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North Bethesda, MD, October 28, 2015 –The National Philharmonic, led by Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski, will perform Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings on Saturday, November 28 at 8 pm and on Sunday, November 29 at 3 pm at the Music Center at Strathmore. The concert will also feature Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4, performed by the award-winning instrumentalist Chee-Yun, and Sibelius’ Rakastava. A free pre-concert lecture will be offered in the Concert Hall at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday and at 1:45 pm on Sunday. Tickets start at $29 and are free for children ages 7-17 through the ALL KIDS, ALL FREE, ALL THE TIME program. ALL KIDS tickets must be reserved by calling (301-581-5100) or visiting the Strathmore Box Office. Parking is complimentary. Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 20852. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.nationalphilharmonic.org or call 301-581-5100.
In a wonderful evening of strings, Chee-Yun returns to Strathmore to play Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4, a composition of delightful melodies and subtle wit. Chee-Yun, 44, is renowned in her native country of South Korea and throughout the world. She is recognized not only for her brilliant technique and flawless tone, but also for her instrument of choice, a 1669 Francesco Ruggieri violin. “Chee-Yun has not only extraordinary talent, but the poise and natural self-confidence of a seasoned veteran and born performer,” says Strings Magazine.
Chee-Yun began her career at age eight after winning the Grand Prize of the Korean Times Competition in her native Seoul. She performs regularly with the world’s foremost orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the London Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and has performed with such distinguished conductors as Hans Graf, James DePriest and Jesus Lopez-Cobos.
“Chee-Yun is an incredibly dynamic and charismatic performer,” said Gajewski, “She is known for favoring old violins, and the one she will be playing with the Philharmonic, purchased early in her career, is more than 350 years old. Chee-Yun tells a wonderful story in which she recounts how she recently discovered that the instrument had been buried with a previous owner in Norway for several centuries.”
The concert also features Sibelius’ captivating Rakastava (The Lover), a charming suite for string orchestra. Closing the concert is Tchaikovsky’s popular Serenade for Strings. “I wrote the Serenade from inner compulsion, from the heart,” Tchaikovsky said. In fact, he added, the first movement “is my homage to Mozart, an imitation of his style.”
National Philharmonic Music Director & Conductor Piotr Gajewski
Piotr Gajewski is widely credited with building the National Philharmonic to its present status as one of the most respected ensembles of its kind in the region. In addition to his appearances with the National Philharmonic, Maestro Gajewski is much in demand as a guest conductor. In recent years, he has appeared with most of the major orchestras in his native Poland, as well as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in England, the Karlovy Vary Symphony in the Czech Republic, the Okanagan Symphony in Canada and numerous orchestras in the United States.
Gajewski attended Carleton College and the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, where he earned a B.M. and M.M. in Orchestral Conducting. Upon completing his formal education, he continued refining his conducting skills at the 1983 Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts, where he was awarded a Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship. His teachers there included Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn, Gunther Schuller, Gustav Meier and Maurice Abravanel.
Gajewski is also a winner of many prizes and awards, among them a prize at New York’s prestigious Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition and, in 2006, Montgomery County’s Comcast Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Achievement Award.
About the National Philharmonic
Led by dynamic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski, the National Philharmonic is known for performances that are “powerful,” impeccable” and “thrilling” (The Washington Post). Created in 2003, the National Philharmonic took up residence at the state-of-the-art Music Center at Strathmore upon its opening in February 2005. More
than 250 performances later, combined with far-reaching educational programming, the National Philharmonic is the largest and most active locally based professional orchestra based in Montgomery County.
The Philharmonic boasts a long-standing tradition of reasonably priced tickets and free admission to all young people age 7-17, assuring its place as an accessible and enriching component in Montgomery County and the greater Washington, DC area.
As the Music Center at Strathmore’s orchestra-in-residence, the National Philharmonic
showcases world-renowned guest artists in time-honored symphonic masterpieces conducted by Maestro Gajewski and monumental choral masterworks under National Philharmonic Chorale Artistic Director Stan Engebretson.
The National Philharmonic also offers exceptional and unique education programs, such as the Summer Strings and Choral Institutes. Students accepted into the Summer String Institutes study privately with National Philharmonic musicians, participate in coached chamber music and play in an orchestra conducted by Maestro Gajewski and Philharmonic Associate Conductor Victoria Gau. For more information, visit www.nationalphilharmonic.org .
To purchase tickets to the Tchaikovsky Serenade concert on November 28 and 29, please visit nationalphilharmonic.org or call the Strathmore box office at (301) 581-5100. Tickets are $29-$89; kids 7-17 are FREE through the ALL KIDS, ALL FREE, ALL THE TIME program. ALL KIDS tickets must be purchased in person or by phone. Parking is complimentary.
