Naples Philharmonic Orchestra
Naples Philharmonic Orchestra
With Pianist Howard Shelley
Friday, October 30th 2009 | 7:30p.m.
Northland Performing Arts Center
Map & Directions | Seating Chart
Program
Brahms, Academic Festival Overture
Gershwin, Concerto in F for Piano
Rachmaninov, Symphonic Dances Op. 45
Maestro Jorge Mester
Join us for Conductor Jorge Mester’s fifth season as music director of the Naples Philharmonic. He is one of the world’s most dynamic conductors. The Los Angeles Times recently called Mester a conductor of “passionate vision” and proclaimed, “Mester is a master.” Maestro Mester has an eclectic and distinguished background that includes conducting, recording and teaching. He is conductor laureate of the prestigious Aspen Music Festival (which he led for 21 years) and also serves as music director of the Pasadena Symphony (a position he has held since 1984) and the Louisville Symphony. From 1998 to 2002, Maestro Mester was artistic director of Mexico City’s leading orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de Mexico.
Mester, who is of Hungarian descent, was born and raised in Mexico City. An accomplished violist, he performed with the Beaux-Arts Quartet for several years before focusing exclusively on conducting.
During his 12-year tenure as music director of the Louisville Orchestra from 1967 to 1979, Maestro Mester made 72 recordings with the orchestra.
Mester’s passion for conducting extends from the stage to the classroom. He directed the Juilliard School’s prestigious conducting department for a number of years and has taught such conductors as James Conlon, Dennis Russell Davies, Andreas Delfs, JoAnn Falletta and John Nelson. He also helped introduce to the public artists such as Midori, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Renée Fleming, Cho-Liang Lin and Robert McDuffie.
A noted opera conductor as well, Mester has led numerous productions with the New York City Opera, the Sydney Opera, Spoleto and the Washington Opera. He has guest-conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Cincinnati Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, and many others.
Piano Soloist Howard Shelley
As a pianist, Howard Shelley has performed around the world with leading orchestras and conductors. As a conductor, he has led all four London orchestras, the Royal Scottish National and Ulster orchestras, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico, Munich Symphony, and many others. In a unique series of five London recitals broadcasted by the BBC, Maestro Shelley played Rachmaninoff’s complete solo piano music. His discography now includes more than 100 recordings.
