Ira Levin conducts Parsifal at the Sofia Opera opening

Ira Levin conducts Parsifal at the Sofia Opera opening

The American conductor Ira Levin has been named as the principal guest conductor of the Sofia Opera, beginning in the 2017-18 season. Levin has already conducted on the Sofia stage Verdi’s Requiem in April 2017, and on 1 October, at 16 h, he will open the new season with the newest production of Bulgarian first opera theatre. With the Sofia ensemble and orchestra, he will conduct Wagner’s complete “Ring of the Nibelung” tetralogy in May, 2018 at the legendary Bolschoi Theater in Moscow – the first performances of the “Ring” there for over a century, followed by the entire cycle in Sofia in July. He will conduct also “Don Carlos”, “Werther”, “Un ballo in Maschera” and concerts.

Ira Levin

Ira Levin has conducted over 1000 operatic performances and his repertoire encompasses 70 different titles. His symphonic repertoire includes most of the standard repertoire as well as many lesser-known works. He has worked with innumerable internationally renowned conductors, instrumentalists, singers and stage directors and is also an active concert pianist and composer/arranger. He conducted a double-bill of Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” and Busoni’s “Arlecchino” in the 100th anniversary season of the Theatro Sao Pedro in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in August 2017.

His hugely successful US operatic debut took place in April 2017 at Lincoln Center, conducting Respighi’s brilliant and rarely heard La campana sommersa in the first season of the newly re-organized New York City Opera. He received unanimously positive reviews from all of the leading papers and musical journals. He debut at the illustrious Théâtre de Geneve in November 2016 with Marschner’s Der Vampyr, was likewise received with great popular and critical acclaim. He also conducted several performances of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande.

Ira Levin was the Principal Guest Conductor of the legendary Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires from 2011-15, where he conducted 12 major opera productions, among which new productions of Aleko, Francesca da Rimini, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Un Ballo in Maschera, Idomeneo, Madama Butterfly, Werther, Don Carlos, including the American premieres of Enescu’s Oedipe and Glanert’s Caligula, and several symphonic programs. He previously served as Music Director and Artistic Director of the Teatro Municipal in Sao Paulo (2002-2005) and of the National Theater of Brazil, in Brasilia (2007-2010), bringing both international acclaim. He introduced several important works by Mahler, Janacek, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Busoni, Enescu, Schoenberg, Schnittke, Corigliano and many others to Brazil. He held posts as assistant conductor at the Frankfurt Opera (1985-88), principal conductor of the Bremen Opera (1988-1996) and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf-Duisburg (1996-2002) and as the principal guest conductor of the Kassel Opera (1994-1998). He has performed with many orchestras and at opera houses throughout the world including the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra, the Düsseldorfer Symphony, the Duisburg Philharmonic, the Hannover State Orchestra of Lower Saxony, the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz, the Badische Staatskapelle of Karlsruhe, the Bremen Philharmonic, the Dublin Opera, the Montpellier Opera, the Norske Opera in Oslo, the Norrlands Opera in Umea, Sweden, the Cape Town Opera, the National Portuguese Symphony Orchestra in Lisbon, the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and all of the major orchestras in Brazil.

Ira Levin gave his highly successful debut in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall in November 2013 with the Berlin Symphony, conducting his orchestration of Busoni’s Fantasia Contrappuntistica and Schumann’s Fourth Symphony as well as playing a Mozart piano concerto. His two CDs with the London Symphony of works by American composer Michael Colina on the Fleur deSon/Naxos label were received with glowing reviews and his 2014 recording of Colina’s Requiem, “Requinauts”, with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus was released on the same label at the end of 2014, also to critical acclaim. His recording of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony with the Symphony Orchestra of Norrlands Opera, the first since 1952, will be followed by the release in 2017 of the world premiere recording of the 1892 edition of the Second Symphony with the same forces.

His 2010 orchestration of Busoni’s monumental Fantasia Contrappuntistica was included on the program of his extremely successful debut as conductor, pianist and arranger in Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall in November of 2013 with the Berlin Symphony. An orchestration of Liszt’s Fantasia and Fugue on the theme BACH followed in 2011. These works have been performed in Germany, Finland, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. His 2012 orchestration of Franck’s Piano Quintet had it’s successful world premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic under the direction of Leif Segerstam in October, 2014. His 2014 orchestrations of five Rachmaninoff works were successfully performed by the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Porto Alegre Symphony and the orchestra of the SODRE, Montevideo and his 2015 orchestration of Reger’s piano masterpiece, the Variations and Fugue on a theme by J.S. Bach, received it’s successful world premiere in Turku, Finland in February 2016, also under the direction of Leif Segerstam. Ira Levin conducted it and other works by Reger with the Brandenburg State Orchestra for a new multi-DVD documentary by “Fugue State Films” in honor of the 2016 centenary of Reger’s death, which was released in March 2017 and also performed it with the Malaga Philharmonic in October of 2016. All of these works have been published by “Edition Tilli” of Finland. His new orchestration of Respighi’s violin and piano sonata in b-minor was published in February 2017 by Tilli as “Concerto in b-minor”.

“Edition Tilli” completed publishing in 2016 the large series of his transcriptions for piano solo of works by Bach, Gluck, Schubert, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Villa-Lobos and cadenzas to several Mozart concertos. Levin’s recordings of many his piano works can now be heard on You Tube, along with the scores.  An accomplished pianist, Ira Levin was the first-prize winner of the American National Chopin Competition in 1980. He studied for eight years with the legendary Jorge Bolet at the Curtis Institute, later becoming his assistant, while also studying conducting with Max Rudolf. He has performed throughout the United States, South America, and Europe and continues to appear in recital and concert, often leading concertos from the keyboard as well, including works by Mozart, Weber, Bach and even Brahms’s second concerto, which he conducted and played after a major soloist cancelled on short notice.

 

 

Pacho Flores, opening concert with Tenerife Symphony

Pacho Flores, opening concert with Tenerife Symphony

Pacho Flores is the guest soloist of the opening concert of Tenerife Symphony Orchestra‘s new 17/18 season on next October the 6th. Under the baton of Maestro Perry So, Pacho Flores will play the Concert for corno da caccia and strings by Johann Baptist Georg Neruda (c.1708-c1780), and Concierto Mestizo, by Efrain Oscher (1974). Mestizo is a commission from ‘El Sistema‘ and was premiered in 2010 in Caracas by Pacho Flores with the Venezuelan Youth Symphony Orchestra Simon Bolívar and conductor Domingo García. Since then, it was played more than twenty times in Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Austria, England, Spain and Japan, always by Pacho Flores.

Pacho Flores

Francisco ‘Pacho’ Flores is a first-prize winner of the Maurice André International Competition, the world’s most important trumpet contest, as well as the first prize at the International Competition Philip Jones and First Prize at the International Competition Citta di Porcia. Recently he was awarded with the Gold Medal by the Global Music Awards for ENTROPÍA, his last recording for Deutsche Grammophon with guitar player Jesús ‘Pingüino’ González. A product of the ground-breaking ‘El Sistema’, he is becoming increasingly recognized for his outstanding performing and recording activity that spans the solo, chamber, and orchestral media. Equally at home in the classical and folk styles, Pacho captivates audiences with his energetic delivery and colourful tone.

His solo performances include appearances with orchestras such as Turku Philharmonic, Arctic Philharmonic, Norrköping Symphony, Norddeutschen Philharmonie Rostock, Kiev Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Camerata, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, NHK Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Hyogo PAC Orchestra, Tucson Symphony, Sinfónica Nacional de México, Sinfónica Nacional de Puerto Rico, Filarmónica de Málaga, Sinfónica de Baleares, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Sinfónica de Bilbao, Sinfónica de Tenerife or Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela. In recital, he has performed in venues such as the New York Carnegie Hall, the Paris Salle Pleyel and the Tokyo Opera City.

Pacho Flores Tenerife Sentado_Mano

A founding member of the Venezuelan Simón Bolívar Brass Quintet, he has toured with the quintet extensively in Europe, South America, the United States, and Japan. An experienced orchestral musician, Mr. Flores has played first trumpet in the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela, the Saito Kinen Orchestra, and the Miami Symphony, under the direction of Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa, Giusseppe Sinopoli, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Gustavo Dudamel, among others. A founding director of the Latin American Trumpet Academy in Caracas, he mentors a promising generation of budding musicians and is a frequent guest at conservatories in Finland, Spain, France, Japan, and Latin America, as permanent jury member in prestigious international competitions.

Pacho Flores is an avid champion of new music and is bringing about important innovations to trumpet performance and fabrication. His repertoire includes commissions and premieres of works by composers such as Roger Boutry, Efraín Oscher, Giancarlo Castro, Santiago Báez, Juan Carlos Nuñez, Sergio Bernal, Arturo Márquez, Roberto Sierra or Paquito D’Rivera. His first album La trompeta Venezolana  has been released by the label GUATACA Producciones. A Stomvi artist, he performs with instruments tailored specially for him by this prestigious firm and actively participates in the development and innovation of their instruments. Francisco Pacho Flores is a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist with already two recordings, Cantar, with Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and Christian Vásquez; and Entropía, Gold Medal of the Global Music Awards. Next will be with Arctic Philharmonic and Christian Lindberg.

 

 

Pacho Flores, concert in Bremen

Pacho Flores, concert in Bremen

After his concert at Wartburg Castle Festival on past September the 23rd, Pacho Flores will play at Kulturkirche St. Stephani, Bremen, on September the 28th. Pacho will be on of the soloists of Barroqueanas Venezolanas, a project of composer Efraín Oscher, who, inspired in Venezuelan folklore, conceived a series of four concerts with the structure of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerts, second of which is for solo trumpet. This event will be the absolute premiere of the complete cycle and will be released in a recording. 

cartel-pacho_flores-barroqueanas_efrain_oscher_bremen

Shortly after, on October the 6th, Pacho will return to Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife to play in the orchestra’s opening concert, under the baton of Perry So, the Concert for Corno da Caccia, by J. B. G. Neruda, and Concierto Mestizo, by Efraín Oscher. Other highlights of the season includes a tour of six concerts with the Israel NK Orchestra under the baton of its Chief Conductor Christian Lindberg or the New Year Concert with the Salzburg Philharmonie and Elisabeth Fuchs.

 

Important debuts will take place along the 2018 year: First, with the Real Filharmonia de Galicia -one of the most impressive orchestras in Spain- under the baton of Manuel Hernández-Silva, Pacho will premiere his own composition Cantos y revueltas, together with Neruda’s Concerto for Corno da Caccia and a version of Villalobos’ Bachiana Brasileira nº 5. Immediately after, Pacho will debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, under Alondra de la Parra, and such extremely demanding program like Christian Lindberg’s Akban Bunka, and Efraín Oscher’s Concierto Mestizo. Still in February, next debut will be with the Ulster Orchestra and Rafael Payare, also with an absolute premiere, Giancarlo Castro’s Trumpet concerto, together with Neruda again, and Piazzolla’s Invierno Porteño.

Then, after two new debuts, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Laval, in Montreal; and the Orchestre de Cannes, he will travel to the Stormen Konsertus in Norway to record his third release for Deutsche Grammophon, with Christian Lindberg and the Arctic Philharmonic. The 18/19 season will bring important news regarding a huge project of shared commissions that involves composers as Arturo Márquez, Roberto Sierra and Paquito D’Rivera. More information soon.