBS COMPOSER’S CHAIR: THOMAS ADÈS—

THOMAS ADÈS CELEBRATED AS COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR, AND PIANIST
AT CARNEGIE HALL THROUGHOUT THE 2007–2008 SEASON

As Composer: Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
Present the US Premiere of Adès’s Tevot on November 14

As Pianist: Adès Makes His New York Recital Debut on November 19

As Conductor: Spring 2008 Concerts Include the New York Concert
Premiere of Gerald Barry’s The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit and
a Making Music Program Focusing on Adès’s Works
For the 2007–2008 season, Thomas Adès has been appointed to hold the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall. Highly regarded as a composer, conductor, and pianist, Mr. Adès is featured in all three roles throughout the season. Bursting onto the music scene in the early 1990s, Mr. Adès has been hailed as “one of the most accomplished and complete musicians of his generation” by The New York Times. He is the youngest recipient of the Grawemeyer Award—the largest international prize for composition—which he received in 2000 for his orchestral work, Asyla. In less than 20 years, Mr. Adès has composed a wide body of works ranging from solo instrumental (Darknesse Visible, Traced Overhead) to chamber (Arcadiana, Catch, Living Toys) to orchestral (Asyla, America—A Prophecy) to opera (Powder Her Face, The Tempest), which have been performed by acclaimed musicians and ensembles throughout the world.

"I am honored to hold the Debs Composer's Chair and very much looking forward to the residency with such a superb collection of collaborators and settings," said Mr. Adès.

Highlights of Adès’s Carnegie Hall residency, which begins in November 2007, include the US premiere of his most recent orchestral work, Tevot, performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle; his New York solo recital debut in Zankel Hall; and a Making Music program in which he conducts, performs, and discusses his music. Previous holders of the Carnegie Hall Composer’s Chair are Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (1995–1999), Pierre Boulez (1999–2003), and John Adams (2003–2007). Beginning with the 2007–2008 season, the Debs Composer’s Chair appointments will be for one year, providing Carnegie Hall the opportunity to work with a broader range of composers.

Adès’s residency begins with three concerts in November 2007, two of which are part of Berlin in Lights, Carnegie Hall’s first major international festival that celebrates the extraordinary city that is Berlin today. Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker give the US premiere of Adès’s Tevot on Wednesday, November 14 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. The work, which was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Berliner Philharmoniker, is effectively the composer’s second symphony, coming a decade after Asyla. It takes its title from a dual meaning: in Hebrew, tevot (tey-VOT) means “bars of music,” and in the Bible, tevot (tey-VA) is the ark of Noah and the cradle that carried the baby Moses. These tevot are both places of safety—asyla. They are also both structures that, made of natural materials, remain firm in fluid surroundings. Tevot received its world premiere by the Berliner Philharmoniker on February 21, 2007 in Berlin.

The following evening, Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m., in Zankel Hall, Mr. Adès joins the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin as pianist for a program featuring his Piano Quintet as well as Schubert’s Notturno in E-flat Major for Piano Trio, D. 897 and Octet in F Major, D. 803. Though written more than 150 years after the Schubert works, Mr. Adès’s Piano Quintet presents a modern take on classical chamber music, with melodic, harmonic, and textural gestures reminiscent of the 18th or early 19th century.

On Monday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall, Mr. Adès makes his highly-anticipated New York recital debut. In this program, the composer/pianist pairs two of his own works—Traced Overhead and Darknesse Visible—with 20th century works by Leoš Janáček, Igor Stravinsky, Niccolò Castiglioni, and Conlon Nancarrow. Miscellaneous as these works may appear, they are drawn into a pattern by Adès—all stamped with strong ideas, at once compact and strange and seeming to come from a delight in musical play.

In spring 2008 following the three November concerts, the composer returns to Carnegie Hall for two performances in Zankel Hall. On Friday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m., Mr. Adès—in his Carnegie Hall conducting debut—leads the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in the New York premiere concert performance of Gerald Barry’s opera, The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit. Irish composer Gerald Barry, who studied composition with Karl Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel, first came to public attention in 1979 with his radical ensemble works '__________' and "Ø." Mr. Barry’s second opera, The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit, was written for Channel 4 Television and broadcast in 1995. The work later opened the 2002 Aldeburgh Festival, of which Mr. Adès has been the Artistic Director since 1999. According to Mr. Barry, “the dramatic framework of The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit is taken from Handel’s The Triumph of Time and Truth. The work revolves around questions of ageing, vanity, illusion, fear, wit, ecstasy, regret, and yearning.” Mr. Barry’s opera received its US premiere in November 2006 as part of the Mr. Adès’s residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Mr. Adès’s talents are all brought together in a Making Music concert on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m., in which he conducts, performs, and discusses his music and creative inspirations. The program features works spanning the composer’s entire career. Soprano Valdine Anderson, who gave the world premiere performance of Five Eliot Landscapes (1990), joins Mr. Adès for a performance of the work. Also, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group performs Adès’s Chamber Symphony, Op. 2 (1990); Court Studies from The Tempest (2005); and Living Toys (1993).

Throughout the season, Mr. Adès’s works are also performed at Carnegie Hall by other artists and ensembles.

•   On February 3, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s—led for the first time in Carnegie Hall
    by Xian Zhang—performs the New York premiere of Three Studies from Couperin
    for Chamber Orchestra.

•   Ensemble ACJW, which is comprised of Fellows from The Academy—a program of
    Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute, performs Catch,
    Op. 4 on March 26.

•   Pianist Till Fellner performs Darknesse Visible as part of his Zankel Hall recital
    on May 6.

About Thomas Adès
Born in London in 1971, Thomas Adès is highly regarded not only as a composer but also as a pianist and conductor. Among Mr. Adès’s best-known works are Asyla (which won the 2000 Grawemeyer Prize), Living Toys, and Arcadiana. His opera Powder Her Face was televised by Channel Four/ LWT and also recorded on the EMI Classics label, one of six EMI CDs devoted to Adès’s music, on some of which the composer is also featured as pianist and conductor. Mr. Adès is an exclusive EMI Artist. His second opera, The Tempest, was premiered to critical acclaim at the Royal Opera House in February 2004, under the baton of the composer and it was revived at the ROH in March 2007. Mr. Adès’s music has been programmed by many international orchestras and ensembles in over a dozen countries worldwide. He has received commissions from the Berliner Philharmoniker, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Hallé, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Ensemble Modern, and London Sinfonietta as well as the Cheltenham and Aldeburgh festivals, Almeida Opera, and Royal Opera Covent Garden. Festivals devoted to his music have included Helsinki (1999), and in 2007, Radio France in Paris presented 24 of his works in Présences (February), and the Barbican in London featured 11 during the Traced Overhead Festival (April). Since 1999, Adès has served as Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival. During the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 seasons, Mr. Adès was in residency with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as conductor, pianist, and composer.

About the Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall’s Composer’s Chair was inaugurated in 1995 to have appointees collaborate with the Carnegie Hall staff on creative aspects of the Hall’s activities. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich was the first to hold the position and, during her four-year tenure, was commissioned to compose three new works. She also helped to inaugurate Making Music, the award-winning series presenting music by and conversation with contemporary composers. In 1999, Carnegie Hall named its Composer’s Chair for trustee and chairman emeritus Richard Debs and his wife, Barbara, in honor of their longstanding commitment to Carnegie Hall and its artistic goals.

Pierre Boulez held the Composer’s Chair from 1999 through the 2002–2003 season, serving in an advisory capacity on contemporary music programming and related design issues during the construction of Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall. In September 2003, John Adams was named as Mr. Boulez’s successor and has worked closely with Carnegie Hall’s artistic team in developing artistic initiatives and plans for the Hall’s three stages, with a particular focus on Zankel Hall.

Beginning with the 2007–2008 season, the Debs Composer’s Chair appointments will be for one year, providing Carnegie Hall the opportunity to work with a broader range of composers.


Program Information for Carnegie Hall Composer’s Chair Thomas Adès



Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER
Sir Simon Rattle, Music Director and Conductor
Ben Heppner, Tenor
Thomas Quasthoff, Bass-Baritone

THOMAS ADÈS Tevot (United States Premiere, Commissioned by The Carnegie Hall Corporation and the Berliner Philharmoniker)
GUSTAV MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde

Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with Thomas Adès and Ara Guzelimian, Provost and Dean, The Juilliard School.

The Carnegie Hall presentations of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Berlin in Lights festival are made possible by a leadership gift from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.

Major funding has also been provided by Mercedes and Sid Bass, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from Martha and Bob Lipp, Fundación Mercantil (Venezuela), and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional funding provided by Axel Springer AG, GWFF USA Inc., and the Jerome Robbins Foundation.

Tickets: $62, $77, $102, $144, $189, $210
____________________________________

Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
SCHAROUN ENSEMBLE BERLIN
THOMAS ADÈS, Piano

FRANZ SCHUBERT Notturno in E-flat Major for Piano Trio, D. 897
THOMAS ADÈS Piano Quintet
FRANZ SCHUBERT Octet in F Major, D. 803

The Berlin in Lights festival is made possible by a leadership gift from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.

Major funding has also been provided by Mercedes and Sid Bass, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from Martha and Bob Lipp, Fundación Mercantil (Venezuela), and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional funding provided by Axel Springer AG, GWFF USA Inc., and the Jerome Robbins Foundation.

Tickets: $36, $44
____________________________________

Monday, November 19, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
THOMAS ADÈS, Piano
New York Recital Debut

LEOŠ JANÁČEK Reminiscence
LEOŠ JANÁČEK "Malostransky Palace"
LEOŠ JANÁČEK Christ the Lord is Born
LEOŠ JANÁČEK "I Am Waiting for You"
LEOŠ JANÁČEK In the Mists
THOMAS ADÈS Traced Overhead
THOMAS ADÈS Darknesse Visible
NICCOLÒ CASTIGLIONI How I Passed the Summer
IGOR STRAVINSKY Souvenir d’une marche boche
IGOR STRAVINSKY Valse pour les enfants
IGOR STRAVINSKY Piano-Rag-Music
CONLON NANCARROW Three Canons for Ursula

Tickets: $28, $42
____________________________________

Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S
Xian Zhang, Conductor
Hélène Grimaud, Piano

THOMAS ADÈS Three Studies from Couperin for Chamber Orchestra (New York Premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60

Tickets: $24, $29, $38, $54, $71, $79
____________________________________

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Weill Recital Hall
ENSEMBLE ACJW
Featuring fellows of The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute
   Romie de Guise-Langlois, Clarinet
   Carol McGonnell, Clarinet
   Michael Mizrahi, Piano
   Elizabeth Joy Roe, Piano
   Jared Soldiviero, Percussion
   Angelia Cho, Violin
   Owen Dalby, Violin
   Anna Elashvili, Violin
   Brenton Caldwell, Viola
   Claire Bryant, Cello
   Caitlin Sullivan, Cello
   Kristoffer Saebo, Bass

MAURICE RAVEL Sonata for Violin and Cello
THOMAS ADÈS Catch, Op. 4
GERALD BARRY Sextet
FRANZ SCHUBERT Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667, "Trout"

The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute is supported, in part, by leadership gifts from Mercedes and Sid Bass, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Martha and Bob Lipp, Judith and Burton Resnick, Susan and Elihu Rose, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, and the New York City Department of Education. Additional support is provided by The Dana Foundation, the Baisley Powell Elebash Fund, the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, and The William Petschek Family.

Tickets: $15
____________________________________

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
BIRMINGHAM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC GROUP
Thomas Adès, Conductor
Stephen Wallace, Countertenor (Pleasure)
William Purefoy, Countertenor (Truth)
Christopher Lemmings, Tenor (Beauty)
Roderick Williams, Baritone (Deceit)
Stephen Richardson, Bass (Time)

GERALD BARRY The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit (Concert Performance, New York Premiere)

Pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall: Gerald Barry in conversation with Jeremy Geffen, Director of Artistic Planning, Carnegie Hall.

Tickets: $28, $40
____________________________________

Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
MAKING MUSIC: THOMAS ADÈS
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Thomas Adès, Conductor and Pianist
Valdine Anderson, Soprano
Ara Guzelimian, Series Moderator

ALL-ADÈS PROGRAM
Five Eliot Landscapes
Chamber Symphony, Op. 2
Court Studies from The Tempest
Living Toys

Tickets: $20, $26
____________________________________

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
TILL FELLNER, Piano

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Rondo in A Minor, K. 511
ROBERT SCHUMANN Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17
THOMAS ADÈS Darknesse Visible
MAURICE RAVEL Gaspard de la nuit

Tickets: $28, $42
____________________________________

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.


Ticket Information
Tickets are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street. Tickets may also be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or online by visiting www.carnegiehall.org .

In addition, for all Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of partial-view seats, priced at $10, will be available beginning at noon on the day of the concert. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.

A limited number of student/senior citizen discount tickets, priced at $10, may also be available for some Carnegie Hall events. They are on sale at the Box Office beginning at noon until 1 hour before concert time. Student/senior discount tickets for some Weill Recital Hall events are available at the Box Office one hour before the performance. Please call CarnegieCharge for ticket availability.

 



Graphics Site | Corporate Info | Media | Contact | Privacy Policy | Site Map | Home   © 2002–2007 Carnegie Hall Corporation