NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC TO PRESENT EIGHTH SEASON OF
SUMMERTIME CLASSICS, CONDUCTED AND HOSTED BY
BRAMWELL TOVEY, JUNE 28–JULY 5, 2011

Concerts To Feature Philharmonic Debuts of Pianist Kirill Gerstein and of
―The Commandant’s Own,‖ The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps
The New York Philharmonic will present its eighth season of Summertime Classics, conducted and hosted by Bramwell Tovey, June 28–July 5, 2011. The first program —
June 28–30 — titled ―Tchaikovsky and Other Romantics, will offer music by great Russian composers such as Khachaturian, Glazunov, and Borodin, with the Philharmonic debut of pianist Kirill Gerstein performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The second program — July 2, 4, and 5 — titled ―Star-Spangled Celebration, will feature a ―Salute to Broadway, a suite of favorites by Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Frederick Loewe; Gershwin’s Catfish Row suite from Porgy and Bess; and works for Band and Orchestra, performed by ―The Commandant’s Own, The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps, Major Brian Dix, director, in its Philharmonic debut, and marches by ―The March King — John Philip Sousa.

Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein, known for his interpretations and explorations of classical music and jazz, received advanced degrees by the age of 20, earned a professorship in piano by 27, and had a full performance schedule at the world’s major music centers and festivals. In 2001 he was awarded First Prize in the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv, and in January 2010 he became the recipient of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award, only the sixth pianist to have been so honored. He also received an Avery Fisher Grant in April 2010. Highlights of Mr. Gerstein’s 2010–11 season include debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the St. Louis and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras; Columbus, Pacific, and Nashville symphonies; Royal Stockholm Philharmonic; and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. He also returns to the San Francisco and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras and The Philadelphia Orchestra at Saratoga; performs recitals at New York’s 92nd St. Y and in Portland, Maine; and tours Germany and Israel with the Hagen Quartet. His first recital recording for Myrios Classics, of works by Schumann, Liszt, and Oliver Knussen, was released in October 2010.

 Mr. Gerstein’s recent North American engagements include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Vancouver symphony orchestras. He has worked with numerous European orchestras. Born in 1979 in Voronezh, Russia, Kirill Gerstein attended one of the country’s special music schools for gifted children and taught himself to play jazz. At 14 he came to the U.S. to study jazz piano at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, while continuing to work on the classical piano repertoire. Following his second summer at the Boston University program at Tanglewood, he moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s of music degrees. He continued his studies in Madrid and in Budapest. Mr. Gerstein, now an American citizen, is currently a professor of piano at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart. He is making his New York Philharmonic debut in these concerts.

Learn more at nyphil.org/stc