(openPR) - At the end of October, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) returns to its residence in North Rhine-Westphalia to rehearse and perform its first programme together with students of the Orchesterzentrum|NRW. Under the direction of Daniel Harding, this concert, the first of the so-called MCO Academy Concerts, will be performed in the Cologne Philharmonic (Nov 2) and at the KONZERTHAUS DORTMUND (Nov 3). The programme features Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, one of the 20th century’s most significant works, and Beethoven’s virtuosic violin concerto, with soloist Renaud Capuçon.
The MCO Academy consists of regular professional training projects which the orchestra puts on as part of its NRW Residence in cooperation with the Orchesterzentrum|NRW. The MCO acts as mentors in this programme, giving workshops, individual and group lessons, and hearing auditions. A joint concert takes place once a year, where students can gain experience playing under the direction of internationally renowned conductors. Especially talented students are awarded fellowships to play with the MCO on specially designated concert tours – also outside of NRW – and can thus gain further practical experience. With this cooperation, the MCO, an innovative orchestra model, would like to become directly involved in furthering the careers of the next generation of musicians.
One of the residence’s goals is to (re)awaken enthusiasm for classical music and to become directly involved in music education. To accompany this concert, the Cologne Philharmonic is planning a project on the theme of rhythms, to be called “Learning Impulse.” In this concert introduction for the 7th and 8th classes, the rhythmic complexities of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring will be explained using the basic concepts of rhythm and meter.
The KONZERTHAUS DORTMUND is also planning an educational programme to accompany the concert: workshops will take place in five different Dortmund schools, and will culminate in rehearsal visits, so that the pupils can internalize the music and see the rehearsal process up close.
The soloist for the Beethoven concerto is no stranger. Renaud Capuçon performed the Schumann and Mendelssohn violin concertos with the MCO in 2003. The resulting CD was released the next year on Virgin Classics and was met with great enthusiasm by audiences and press. Most recently, the MCO and Capuçon played at the LUCERNE FESTIVAL in 2008 and on the subsequent tour to Vienna.
A concert talk by Dr. Michael Stegemann will precede the Dortmund performance (19:15 in the composers’ foyer, free admission). After the concert, audience members can attend a “meet the orchestra” event in the concert hall’s foyer, and get to know the MCO even better. Alongside MCO General Manager Andreas Richter, clarinettist Jaan Bossier (a founding member of the MCO) will be available for questions.
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO), with its unusual structure, internationality and outstanding quality, is an ensemble unique to the present time. Its organisation and method of operation make it a model for the future of the European orchestral landscape. Composed of around 40 musicians from 20 different nations, and independent of external sponsorship, the MCO plays operas and concerts all over the world, in cities as well as at exclusive festivals from the North Pole to the Red Sea. The orchestra was founded in 1997 by the musicians themselves and Claudio Abbado, and the two have been reaching milestones of European musical life together ever since.
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