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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILHARMONIC OPENS 109th SEASON WITH CELEBRATION OF FREEDOM
MANCHESTER NH, October 1, 2013 – The New Hampshire Philharmonic opens its 109th season with a
concert featuring a musical invocation of freedom.
The full orchestra of the New Hampshire Philharmonic performs, led by Music Director Mark Latham, with
piano soloist George Lopez.
The centerpiece of the evening is a surging and life-affirming work from the visionary Finnish composer
Sibelius. Written at a time of intense political repression, the music presents a thrilling rebuke to tyranny.
Because of its emotional uplift, the piece has become one of the most popular symphonies of the 20th century.
Music Director Mark Latham explained the genesis of the concert. “We thought that the program would strike a
chord with the citizenry of New Hampshire, who hold so dear their freedom of political expression.”
The concert is part of a longer programming arc for the season. Latham explained, “We are book-ending our
entire season with the concept of the defense of political and personal freedom – we’ll be returning to the
theme later in the season with a Memorial Day celebration of those who have defended our freedoms while in
uniform.”
Latham elaborated about his plans for the season. “Composers have long been champions of political
freedom, using their music to express their sentiments, and to rail against systems of tyranny. I hope that the
concerts this year will inspire our audiences to cherish both music and freedom itself, and see that so
often both are interwoven parts of our lives.”
The concert takes place on Sunday afternoon, October 13, at 4:00 pm at the Palace Theatre.
The season opener offers powerful, live performance from the Philharmonic.
The concert opens with a noble and gregarious set of court dances by Handel, in his Royal Fireworks Music.
Music Director Mark Latham explained some of the charms of the piece. “The music was written to proclaim
the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748, and it is
indeed a celebratory tour de force, a fact the London public recognized, when 12,000 people turned up for
the dress rehearsal causing one of the city's first true traffic jams… We hope there will be traffic jams around
the Palace Theatre as the Phil opens its 109th Season with this marvelous piece!"
The concert is led by Music Director Mark Latham, in his second year at the podium of the Philharmonic. Mark
Latham received his musical training at the Guildhall School (London), Philadelphia College of Performing Arts,
Brooklyn College Conservatory and the University of Michigan, where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in
Orchestral Conducting. He trained in violin and chamber music at Eastman, Juilliard, Aspen Music Festival and
Banff Festival. He has studied violin with Masao Kawasaki, Dorothy DeLay, Ithzak Perlman and Eugene
Drucker.
Currently the conductor of the U Mass-Lowell Symphony and the New Hampshire Youth Symphony, Latham
has led the Avalon Chamber Ensemble, the Nashua Chamber Orchestra and the Cambridge Symphony
Orchestra, and has conducted the orchestras of MIT, the Oregon Bach Festival, and the Cabrillo Festival.
Latham has studied conducting with Kenneth Kiesler as well as with Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, Larry Rachlef
and Helmuth Rilling.
As a violinist and violist he has performed in the orchestras of the New Hampshire Symphony, Vermont
Symphony, Emmanuel Music, the Delaware Symphony, Cantata Singers, Orpheus and the Spoleto Festival
and was a member of Canada's Atlantic String Quartet for 6 years. A keen advocate of the music of our times,
Latham has given numerous world premieres both as conductor and violinist.
Also on the program is Mozart’s delightful piano concerto no. 9. A relatively early work by the master
composer, the work shows Mozart’s effortless way with melody. The work, which sometimes goes by the
nickname “the Jeunehomme”, will be presented by acclaimed pianist George Lopez.
Mr. Lopez explained why he was so attracted to this particular work. “As with so much of Mozart’s work, the
lines have such a particular sense of space and ease. It’s fully Mozart, yet it is written at such a young age that
you are even more aware of the freshness of musical discovery.”
Music Director Latham expanded on his many collaborations with this particular artist. “George is such a fine
musician, particularly in the way that he fully inhabits the effortless mastery of Mozart. We had such a
wonderful collaboration last year when he explored the music of Beethoven, we wanted to revisit our musical
partnership as soon as he was available to share the stage with us …So I am delighted that he will be soloing
with us again.”
George Lopez has been featured across the globe as recitalist and soloist with orchestra. Mr. Lopez received
critical acclaim for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and
performed the complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Concertos in his last two concert seasons. He was invited
by The International Holland Music Sessions, now one of the top performing arenas for up-and-coming
musicians in Europe, to go on a world tour where he performed in Paris, London, Cologne, New York’s Weill
Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and in Los Angeles, where he was hailed by the Los Angeles Times for his
“musical perspective, continuity, and kaleidoscopic colors.” Last year he gave recitals in Switzerland and
Holland. He premiered a piano concerto written for him by Romeo Melloni, an Italian composer from Milan,
which he recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in Prague.
His chamber music collaborations have included the Emerson String Quartet, the Rainier Quartet, the Incanto
Ensemble of Germany, and the Aurea Ensemble of Providence, and performances with members of the New
Hampshire Music Festival. He was invited by the Montclaire String Quartet to open their concert season with
Brahms Piano Quintet in F Minor at the Clay Center for the Arts in Charleston, West Virginia, where he is a
frequent guest artist.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Belize by Mayan parents, George Lopez started playing the piano at
the fairly late age of 11. After graduating from the Hartt School of Music with honors, he went to Paris on a
Franco-American study grant and was given a unanimous First Prize for the Diplôme supérieur. He completed
his Masters Degree cum laude in Amsterdam.
Mr. Lopez has appeared with the New Hampshire Philharmonic, the Granite State Symphony, the New
Hampshire Symphony, the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra of Maine, the Fort Smith Symphony in Arkansas
and the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra in Budapest. Mr. Lopez is currently Artist-in-Residence at Bowdoin
College where he lives with his wife and two children.
The concert takes place Sunday afternoon, October 13, at the Palace Theatre Manchester. Tickets run from
$12 to $50.
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Complete information about the season is available at the Philharmonic’s website nhphil.org.
FINE PHOTO PORTRAIT OF SOLOIST AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY
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The New Hampshire Philharmonic connects people to the power of classical music, through compelling
performances and educational programs. The Philharmonic is the state’s oldest orchestra, tracing its roots to
1905. The orchestra brings together the finest student, amateur and professional musicians from around the
state in engaging performances of the core repertoire.
The New Hampshire Philharmonic receives crucial and ongoing support from Peerless Insurance, the
Frederick Smyth Institute, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts,
Graphicast, and from the members of the Philharmonic Society. The orchestra recognizes ongoing support
from: Doris Benz Trust, Byrne Foundation, Cogswell Benevolent Trust, Paul and Sandra Montrone, Farny R.
Wurlitzer Foundation.
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Contact: Paul Hoffman
Executive Director
603-647-6476
[email protected]
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CALENDAR LISTING
109th season
The New Hampshire Philharmonic
Music Director Mark Latham
2013-2014
Oct 13, 2013 (Sunday 4:00pm)
Season opener – Live Free
The New Hampshire Philharmonic
Music Director Mark Latham
with piano soloist George Lopez
An evening of powerful, live performance.
at the Palace Theatre Manchester
Program to include: Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks - Mozart Piano Concerto #9 - Sibelius Symphony #2
The full orchestra of the New Hampshire Philharmonic performs, Music Director Mark Latham conducts,
featuring piano soloist George Lopez.
Nov 30, 2013 (Saturday 7:30pm)
Holiday Pops
The New Hampshire Philharmonic
Music Director Mark Latham
Concert collaboration with the Pinkerton Academy Chorale.
A concert of holiday favorites.
at Stockbridge Theatre Derry
Program to include: White Christmas - selections from Nutcracker - choruses from Handel’s Messiah - the
carol sing-along - and much more.
The full orchestra of the New Hampshire Philharmonic performs, Music Director Mark Latham conducts,
featuring the youthful choristers of Pinkerton Academy.
March 9, 2014 (Sunday 4:00 pm)
Palace Theatre Manchester
Drawn to the Music – A concert of collaborative arts
The New Hampshire Philharmonic
Music Director Mark Latham
This year's Drawn to the Music concert features powerful, live performance from the Philharmonic, in
collaboration with a variety of local artists.
The program features music of Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler, plus Respighi’s Pines of Rome. (Mahler
includes Drawn to the Music photo-choreography)
We take a musical tour of the Eternal City - in music by Respighi that is by turns charming, contemplative, and
ultimately glorious. A stirring work by Mahler is featured in a unique photo-choreographed performance,
featuring illustrations by the schoolchildren of New Hampshire. The two winners of our youth concerto
competition perform powerful music of Brahms. The concert opens with an iconic overture by the incomparable
Beethoven.
The full orchestra of the New Hampshire Philharmonic performs, Music Director Mark Latham conducts. With
UNH musicians, Drawn to the Music artists, and youth concerto competition winners Paul Bergeron and Jerry
Xiong.
Program to include: Beethoven Egmont Overture - Brahms Double Concerto (1st movement) - Mahler Songs
of a Wayfarer - Respighi The Pines of Rome
May 24, 2014 (Saturday 7:30 pm)
Into the Light - A concert in observance of Memorial Day
The New Hampshire Philharmonic
Music Director Mark Latham
at the Palace Theatre Manchester
Bold and beautiful music to honor our women and men in uniform, and to remind us of the freedoms that we
hold dear. The full orchestra of the New Hampshire Philharmonic performs, Music Director Mark Latham
conducts.
Program to include: America the Beautiful - Handel Water Music - Battle Hymn of the Republic - Mahler
Adagietto - The Armed Services Medley - Glass Music in Similar Motion – Music from the King’s Speech
(Beethoven Symphony 7 slow movement) - Williams Liberty Fanfare