TO CONTACT:
ELISABETTA LONGARDI, GENERAL MANAGEMENT RESIA Artists e.longardi@resiartists.it Via Gioberti 1 20123 - Milano - Italy Tel: +39-02654161-2-3 Fax: +39-026597851
NORTH AMERICA: Jean Jacques Cesbron CAMI Music LLC 1790 Broadway, 16th Floor New York, NY 10019 Tel: 212.841.9740 Fax: 212.841.9719 www.cami.com
FRANCE: Veronique Jourdain Artist Management 10, rue Jean Goujon 75008 Paris T. +33 1 43 29 46 47 - F. +33 1 53 01 29 11 veronique@veroniquejourdain.com www.veroniquejourdain.com
JAPAN: Yuji Arai, Kajimoto Concert Management Co., Ltd. Kahoku Bldg., 8-6-25 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, JAPAN T: +81 (0)3 3574 0969 F: +81 (0)3 3574 0980 E: yuji.arai@kajimotomusic.com http://www.kajimotomusic.com
BENELUX: Luc Van Loocke - Concerts Weinstadt www.concerts-weinstadt.com ave de busleyden 59 b-1020 brussels tel : +32/2-263 65 65 fax : +32/2-263 65 66 info@concerts-weinstadt.be skype : lucvanloocke
2009 SUMMER UPDATE:
Dear Friends,
Much has happened since Spring: Nantes, Angers, Berlin, Israel, Kyoto, Stockholm, Luzern, Ravello....and now, big news to share. Much love and enjoy the summer fun......John
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JOHN AXELROD June 30, 2009
Internationally recognized as one of the busiest and most versatile young conductors today, American John Axelrod, recently named the new Music Director of France's Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, embarks upon a stunning world tour at the invitation of the superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang and legendary jazz master Herbie Hancock. The North American tour in August 2009 includes dates at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia's Mann Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark with the New Jersey Symphony, Toronto's Massey Hall with the Toronto Symphony and at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. These summer dates follow a sweep of European cities including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Lyon with the National Orchestre de Lyon, the Arena in Verona, Royal Albert Hall with the London Philharmonia Orchestra, Essen and Rotterdam with the Neue Philharmonie Westphalen, and Ravenna with the Cherubini Orchestra.
"The new star on the conducting scene proved himself to be representative of the new generation of conductors: young, vigorous, full of élan and feeling." Bietigheimer Zeitung (Germany)
Frequently acclaimed across Europe for his "scintillating podium presence" (Andante, Turkey) and "spectacular interpretation" (Kultura, Poland) of the great symphonic repertoire, John Axelrod is highly steeped in both the worlds of Classical music and jazz, uniquely positioning him to bring together the two great pianists in concert. The exciting program includes Vaughan Williams' Concerto in C for Two Pianos, a new two-piano arrangement of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, along with the Overture to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Bernstein's "Mambo Suite" from West Side Story.
"Axelrod has clearly realized that when you come to a concert, you hear, and see. He hosts his orchestra, and his audience, and makes the programme a visual as well as auditory experience. His body movements are a well thought out combination of the classic conductor and the hip young VJ: his baton has natural authority but his shoulders and hips rock along to the beat."
-Cynthia Wilson wwclassicsonline.com- (Netherlands)
At home in a vast range of the Classical and film music repertoire from Mozart to Bernstein, from Korngold to Szpilman and from Wagner to Franz Schreker John Axelrod draws from a uniquely diverse musical and life experience that informs and enriches all of his performances. At the age of 16, he was singled out by Leonard Bernstein who took him under his wing as a student during the premiere of his opera "A Quiet Place" at Houston Grand Opera. As a student at Harvard, Axelrod added intensive studies in Jazz at the Berklee College of Music on weekends. His early career included A&R Director at Atlantic Records, in Los Angeles, working with such artists as Marc Cohen (Grammy Best New Artist winner in 1990) and Tori Amos, then as Director of A&R for BMG, working with, Bruce Hornsby and Smashing Pumpkins, among others. He also managed contemporary jazz saxophonist Warren Hill. In 1994, he directed the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Center in Costa Mesa, California. Musically inspired to return to the Classical world after 12 years, Axelrod completed his training at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Ilya Musin and later founded Houston's groundbreaking OrchestraX in 1997.
John Axelrod will become Music Director of the l'Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire (ONPL), based in Nantes and Angers, France in the 2010-2011 season, following his highly successful concerts and production of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde for Angers/Nantes Opera this past season. Mr. Axelrod has just ended his fifth and final season as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Theatre, completing the cycle of Beethoven's orchestral works with the Ninth Symphony and led a new production Don Giovanni for the Lucerne Festival.
John Axelrod has also been appointed Music Director of the "Hollywood in Vienna" Concert series with the Vienna Radio Orchestra (ORF), from 2009-2011, presenting live classic film scores and works by living film composers. http://www.hollywood-in-vienna.com/home_e.php
