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Fresno Philharmonic Announces 2018-2019 Season Programming

August 1, 2018

Today, the Fresno Philharmonic and Music Director Rei Hotoda announced the orchestra’s 2018-2019 season which highlights the power of musical narratives to speak across history, geography and cultures to bring a wide range of stories to life. A centerpiece of the season will be the Fresno-premiere performance of Benjamin Britten’s dramatic War Requiem on Veterans Day, which falls on the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I.  Based on texts from the traditional Latin mass for the dead and the poetry of English soldier Wilfred Owen, who died in the trenches of World War I, this searing work for huge orchestral and choral forces has become a landmark of 20th century music.  The season-long focus on musical storytelling continues with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Richard Strauss’ Don Juan, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale), Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and in contemporary compositions by Missy Mazzoli (River Rouge Transfiguration), Benjamin Boone (Waterless Music) and a World Premiere by Dinuk Wijeratne (co-commissioned by the Fresno Philharmonic and the Social Sciences Reseach Council of Canada).  Several of today’s most compelling musical artists will appear with the Fresno Philharmonic this season, including pianists Jon Nakamatsu, Joyce Yang and Zhang Zou; pipa virtuoso Wu Man; violinist Sirena Huang; singers Celena Shafer, Vale Rideout and Christópheren Nomura and the Fresno Master Chorale. The 2018-2019 Pops Series welcomes back conductor Stuart Chafetz for music from popular superhero movies and, in their Fresno debut, the exciting young group Time for Three, conducted by Rei Hotoda. More details about special events and community projects to be announced at a later date.

Rei Hotoda, the Fresno Philharmonic’s Music Director and Conductor, said “Over the past year, as I get to know and understand the incredible Fresno community, many people – farmers, artists, business owners, educators and musicians – have shared remarkable stories with me about their lives and the history of California’s Central Valley.  In 2018-2019, we wanted to demonstrate how music has the unique power to tell a story by creating a season which reflects our community and provides a gateway for audiences to experience the dynamic blending of classical masterpieces of the past with those of the present in a deeply personal way .”

Inside the Music and Stay Tuned

Committed to bringing audiences closer to the concert experience, the Fresno Philharmonic offers two compelling opportunities: Inside the Music and Stay Tuned. One hour prior to each Masterworks concert performance, the Fresno Philharmonic presents Inside the Music, an off-beat and entertaining look at classical music and the people who write and perform it, hosted by Fresno State composer, professor and scholar Dr. Benjamin Boone.  Following each Masterworks concert, Music Director Rei Hotoda leads Stay Tuned a casual and fun talk-back session with guest artists and members of the orchestra in the lower lobby of Saroyan Theatre.

Fresno Philharmonic in the Schools

Music Director Rei Hotoda passionately embraces her work in music education through engaging and participatory concerts for students. This philosophy goes hand-in-hand with that of the Fresno Philharmonic, which is a leader in providing exceptional arts education programs for area schools.

This year the orchestra, under the leadership of Rei Hotoda, will once again partner with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute to present Link Up: The Orchestra Moves in May 2019 in the William Saroyan Theatre. This highly interactive concert will be the culmination of an extensive in-class curriculum for recorder and voice in which over 11,500 students from throughout Fresno County will have the opportunity to perform with the Fresno Philharmonic.  In 2018-2019, Link Up will be offered district wide in Fresno, Central, Sanger and Clovis unified school districts, as well as in several individual schools in partnership with the Fresno County Office of Education.  The Fresno Philharmonic’s Link Up program has been recognized with the Yale School of Music’s Distinguished Music Educator Award and is the largest partnership between Fresno County Schools and a performing arts organization.

Subscriptions go on sale April 6 for the Masterworks and Pops Series or a 3-Concert Create Your Own Series  and can be purchased by calling the box office at 559-261-0600.  Single tickets may be purchased online at fresnophil.org or by phone beginning August 1.

2018-2019 SEASON

POPS I: SUPERHERO SOUNDTRACK

September 22, 2018 7:30 pm
William Saroyan Theatre


Stuart Chafetz
, conductor

MASTERWORKS I: GRAND PROMENADE

October 21, 2018 3:00 pm
William Saroyan Theatre


Rei Hotoda
, Music Director and conductor
Jon Nakamatsu, piano

John Corigliano                Promenade Overture
Tchaikovsky                     Piano Concerto No. 1
Mussorgsky/Ravel          
Pictures at an Exhibition

MASTERWORKS II: STORIES OF VALOR

November 11, 2018 3:00 pm
William Saroyan Theatre

Rei Hotoda
, Music Director and conductor
Celena Shafer, soprano
Vale Rideout,
tenor
Christópheren Nomura,
baritone
Fresno Master Chorale
Anna Hamre
, director

Britten                              War Requiem

POPS II: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

December 15, 2018 7:30 pm
William Saroyan Theatre

Scott Dunn, conductor (TBC)

Fresno Master Chorale
Anna Hamre,
director

MASTERWORKS III: TALES OF THE SILK ROAD

January 20, 2019 3:00 PM
William Saroyan Theatre

Rei Hotoda, Music Director and conductor
Wu Man, pipa

Missy Mazzoli                  River Rouge Transfiguration
Zhao Jiping                       
Pipa Concerto No. 2
Rimsky-Korsakov           
Scheherazade

MASTERWORKS IV: TO BRAHMS WITH LOVE

February 24, 2019 3:00 pm
William Saroyan Theatre

Rei Hotoda, Music Director and conductor
Joyce Yang, piano

Strauss                      Don Juan
Mozart                      Piano Concerto No. 24
Brahms                     Symphony No. 2

MASTERWORKS V: NATURE SPEAKS

March 16, 2019 7:30 pm
William Saroyan Theatre

Rei Hotoda, Music Director and conductor
Sirena Huang, violin

Benjamin Boone              Waterless Music
Barber                              
Violin Concerto
Beethoven                       
Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale)

MASTERWORKS VI: SYMPHONY OF SOUND

April 7, 2019 3:00 pm
William Saroyan Theatre

Rei Hotoda, Music Director and conductor
Zhang Zou, piano

Dinuk Wijeratne              New Work (World premiere)
Rachmaninoff                   Piano Concerto No. 2
Prokofiev                         
Symphony No. 5

POPS III: TIME FOR THREE

May 11, 2019 7:30 pm
William Saroyan Theatre

Rei Hotoda, Music Director and conductor
Nicholas Kendall, violin
Charles Yang
, violin
Ranaan Meyer
, double bass

EDUCATION: LINK UP – THE ORCHESTRA MOVES

(a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute)
May 21-23, 2019
William Saroyan Theatre
Rei Hotoda
, Music Director and conductor

About Rei Hotoda

Rei Hotoda, the newly appointed Music Director of the Fresno Philharmonic, is rapidly becoming one of America’s most sought after and dynamic artists. She has appeared as a guest conductor with many of today’s leading ensembles, including the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Edmonton, Jacksonville, Utah, Toronto, and Winnipeg, as well as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the St. Louis Symphonies, among others. She most recently made her conducting debuts with the Nashville and Asheville Symphonies.

Rei’s inaugural season as Music Director of the Fresno Philharmonic in 2017-18 has ushered in a new era for the institution.  With a focus on celebrating the orchestra and the local artistic riches, Rei has programmed works that explore and define the developing role of the orchestra in the 21st Century. She has begun a new post-concert series at the FPO, Stay Tuned, that features guest soloists and musicians from the orchestra in engaging and off-the-cuff conversations. She and the FPO are partnering with Valley PBS on a new six-segment series that will feature short three-minute specials that are aimed at the younger viewers.  Her dedication to engaging with the audiences she serves mirrors that of the Fresno Philharmonic. Together they have begun to host Community Conversations that have inspired several new and growing partnerships. 

A consummate advocate of new music, Rei has conducted premieres of works by such

notable composers as John Cage, Dai Fujikura, and Salvatore Sciarrino, and has championed and recorded compositions by female composers, including Vivian Fung and Jennifer Higdon. As a recording artist, Ms. Hotoda’s credits are wide-ranging and feature her as both conductor and piano soloist.

Ms. Hotoda is also an accomplished pianist. She is equally at home leading the orchestra from the piano as well as from the podium. She has appeared as soloist conducting from the piano with the Dallas, Edmonton, Utah, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras, and has performed in recital at several leading venues.

Prior to her appointment as Music Director of the Fresno Philharmonic, Ms. Hotoda served as assistant conductor at several of today’s leading orchestras and festivals, including the Utah, Dallas, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras and the Cabrillo Festival. Ms. Hotoda is the proud recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2006 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, created by Marin Alsop to mentor women conductors.

About the Fresno Philharmonic

The Fresno Philharmonic, now in its 64th season, is one of the leading arts organizations in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley. As Fresno’s professional symphony orchestra, the Fresno Philharmonic presents incomparable live musical experiences to thousands of people each season and provides high quality music education programs to students throughout our region.  The mission of the Fresno Philharmonic is to enrich and transform the lives of the residents of the Central Valley through performances of great music.  The Fresno Philharmonic believes that music of the highest caliber should be available and accessible to all.

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