Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra 'Valentine's Weekend: Romeo & Juliet, and Carmen'
Featuring: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ).
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Since its founding by George Eastman in 1922, the Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra has been committed to enriching and inspiring
our community through the art of music. For more than 80 years, the RPO
has been known for its high standard of artistic excellence, unique
tradition of musical versatility and deep commitment to education and
community engagement.
Current Music Director Christopher Seaman continues the traditions
of such notable former Music Directors as Eugene Goossens, Jose Iturbi,
Erich Leinsdorf and David Zinman. The RPO has also performed under the
batons of such renowned guest conductors as Fritz Reiner, Leonard
Bernstein, Sir Thomas Beecham and Leopold Stokowski. Principal Pops
Conductor Jeff Tyzik has earned a national reputation for excellence in
pops programming during his tenure with the RPO.
The Orchestra is also at the vanguard of music education, naming
Michael Butterman as Principal Conductor for Education and Outreach
(The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Chair) – the first position of its
kind in the country. In addition to performing concerts for students of
all ages, RPO musicians visit every elementary school in the Rochester
City School District through the Primary Ensembles Program.
In 2002, the RPO received the New York State Governor’s Arts Award
for excellence and community service. In 2005 and 2006, the American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the American
Symphony Orchestra League honored the RPO with an ASCAP Award for
Adventurous Programming, recognizing the Orchestra’s commitment to
music written in the last 25 years.
Today, the RPO presents more than 140 concerts per year, serving
approximately 350,000 people through ticketed events, education and
outreach activities, concerts in schools and community centers
throughout the region, an annual residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley
Music Festival in Colorado and broadcasts on WXXI 91.5 FM.
As one of the great American orchestras, the RPO aspires to be an
institution driven by a culture of confidence, adventure, excellence
and success; the premier cultural organization in the region and the
hub of cultural life year-round; and recognized nationally for artistic
and organizational excellence, creativity and innovation.
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
In addition to its recordings for Sony Classical, Los Angeles Guitar
Quartet (LAGQ) has given recitals in many of the world's top halls and
toured most of the Northern Hemisphere. Comprised of John Dearman,
William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, and Andrew York, LAGQ released its
first album, Dances From Renaissance to Nutcracker, in late 1993. The
quartet spent the remainder of the '90s touring the United States and
working on solo projects. It teamed with Sony Classical in 1998 for
L.A.G.Q., an album that debuted in the Top 15 of Billboard's classical
crossover chart and remained there for six months. Following the
commercial success of its partnership with Sony, the quartet toured
North America and Europe and returned with a follow-up album, Air &
Ground, in 2000. Though not quite as successful as its predecessor, the
album nonetheless lodged itself inside the Top 25 for several months. A
year later, in 2001, LAGQ performed Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto Andaluz
in Madrid, Spain, at the hundredth anniversary celebration of the
composer's birth and subsequently performed the work over 20 times with
the aid of various orchestras throughout the United States. In 2002 the
quartet embarked on a tour of Japan and Europe promoting the release of
its first release for Telarc, LAGQ - Latin.