Lynn Harrell is a world-renowned cellist and recording artist. The recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Piatigorsky Award, the Ford Foundation Concert Artists’ Award, and the Avery Fisher prize, Harrell is an artist you want to see live in concert.
The son of musical parents (his father was a baritone with the Metropolitan Opera and his mother was a violinist), Harrell began his interest in music playing the piano but soon switched over to the cello after being inspired by a chamber music concert. While still a teenager, Harrell lost his father to cancer and his mother to a car accident. He dealt with the early death of his parents by pouring his feelings into the cello in what he called a “very emotional relationship”. For the next year, he moved around to different family friends’ houses with a suitcase and his cello until at the age of 18, he joined the Cleveland Orchestra. He also got the chance to study with Leonard Rose and Orlando Cole at the Juilliard School in New York and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Harrell made his recital debut in 1971 and has since performed as a soloist throughout the world. He is now known as one of the leading cellists of his generation.
Bramwell Tovey’s Urban Runway was a co-commission of the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras. Maestro Tovey explains “The concept for Urban Runway grew out of an amusing conversation with friends concerning the colorful idiosyncrasies of those who offer their patronage to the fashion houses on 5th Avenue in New York or Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. New clothes, even those unseen inside designer shopping bags, appear to influence the gait of shoppers as they strut along the sidewalk. With a little imagination the listener might care to speculate on the characters depicted in the music. Based upon a simple ostinato figure housed in a cakewalk rhythm, the score is laced with jazz and minimalist flavors. A flugel horn and marimba introduce distinctive elements, and perhaps characteristically, the violas take a moment to remind us of the benefits of the ‘pre-owned’ grunge look...” This concert will feature the Canadian premiere of Urban Runway.
Masterworks Gold Series will be performed at Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Weekend, on Saturday and Monday, September 27 & 29, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre. -- www.vancouversymphony.ca
