MUSIC

The Houston Symphony presents Beethoven's Piano Concerto 3, Thursday, February 24 and Saturday, February 26 at 8pm, and Sunday, February 27 at 2:30pm, in Jones Hall.

Two young American talents take the Jones Hall stage on February 24, 26, and 27. The Houston Symphony welcomes back conductor and Rice University alumnus James Gaffigan, and the enormously talented pianist Jonathan Biss, whose last visit to Houston was spoiled by Hurricane Ike. Gaffigan will lead the orchestra in a program of Ives’ Symphony No. 3 and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7 while Biss impresses with Beethoven’s stormy Piano Concerto No. 3.

Scheduled Program:
Ives: Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Dvorák: Symphony No. 7

Artists:
James Gaffigan, conductor
Jonathan Biss, piano

About James Gaffigan (pictured):
American conductor James Gaffigan is hailed for his insightful musicianship and natural ease of conducting. In summer 2011, he begins appointments with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra as Chief conductor and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra as Principal Guest Conductor.

Gaffigan has guest conducted several American orchestras, and this season he debuts with the Vancouver and Milwaukee orchestras. Internationally, he returns to the Munich and Rotterdam Philharmonics; Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin; Bournemouth Symphony; the Leipzig and Stuttgart Radio Orchestras; and debuts with the Dresden Staatskappelle, Sydney Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Gaffigan made his professional opera debut conducting La Boheme (Zurich Opera), and conducted performances of Don Giovanni (Aspen Music Festival) and Falstaff (Glyndebourne) in 2009. Last year, he co-conducted Cosi fan tutti with Sir Charles Mackerras (Glyndebourne) and led performances of Marriage of Figaro (Aspen). He leads Houston Grand Opera and makes his Vienna State Opera debut in April 2011.

Born in New York City in 1979, Gaffigan studied at the LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Juilliard School Preparatory Division. A New England Conservatory of Music graduate, he earned his Masters of Music in conducting at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Gaffigan was chosen as an academy conductor in the American Academy of Conducting’s inaugural year in Aspen, and he received the Academy's first Robert Harth Conducting Award. He was selected as a Tanglewood Music Center conducting fellow and won first prize at the 2004 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition.

Gaffigan previously led the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Conductor and the Cleveland Orchestra as Assistant Conductor. He currently resides in Lucerne with his wife, writer Lee Taylor Gaffigan. 

About Jonathan Biss:
American pianist Jonathan Biss, widely regarded for his artistry and interpretations, has won international recognition for his orchestral, recital and chamber music performances and for his award-winning recordings. Noted for his prodigious technique, intriguing programs and musical intelligence, he performs diverse repertoire, including commissions from Leon Kirchner, Lewis Spratlan and Bernard Rands this season.

Since his New York Recital and New York Philharmonic debuts at age 20, Biss has appeared with the foremost orchestras of North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He is a frequent performer at leading international music festivals and gives recitals in major music capitals at home and abroad. Collaborations this season include scheduled performances with Midori (violin), Antoine Lederlin (cello), Nobuko Imai (viola) and Miriam Fried (violin).

His newest recording of Schubert Piano Sonatas was named one of the best albums of the year by NPR Music. Albums for EMI Classics include a live recording of Mozart Piano Concertos 21 and 22 (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) and Schumann and Beethoven recital discs, which were recognized with a Diapason d’Or Award and an Edison Award, respectively.

Biss studied at Indiana University with Evelyne Brancart and at The Curtis Institute of Music with Leon Fleisher. He represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians including his grandmother, Raya Garbousova, for whom Samuel Barber wrote his Cello Concerto, and his parents, Miriam Fried and Paul Biss (viola/violin). He has received the Leonard Bernstein Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2003 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He was the first American participant in BBC’s New Generation Artist program. Biss blogs about his life as a musician at jonathanbiss.com 

About the Houston Symphony
The Houston Symphony has played a central role in Houston’s cultural and civic life since 1913. Each year, the Houston Symphony performs more than 170 concerts for approximately 350,000 people, featuring an innovative and broad spectrum of classical, popular, education and community-based symphonic programming. For tickets and more information, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org  or call 713-224-7575.