Violinist, Yevgeny Kutik, Makes Debut with EPSO

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Violinist Yevgeny Kutik
Makes Debut with El Paso Symphony Orchestra
Performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto

El Paso, TX — On Friday, October 18, 2019 and Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 7:30pm, Russian-American violinist Yevgeny Kutik, known for his “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique” (The New York Times), makes his debut with El Paso Symphony Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.  Led by Music Director Bohuslav Rattay, the program also features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad Symphony.” Both performances begin at 7:30pm at The Plaza Theatre.

“Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is one of the crown jewels in our repertoire for good reason,” says Kutik. “The melding of Russian sound, soul, folk music and virtuosity into one epic work is unparalleled, and I’m thrilled to make my debut with El Paso Symphony Orchestra to perform it.”

This concert will also feature a special collaboration with the Tom Lea Institute to present a unique multimedia experience incorporating Tom Lea’s iconic WWII paintings, sketches and photos of his time as the first embedded artist correspondent for WWII. These elements will be synched with the powerful last movement of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad Symphony.”

Concert ticket prices are $46, $41, $35, $22 and $16 plus fees.  Student tickets for $9 and $12 plus fees are available.  Tickets may be purchase at epso.org, ticketmaster.com

or by calling the EPSO office at (915) 532-3776.

The October 18 & 19 EPSO concerts are generously sponsored by the Helen of Troy.  Yevgeny Kutik is underwritten by Judy & Kirk Robison.

ABOUT THE SOLOIST: Yevgeny Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old-world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is also lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of standard works as well as rarely heard and newly composed repertoire. A native of Minsk, Belarus, Yevgeny Kutik immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of five. His 2014 album, Music from the Suitcase: A Collection of Russian Miniatures (Marquis Classics), features music he found in his family’s suitcase after immigrating to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1990, debuting at No. 5 on the Billboard Classical chart. The album garnered critical acclaim and was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and in The New York Times.

In 2019, Kutik launched a new commissioning and recording project titled Meditations on Family via Marquis Classics. He commissioned eight composers to translate a personal family photo into a short musical miniature for violin and various ensemble, envisioning the project as a living archive of new works inspired by memories, home, and belonging. Each track was released digitally weekly, and the full EP CD, produced by four-time Grammy winner Jesse Lewis, was released on March 22, 2019. Strings Magazine featured Kutik and Meditations on Family as its cover story for the March/April issue. Kutik’s other recordings include his debut album, Sounds of Defiance (Marquis 2012), and Words Fail (Marquis 2016), both released to critical acclaim.

Yevgeny Kutik made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops as the First Prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. In 2006, he was awarded the Salon de Virtuosi Grant as well as the Tanglewood Music Center Jules Reiner Violin Prize. Yevgeny Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and went on to study with Zinaida Gilels, Shirley Givens, Roman Totenberg, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and currently resides in Boston. Kutik’s violin was crafted in Italy in 1915 by Stefano Scarampella. For more information, please visit www.yevgenykutik.com.

THE TOM LEA INSTITUTE presents a unique multimedia experience incorporating Tom Lea’s iconic World War II paintings, sketches and photos of his time as the first embedded artist correspondent for WWII.  Using state-of-the-art editing techniques, special effects, and animation, Tom Lea’s art will be portrayed as never before. Synched with the powerful last movement of Shostakovich’s Leningrad symphony, viewers travel with Lea over 100,000 miles as an eyewitness to WWII.  Tom Lea provided insight into his approach as an artist correspondent, “I went out to the war as a reporter.  I absolutely was not going to do anything that I didn’t see and know-because I was there to record it, not as I thought it should be or not as an object of art.”  His painting “The Price” hung in the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon for many years, as a reminder of the cost of the decisions made.

For Lea, it all began early in March 1941.  Life’s Dan Longwell, then the magazine’s executive editor, who had been impressed by Lea’s illustrations for J. Frank Dobie’s “The Longhorns,” decided to see what Lea could do for a story the magazine was planning to run on the 1st Cavalry Division. As Lea describes it: “ World War II came riding a horse right up in front of my studio door, dismounted, and put a foreshadowing finger on my easel in the spring of 1941, ten months before Pearl Harbor.  The March winds were blowing through the Pass, howling across the boondocks, rattling sand in grainy blasts against my studio window the day a totally unexpected telegram came from New York.  It was signed by a stranger, with an identifying tagline “Editorial Staff Life Magazine.”  It was a query.  It asked if I would take a commission to make a drawing of a typical cavalry trooper and his mount, to fit a story feature Life was doing with the 1st Cavalry Division stationed at Fort Bliss.”

Tom Lea went on to become the most prolific and published artist correspondent for Life Magazine during WWII.

ARTFUL PRELUDES: Yevgeny Kutik will join EPSO Music Director Bohulav Rattay at the El Paso Museum of Art for a discussion and sampling of the El Paso Symphony October concerts on Thursday, October 17, 12pm.  Artful Preludes is presented in collaboration with the El Paso Museum of Art is free and open to the public.  Attendees are welcomed to tour the museum prior to or after the program.

LEARN MORE:  Join EPSO prior to each performance at Opening Notes, 6:30pm in the Philanthropy Theatre, to get insights on the program, composers and artist.

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

RECAP:

Artful Preludes: Thursday, October 17, 12pm, El Paso Museum of Art (Free)
Opening Notes: Friday, October 18 & Saturday, October 19, 2019, 6:30pm Philanthropy Theatre (Free)
Concerts: “Four Guitars”

Friday, October 18 & Saturday, October 19, 2019 7:30pm Plaza Theatre

El Paso Symphony Orchestra
Bohuslav Rattay, Conductor
Yevgeny Kutik, Violin
Tchaikovsky Concerto for Violin, op. 35 in D major
Shostakovich Symphony No. 7, op. 60 in C major “Leningrad Symphony”

Tickets: $46, $41, $35, $22, $16 and $9 and $12 for students plus applicable fees. Tickets may be purchase at epso.org, ticketmaster.com or by calling the EPSO office at (915) 532-3776.

  

Classical Series Opens with Four Guitars

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EL PASO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
READY TO OPEN 2019-2020 CLASSICAL SERIES
with “Four Guitars” performing Rodrigo’s Concierto Andaluz

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra (EPSO) is celebrating 89 years and still going strong.  It has the honor of being the oldest continuously running Symphony in Texas.  On September 20 & 21, 2019, Music Director Bohuslav Rattay, entering his seventh season with EPSO, and the El Paso Symphony Orchestra joined by the Universita Guitar Quartet take the stage at the Plaza Theatre, 7:30pm, to start a new season that promises to entertain, enrich and engage our community.

The Universita Guitar Quartet join the El Paso Symphony Orchestra led by Bohuslav Rattay to perform an El Paso audience favorite, Rodrigo’s Concierto AndaluzI for four guitars. The Concierto Andaluz was written by Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo for the The Romeros, also known as The Royal Family of Guitar.  The influence of the folk music of Spain and its rhythms resonate throughout the piece.

The program will open with the Overture of Handel’s Royal Fireworks.  During Handel's time in England (as almost everywhere), fireworks were a favorite way to celebrate major occasions. Handel's Royal Fireworks was written to celebrate the signing of a peace treaty -- the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The opening classical concerts of EPSO’s 89th Anniversary Season will end with Brahms’ first symphonic masterpiece, his Symphony No. 1.

ABOUT THE SOLOISTS: The Universita Guitar Quartet started in 2016 as a collaborative project between the guitar area faculty members of the University of Texas at El Paso, the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez and the Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua. Its members are Hiram Rodriguez (UTEP-UACJ), Martin Espinoza (UACH), Jesus Manuel Flores (UACH) and Daniel Monroy (UACJ). Each one of them has been developing academic activities in their own universities as well as participating in guitar festivals as performers and adjudicators for guitar competitions in Mexico, Europe and Latin America. The ensemble has performed at guitar festivals and competitions at the Juarez and Chihuahua universities in 2016, 2017 and 2018.  The quartet performs works by several Mexican composers.  Currently Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto Andaluz” is the new project the UGQ has embarked on and has been invited to perform with symphony orchestras in Mexico, including the Orquesta Sinfonica de la UACH.

The September 20 & 21 EPSO concerts are generously sponsored by the Marlene and J.O. Stewart, Jr. Foundation.

 Concert ticket prices are $46, $41, $35, $22 and $16 plus fees.  Student tickets for $9 and $12 plus fees are available.  Tickets may be purchase at epso.org, ticketmaster.com or by calling the EPSO office at (915) 532-3776.

ARTFUL PRELUDES: Universita Guitar Quartet will join EPSO Music Director Bohulav Rattay at the El Paso Museum of Art for a discussion and sampling of the El Paso Symphony September concerts on Thursday, September 19, 12pm.  Artful Preludes is presented in collaboration with the El Paso Museum of Art is free and open to the public.  Attendees are welcomed to tour the museum prior to or after the program.

LEARN MORE:  Join EPSO prior to each performance at Opening Notes, 6:30pm in the Philanthropy Theatre, to get insights on the program, composers and artist.

SEASON TICKETS:  Season tickets are available through the El Paso Symphony Orchestra (915) 532-3776.  Season ticket prices (6 classical concerts): $228, $195, $168, $96, $66 plus fees. Discounts for the season tickets are: 20% seniors and active military, 30% educators, 50% students

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

RECAP:

Artful Preludes: Thursday, September 19, 12pm, El Paso Museum of Art (Free)
Opening Notes: Friday, September 20 & Saturday, September 21, 2019, 6:30pm Philanthropy Theatre (Free)
Concerts: “Four Guitars”
Friday, September 20 & Saturday, 21, 2019, 7:30pm Plaza Theatre
El Paso Symphony Orchestra
Bohuslav Rattay, Conductor
Universita Guitar Quartet: Hiram Rodriguez, Martin Espinoza, Jesus Manuel Flores, Daniel Monroy
Handel Royal Fireworks, Overture
Rodrigo Concierto Andaluz
Brahms Symphony No. 1, op. 68 in C minor

Tickets: $46, $41, $35, $22, $16 and $9 and $12 for students plus applicable fees. Tickets may be purchase at epso.org, ticketmaster.com or by calling the EPSO office at (915) 532-3776.

89 Years and Going Strong!

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EPSO celebrates its 89th Anniversary

The longest continuously running symphony in the state of Texas!

 Opens season with The Music of ABBA “Dancing Queen”

 El Paso, Tex - As the oldest performing arts organization in El Paso and the longest continuously running symphony orchestra in Texas, the El Paso Symphony Orchestra (EPSO) has spearheaded cultural activities in El Paso for 89 years. To celebrate this significant milestone, EPSO will open the season dancing to ABBA’s greatest hits at its 89th Anniversary Gala on Friday, August 23, 2019, 6pm at the El Paso Country Club, followed by a concert on Saturday, August 24th at the Plaza Theatre, 8pm, featuring The Music of ABBA performed by the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, full rock band and vocalists.

Tickets for the gala and concert are on sale now at www.epso.org, or call (915) 532-3776. In addition, tickets for the Saturday concert can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com.

EPSO’s rich history traces from a performance in December 1893. There were at least eight other attempts to bring symphonic music to El Paso before an orchestra was officially established in 1931. In the initial performance on January 26, 1931, H. Arthur Brown conducted his first concert with the El Paso Symphony at the Scottish Rite Auditorium. Brown remained as conductor until 1951.

Since then, EPSO has been under the baton of six conductors. In 1951, young Italian violinist and conductor Orlando Barera took over the podium for the next 20 seasons. The 41st consecutive season of the El Paso Symphony opened in October 1972 with William Kirschke leading for the next three seasons. On March 24, 1975, the El Paso Symphony Orchestra Association appointed native son Abraham Chavez, Jr. as the new Music Director and Conductor. Gürer Aykal succeeded Maestro Chavez in 1992.  Sarah Ioannides became EPSO’s first female Conductor in 2005. Following a 2-year search, Bohuslav Rattay was named EPSO’s Music Director starting with the 2013-2014 Season.

Since its inception, EPSO has made downtown El Paso its home, performing at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, Liberty Hall, Abraham Chavez Theatre and currently in the historic Plaza Theatre.

Today, EPSO is the largest arts nonprofit in the region, employing over 200 people per performance. It attracts 90,000 annually to its programs, which extend beyond the stage. It has presented and performed with renowned artists Yo-Yo-Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Tito Puente and Celia Cruz, Tony Bennett, Juan Gabriel and the Bolshoi Ballet to name a few.

EPSO acknowledges the rich diversity in our community and seeks to include people from every part of our community through varied concerts and events like the annual Pop Goes the Fort concert, with an audience of over 20,000; and sold-out performances of pops concerts with a rock twist, like the “Classical Mystery Tour” and “The Music of Queen.”

With a strong commitment to education and outreach, EPSO reaches over 40,000 children and students in the region every year. The longest-running EPSO education program, the El Paso Electric Young People’s Concerts, entering their 80th year this season, have introduced more than 750,000 5th grade students to live classical music in a fun, energetic and interactive environment. EPSO’s Brass in Class and Strings in Schools programs have been a presence in the classroom for over 40 years.

EPSO’s principal education program, the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras (EPSYOs), is celebrating its 14th anniversary. EPSYOs serves over 300 students annually and is open to all orchestral musicians ages 7 -23. EPSYOs continues to grow and serves its members’ diverse musical interests with programs like the Concerto Competition, the Chamber Music Program and a week-long Summer Camp. Students rehearse on weekends throughout the school year, with four schedule performances. In addition, EPSYO musicians participate in performances at the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, Alamo Drafthouse and with artists such as The Piano Guys and Lindsey Stirling.

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra’s Tocando Music Project is an after-school program that currently provides music learning and performance opportunities to students in elementary through middle school. Students enjoy weekly classes, bi-monthly visits to the El Paso Museum of Art, UTEP Career Days, out-of-town overnight trips to week-long Summer Music Camps, and tickets to each EPSO Classical Concert for themselves and their families.  Students perform concerts at their home schools as well as various venues throughout the community and city including the Plaza and Chavez Theaters.

Tocando Music Project launched in September 2013 at Hart Elementary in downtown El Paso. In 2017, the Feeder School Initiative, Tocando has expanded to Guillen Middle School. Tocando now has students from 3 schools in Bowie High School’s feeder pattern: Hart and Aoy Elementary and Guillen Middle School. Tocando is supported through the PlayUSA initiative of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute and a generous grant from the American Orchestras’ Futures Fund, a program of the League of American Orchestras made possible by funding from the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation.

With a strong belief and commitment from EPSO’s Board of Trustees, conductor, musicians, staff and our community, EPSO will continue to flourish and create beautiful music in our culturally rich city,

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Pop Goes The Fort

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9th ANNUAL “POP GOES THE FORT”
INDEPENDENCE DAY CONCERT & FIREWORKS CELEBRATION
THURSDAY, JULY 4, BIGGS PARK, FORT BLISS

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert celebrating America’s Independence on Thurday, July 4, at Biggs Park, 11388 Sergeant Major Blvd. EPSO Assistant Conductor James Welsch will lead the El Paso Symphony in a patriotic and pops concert featuring USO Show Troupe in salute of the brave men and women of Fort Bliss and all those who served to protect our country.

Biggs Park will be open at 4:30pm and the festivities will begin at 5:30pm with a Cannon "Salute to the Union.” Concert begins at 7:30pm and the evening culminates with a spectacular fireworks display.
“We are so honored to continue this wonderful collaboration with the MWR. This will be our 9th consecutive year of performing for our troops at Fort Bliss and the El Paso Community” said Ruth Ellen Jacobson, Executive Director of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra Association. “James has put together an exciting and varied program mixing traditional patriotic music, contemporary patriotic music, and pop music performed with the USO Show Troupe.

This concert would not be possible without the financial support of our community who support the El Paso Symphony Orchestra especially Pioneer Services and Clark McCarthy Healthcare Partners II (Clark Construction and McCarthy Building Companies), Marathon Petroleum and the Hunt Family Foundation.
The El Paso Symphony is working with the Fort Bliss, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) to make this event a fun-filled family day for everyone. The MWR will have vendors selling food, drinks and beer and activities for the entire family.

The concert and activities are free and open to everyone. Simply present valid ID for access to Biggs Park through Biggs gate. Lawn chairs and coolers are welcome. Pets, alcohol and glass containers are prohibited. Food and beer is available for purchase.

RECAP:
9th Annual Pop Goes the Fort
4:30pm: Gates Open
5:30pm: Cannon Salute to the Union
7:30pm: El Paso Symphony Orchestra with special guests USO Show Troupe followed by Fireworks
The El Paso Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

EPSO Holds Auditions May 19

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EL PASO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA HOLDS AUDITIONS MAY 19

El Paso, Tex. – The El Paso Symphony Orchestra will be holding auditions on Sunday, May 19, 2019 from 11am to 7:00pm in the Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall at the University of Texas at El Paso, for the following positions:

  • Principal 2nd Violin
  • Section Violin
  • Section Viola
  • 3rd Oboe/English Horn
  • 2nd Clarinet
  • 3rd Bassoon/Contra Bassoon

Should any position be filled by a current member of the EPSO, the resulting vacancy(s) may be filled at these auditions.

Audition application can be downloaded below. Requirements and music for violin, viola, oboe and bassoon positions are posted under repertoire. Clarinet requirements will be posted soon.

For further information contact El Paso Symphony Personnel Manager Leann Isaac at (915) 637-8144. Applications are due by May 3, 2019.

Tickets On Sale for Video Games LIVE!

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EL PASO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS VIDEO GAMES LIVE
A Video Game Multimedia Symphonic Concert Experience!

Tickets go on today Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 10am

Video Games Live (VGL) takes the gaming experience light years beyond with a “captivating, proudly bombastic show” (The New York Times) that combines video game music masterfully performed by the El Paso Symphony Orchestra with the explosive energy of a rock concert in the Plaza Theatre on April 13, 2019 at 8PM. Includes music from Final Fantasy, Zelda, Mario, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid, Skyrim, Castlevania, Halo, World of Warcraft, Pokemon AND MANY MORE!!

Tickets for Video Games Live go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 10am and can be purchased at www.epso.org, www.ticketmaster.com, or call the Symphony office at (915) 532-3776, and at the Plaza Theatre Box Office. Tickets prices are $30, $45, $60 to $75 (plus applicable service charges) and are subject to change.

VGL was created by industry legend, composer Tommy Tallarico. The multimedia concert introduces new audiences—families, video game enthusiasts and non-gamers—to the symphonic experience with exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, well-known Internet solo performers, electronic percussion, live action and interactive segments. The “ingenious and fantastic” (Los Angeles Times) show spotlights the music that enhances the most gripping video game moments—rescuing the princess, winning the boss fight, saving the galaxy from aliens or defeating the undead—with performances from recent blockbusters and iconic classics.

Praise for the immersive concerts is abundant, with VGL being heralded as a “beautiful performance” (USA Today), “simply breathtaking” (IGN.com), “Thrilling!” (The London Times) and “…a feast for the eyes and ears” (Seattle Times).

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by the City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.