Gianandrea Noseda Makes his Debut Conducting the Juilliard Orchestra

Gianandrea Noseda Makes his Debut Conducting the Juilliard Orchestra in Works by Casella, Rachmaninoff, and Schumann on Monday, January 25, 2016, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall

NEW YORK — Gianandrea Noseda, music director of the Teatro Regio Torino and newly appointed music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington (beginning in the 2017-18 season), makes his debut conducting the Juilliard Orchestra in works by Casella, Rachmaninoff, and Schumann on Monday, January 25, 2016, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall. The program features Casella’s Sinfonia from La donna serpente; Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 with Juilliard pianist Colton Peltier; and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61.

Tickets for $30 are available at events.juilliard.edu or at Alice Tully Hall. Tickets are free for Juilliard students; non-Juilliard students with valid I.D. may purchase tickets for $15.

About the Program

Alfredo Casella’s Sinfonia is from the composer’s only major opera, La donna serpente. He composed it between 1928 and 1931, and the premiere took place in Rome in 1932. The libretto is from Carlo Gozzi’s 1762 play, La donna serpente (The Serpent Woman). The opera is rarely performed today. Casella prepared two suites of Symphonic Fragments using material from the opera; the second of these suites begins with the Sinfonia, which was originally the opera’s overture and will performed on this concert as a standalone work.

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30 dates from the summer of 1909. Rachmaninoff performed the concerto on his first American tour; he was soloist for its premiere with the New York Symphony Orchestra on November 28, 1909. He performed the concerto with the New York Philharmonic on the following January, with Gustav Mahler conducting.

Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 was composed from 1845-46. He finished the work in October 1846, and Felix Mendelssohn led the Leipzig Gewandhaus in the world premiere on November 5, 1846.

About Gianandrea Noseda

Gianandrea Noseda is widely recognized as one of the leading conductors of his generation. Newly appointed music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington (beginning in the 2017-18 season), Mr. Noseda has been music director of the Teatro Regio Torino since 2007, propelling the company onto the global stage where it has become one of Italy’s most important cultural ambassadors. Under his leadership, the Teatro Regio Torino has performed in Austria, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States, including a performance in 2014 of Rossini’s William Tell at Carnegie Hall, which Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times called one of New York’s “operatic highlights of recent years.”

Mr. Noseda is also principal guest conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, principal conductor of the Orquestra de Cadaqués in Spain, and artistic director of the Stresa Festival in Italy. He was at the helm of the BBC Philharmonic from 2002 to 2011 and principal guest conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre from 1997 for a decade.

Mr. Noseda has close relationships with the London Symphony Orchestra, which he conducts regularly at the Barbican Centre and on tour, and with the Metropolitan Opera. In 2015, he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and at the Salzburg Festival. He was named Musical America’s 2015 Conductor of the Year.

A native of Milan, Mr. Noseda is Cavaliere Ufficiale al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. He appears in this concert courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.

About Colton Peltier

Colton Peltier, is a first-year master’s student at Juilliard, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree in May 2015. He studies with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. Mr. Peltier made his orchestral debut at age 9, performing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Most recently, he performed with the Baton Rouge (Louisiana), Southeast Arkansas, Southeast Iowa, and Des Moines symphonies, the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at Aspen (Colorado), and the Lansing (Michigan) Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, the Lamont Symphony Orchestra, and the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra. He performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Minnesota’s Allegro Con Brio Orchestra-and played the piece seven times in the course of six months with the Minnesota Orchestra.

Mr. Peltier has performed as a soloist in Snowmass Chapel’s Winter Concert Series in Snowmass Village, Colorado; the South Arkansas Arts Center’s recital series, and on From the Top’s 10th-anniversary show. He was a prizewinner in several competitions, including first prize in the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen Piano Competition; the Minnesota Orchestra’s Minnesota Idol Concerto Competition; the Virginia Waring International Piano Concerto Competition, the Lake Superior Symphony Concerto Competition, and the Dakota Valley Symphony’s Concerto Competition, among others.

About the Juilliard Orchestra

The Juilliard Orchestra, Juilliard’s largest and most visible performing ensemble, is comprised of all orchestral instrumental majors in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. Under the musical leadership of alumnus Alan Gilbert, the director of conducting and orchestral studies, the Juilliard Orchestra is also led by numerous world-renowned guest conductors, some of which have included John Adams, alumna Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, alumnus James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, James Gaffigan, Fabio Luisi, Bernard Haitink, alumnus James Levine, David Robertson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, alumnus Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Zinman, and many others. The Juilliard Orchestra performs regularly at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, as well as in opera and dance productions, special events and broadcasts, and national and international tours.

All undergraduates begin their orchestral studies with Orchestra Orientation, a three-week orchestra cycle comprised of seminars, workshops, and rehearsals designed to prepare students for the rigors of the Juilliard Orchestra. Led by Maestro Gilbert, the Orchestra Orientation also calls upon Juilliard faculty and members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera orchestras to lead discussions, coach sectionals, and play in side-by-side rehearsals.

In the 2015-16 season, the Juilliard Orchestra welcomes an impressive roster of world-renowned conductors: Pablo Heras-Casado, Fabio Luisi, Nicholas McGegan, Gianandrea Noseda, Case Scaglione, and faculty members Alan Gilbert, Jeffrey Milarsky, Itzhak Perlman, and Matthias Pintscher. Highlights of the orchestra’s 2014-15 season included debut appearances by guest conductors Fabio Luisi, Tadaaki Otaka, and alumnus Peter Oundjian; return appearances by Edward Gardner, Larry Rachleff, Emmanuel Villaume, David Zinman, and David Robertson; and concerts with Juilliard faculty members Alan Gilbert and Jeffrey Milarsky.