National Symphony Orchestra News

Great Yarmouth's Edwardian Hippodrome Circus will reverberate again to the sound of one of Europe's finest orchestras in February when the Czech National Symphony Orchestra pays a visit to the town for a concert of classical pieces.

Conductor Andrew Litton started his career right here in Washington, as Exxon/Arts Endowment Assistant Conductor with the National Symphony Orchestra under the late Mstislav Rostropovich.

SINCE 1992, the National Symphony Orchestra has conducted a residency program that floods one state a year with some of the nation's most accomplished musicians.

The National Symphony Orchestra, under the able baton of guest conductor Andrew Litton, presented the world premiere performance of Jennifer Higdon's scintillating, first-ever Piano Concerto at the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall Thursday evening.

ITHACA -- A Cornell professor has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Pianist Yuja Wang shined in the world premiere performance. Enlarge Photo COMMENT 0 Comments Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item.

Next April 5-13, members of the National Symphony Orchestra will set up residency in the state, packing in as many performances and educational outreach activities as its schedule will allow.

The first state dinner of the Obama White House had it all: Oscar-winning entertainers, Hollywood moguls, a knockout guest chef and even a wardrobe malfunction.

National Symphony Orchestra violaist Bill Foster gives a private lesson on Nov. 4 to Emilio Carlo, 15, as part of the NSO Fellows program.

Pianist-composer Michel Camilo laughs as he recalls one particular performance of his Piano Concerto, several years ago at Royal Albert Hall in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin conducting.

BEIRUT: "This program might seem a little mixed up," said maestro Robert Lehrbaumer, standing on the conductor's podium at St.

Lang Lang , that famed piano superstar , is at the ripe age of 27 now, and over the hill, so to speak, in Wunderkind years.

Perhaps it's due to long years of habit that the National Symphony Orchestra appears to treat its Thursday night concerts like a final dress rehearsal. The opening chords of Brahms's Violin Concerto sounded lackluster, as if the performers weren't fully awake. By the middle of the movement, though, they had all shown up, engaged and present.

Ivan Fischer, the orchestra's principal conductor, would never miss out on the start of a piece like that. But on the podium Thursday night was Alexander Vedernikov, making his debut with the orchestra, and -- along with the evening's soloist, violinist Vadim Repin -- a part of the symphony's year-long 'Focus on Russia' (something indicated in the program, rather alarmingly, with little crosses, as if marking them deceased).

Leonard Slatkin, the music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and former music director of the National Symphony Orchestra, suffered a heart attack on Sunday while conducting a concert with the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He is recovering in a hospital in the Netherlands after an operation to insert two stents.

Slatkin, 65, was aware of chest pains during the afternoon performance, but was able to finish the concert -- Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, with Lars Vogt, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 -- before going to the hospital. 'Maestro Slatkin feels great,' his manager said, according to a posting on the Rotterdam Philharmonic Web site, adding, 'he is getting the best of care.'

Renaissance Research "Conservatory Project" Spirit Night Quiz: What 'Nihilistic' Classical Masterpiece Premiered on April 3, 2011? a a oea a Hint Extra credit: Will Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony Orchestra be able to match James Ross and the University of Maryland's exceptionally high level of orchestral programming? * Another hint: ...

National Symphony Orchestra conductor Lu Shao-chia will use Shostakovich's Symphony No.5 as the base for October's "The Triumph of the Spirit" concert.

Photo: Psychologist Charles T. Snowden teamed up with cellist David Teie to create music for tamarin monkeys out of their calls.

There were two surprises in store Thursday evening as the National Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of guest conductor Ludovic Morlot, presented its second regular season concert in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall.

Pianist Stephen Hough once called Brahms' First Piano Concerto a 'big, human uttering.' That sounds like a description of essentially any speech by Fidel Castro, but Hough had a point.

Most college students only dream of sharing the stage with a musician like Ben Folds.