Tan Dun Premieres Cello Concerto: INTERCOURSE OF FIRE AND WATER

The Orchestra Now (TON) begins its third Rose Theater season at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall on Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 3pm. Led by the renowned conductor, composer, visual artist, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun, the program will be highlighted by the U.S. premiere of his Cello Concerto: Intercourse of Fire and Water, performed by Chinese soloist Jing Zhao in her Lincoln Center debut. The concert also includes another Tan Dun work: Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds, commissioned by Carnegie Hall in 2015 for the National Youth Orchestra of the United States. The music draws on forms from East and West, ancient and modern, and incorporates birdsong produced by smartphone.

Of special note in the Orchestra's fall season, TON recently launched a new broadcast series on WWFM - The Classical Network station serving New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and around the world at wwfm.org. The programs are part of WWFM's exclusive "The Classical Network in Concert" series and will be hosted by Carl Hemmingsen and the next performance will air on Friday November 9 at 8 pm. More information is available at wwfm.org. TON's second broadcast season with WMHT, serving Eastern New York and Western New England, will start on October 28 and details are available at wmht.org.

Tan Dun & Respighi's Pines of Rome

Sunday November 11, 2018 at 3 pm

Tan Dun, conductor

Jing Zhao, cello

Smetana: Vltava (The Moldau) from Má Vlast (My Country)
Tan Dun: Cello Concerto: Intercourse of Fire and Water (U.S. Premiere)

Tan Dun: Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds

Respighi: Pines of Rome

The next performance in the series will present guest conductor Fabio Luisi in works by Brahms and Grieg on March 26, 2019.

The Orchestra Now

The Orchestra Now (TON) is a group of more than 60 vibrant young musicians from 14 different countries around the globe: the United States, Bulgaria, China, France, Hungary, Malaysia, Mongolia, Peru, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Venezuela. All share a mission to make orchestral music relevant to 21st-century audiences. Hand-picked from hundreds of applicants from the world's leading conservatories - including The Juilliard School, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and the Curtis Institute of Music - the members of TON are not only rousing audiences with their critically acclaimed performances, but also enlightening curious minds by presenting on-stage introductions and demonstrations at concerts, offering program notes written from the musicians' perspective, and connecting with patrons through one-on-one discussions during intermissions. To date, members of TON have earned positions with orchestras across the United States and in Europe. Some play regularly with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony.

Conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein founded TON in 2015 as a master's degree program at Bard College, where he also serves as president. The Orchestra is in residence at Bard's Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, offering multiple concerts there each season as well as participating in the annual Bard Music Festival. The Orchestra also performs numerous concert series at major venues in New York, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as a schedule of free performances across New York City boroughs. TON has collaborated with many distinguished conductors, including Fabio Luisi, Neeme Järvi, Gerard Schwarz, and JoAnn Falletta.

For upcoming activities and more detailed information about the musicians, visit theorchestranow.org.