FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Walnut Creek,
CA – April 7, 2009
California
Symphony to Take Audiences on a 3-D Space Odyssey on May 3 &
5
Unprecedented
event marks world premiere of first-ever live symphonic concert in
3-D
Boldly going where no orchestra has ventured before, the California
Symphony will take audiences on a virtual space odyssey, when it presents the
world’s first live symphonic concert in 3-D on May 3 and 5,
2009.
Commissioned by trailblazing Music Director Barry Jekowsky, the
unprecedented event will feature Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s
Pictures at an Exhibition performed to a suite of high-definition videos
created by noted astronomer and visualizer Dr. José Francisco Salgado of the
prestigious Adler Planetarium in Chicago.
Composed in 1874, Mussorgsky’s popular work is a suite of ten piano
pieces commemorating his friend, the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann, who
died suddenly the year before.
Inspired by a posthumous exhibition of over 400 of the artist’s works in
St Petersburg, Mussorgsky’s creative interpretation took the form of an
imaginary musical tour around such a collection. Each movement is filled with
vivid musical images to convey the moods and feelings of a different painting,
separated by interludes to create the feeling of walking through the
gallery.
“Astronomical
Pictures at an Exhibition,” the film, begins in a virtual gallery filled with
cosmic “paintings.” As the camera
moves through the works of art, audience members, wearing polarized 3-D glasses,
enter space and fly past Earth, planets, stars, black holes, and galaxies. “Many astronomical images are so
beautiful they look like artwork. It’s like nature is creating works of
art,” says Dr. Salgado, who used actual photographs, as well as science
visualizations of the cosmos and his own astronomy-inspired artwork in making
it.
“The neat thing is that it’s based on
scientific data. It’s not science fiction,” Salgado adds. “Basically, you’re taking scientific
data and using it to create visuals to get a better insight into how the
universe looks like and behaves. As
long as you know the distance (the coordinates of those objects), you can
virtually navigate through them.
Then you can see large-scale structures that are not visible from Earth,
and you don’t have to physically go there to see what the universe looks
like.”
“The brilliance of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition will be
enhanced as the astronomical images on the screen dance and fly through the
auditorium. Never before has technology and symphony created such an imaginative
roller coaster of sight and sound,” says Jekowsky of the groundbreaking
multi-media extravaganza.
The
event is just the latest in a series of innovative programs in which Jekowsky
and the California Symphony have been dazzling audiences with the
unexpected. At a time when classical orchestras around the country
are struggling to sell tickets, the 22-year-old East Bay orchestra has been
enjoying record attendance – boosted by Jekowky’s flair for fusing classical
music and pop culture to appeal to a wider audience. “For some time, it’s been obvious that
the symphonic experience has to evolve in order to compete with the growing
number of entertainment options available today,” he
says.
“Astronomical
Pictures at an Exhibition” marks the second time the California Symphony has
collaborated with Dr. Salgado. In
October 2007, CSO presented the
West Coast premiere of his “Gustav Holst's The Planets” at two standing-room
only concerts. “It was a huge
success!” says Stacey Street, the California Symphony’s Executive Director. “We had tons of new audience members, many of whom became
regular patrons or subscribers. The
interest that has already been generated by this upcoming concert is
phenomenal.”
Among the unusual challenges of
mounting the 3-D “Astronomical
Pictures at an Exhibition” was the need for a silver screen and high definition
projectors, as well as special technicians and two extra days in the auditorium,
including for installation. “Without the support of the Diablo Regional Arts
Association, we would not be able to mount a production of this scale,” says
Street of the substantial grant awarded by the DRAA to cover the additional
costs.
The
world premiere of “Astronomical
Pictures at an Exhibition” on May 3 and 5
coincides with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, designated by the 62nd
General Assembly of the United Nations.
Among the historic milestones being commemorated around the world this
year are the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s
use of a telescope to study the skies, and Kepler’s publication of Astronomia Nova. For more information, visit www.astronomy2009.us/.
*
About
Dr. José Francisco Salgado
Born
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Emmy-nominated host of Nuestra Galaxia, a
weekly astronomy segment aired on Univision, earned his doctorate in Astronomy
from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Adler
Planetarium
Astronomy
Department, where he combines Astronomy Research with Education and Graphic
Design. Through his artwork, Salgado seeks to create visually appealing images
to provoke curiosity and a sense of wonder about the Earth and the Universe. His
artwork, photographs, and illustrations have been published in magazines and
science books, and shown in San Juan, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Belgrade. For more information, visit www.AdlerPlanetarium.org.
About
the California Symphony
The
California Symphony, now in its 22th
season, was
designated “America’s Best Symphony Orchestra” by Reader’s Digest in
2005. Its founder, the distinguished Music Director, Barry Jekowsky, is regarded
as one of the most innovative music directors today. The Juilliard-trained
former Associate Conductor of the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., and
winner of a Leopold Stokowski Conducting Prize was among the first in the nation
to present at least one work by an American composer on every concert program,
beginning 1986. Jekowsky has also
provided numerous young gifted prodigies with their first-ever concert
appearances in the U.S. – including violinist Sarah Chang, cellist Alisa
Weilerstein and pianist Helen Huang, who went on to international fame.
Concerned about where the next generation of American composers would come from,
Jekowsky founded the California Symphony’s landmark Young American
Composer-in-Residence Program (YACR) in 1991. The only training ground of its
kind in the world, YACR nurtures the development of new American classical works
through three-year residencies for emerging composers to hone their craft, using
a professional orchestra as their laboratory. The program has been so successful
that YACR alumni have gone on to win many of the world’s top honors and
competitions – including two of the three BBC International Masterprizes awarded
to date and four Rome Prizes. For
more information, visit www.CaliforniaSymphony.org.
CONCERT
DETAILS
WHAT: Music Director
Barry Jekowsky and the California Symphony present the world’s first live
symphonic concert in 3-D: “Astronomical Pictures at an Exhibition,” created by
noted
astronomer and visualizer Dr. José Francisco Salgado of the prestigious Adler
Planetarium in Chicago. Also on the
program will be the gifted young pianist Conrad Tao, performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, and Aaron Copland’s
Appalachian
Spring.
DATES: Sunday, May 3, 2009, at 4 pm and
Tuesday, May 5, 2009, at 7:30 pm.
WHERE: Lesher
Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA
94596
TICKETS: $39
- $59. Call (925) 943-SHOW or purchase online at
www.LesherArtsCenter.org
MORE
INFORMATION: www.CaliforniaSymphony.org
Special thanks
to Bank of America (Season Sponsor),
Chevron (Guest Artist Sponsor) and KPMG (Concert Sponsor), with additional
support provided by the Diablo Regional Arts Association and the Adler
Planetarium.
*
* *
PHOTO
CREDIT: José Francisco Salgado, PhD
MEDIA
CONTACTS:
Lyla
Foggia
Foggia
Public Relations
(503)
622-0232
Stacey
Street
Executive
Director
California
Symphony
(925)
280-2490