Peace Center Adds Three Classical Concerts

The Peace Center has added three classical music concerts to the schedule:

Silkroad Ensemble

Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m.; Peace Concert Hall; $15-$55

Founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Silkroad Ensemble has been called vibrant and virtuosic by The Wall Street Journal, one of the 21st century's great ensembles by The Vancouver Sun and a joyously rollicking cross-cultural collaboration by NPR's All Songs Considered.

Silkroad musicians and composers hail from more than 20 countries, drawing on a rich tapestry of traditions to create a new musical language a uniquely engaging and accessible encounter between the foreign and the familiar that reflects our many-layered contemporary identities. The Los Angeles Times said Silkroad's "vision of international cooperation is not what we read in our daily news reports. Theirs is the better world available if we, like these extraordinary musicians, agree to make it one.

Appearing in many configurations and settings, the Silkroad Ensemble has performed in more than 100 cities in more than 30 countries and recorded seven albums. Its 2016 release, Sing Me Home, won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. The Music of Strangers, a documentary about the ensemble directed by Academy Award -winning filmmaker Morgan Neville, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and was released worldwide in 2016.

FREE Peace Interlude: Journey on the Silk Road and Chai

Join Peace Center Artist-in-Residence Igor Begelman for a free musical happy hour gathering at the Peace Center on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 5:15 p.m., to embark on a musical journey through the ancient mystical regions of the Silk Road trade route. A ticket is required. To register, visit www.peacecenter.org.

NFM Wroc aw Philharmonic

Giancarlo Guerrero, Music Director and Conductor

Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, at 3 p.m.; Peace Concert Hall; $15-55

The National Forum of Music Wroc aw Philharmonic is at the heart of the Polish music scene. Founded in 1945 as both a symphony and an opera orchestra, it became the State Opera Orchestra in 1949 and held symphonic concerts sporadically until 1954, when it became an independent symphony orchestra. In 2016, the city of Wroc aw was hailed as the European Capital of Culture, and the orchestra's performances accompanied the celebrations that season.

The NFM Wroc aw Philharmonic regularly performs works commissioned by the National Forum of Music and has a growing international presence presenting classical and romantic masterworks, 20th and 21st century symphonic repertoire, and contemporary Polish composers. The orchestra has worked with all of Poland's great 20th century composers including Witold Lutos awski, Pawe Mykietyn, Krzysztof Penderecki, El bieta Sikora, Stanis aw Skrowaczewski and Agata Zubel. Promoting Polish music is a special focus of the orchestra, which regularly performs in prominent venues in Poland and throughout Europe and the United States.

FREE Peace Interlude: A New World and an Old Fashioned

Join Peace Center Artist-in-Residence Igor Begelman for a free musical happy hour gathering at the Peace Center on Thursday, Dec. 19, at 5:15 p.m., to explore the sounds, orchestrations and instruments that expanded the horizons of 20th century American music. A ticket is required. To register, visit www.peacecenter.org.

Itzhak Perlman, violin

Rohan De Silva, piano

Thursday, March 12, 2020, at 7:30 p.m.; Peace Concert Hall; $65-$95

Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world for his remarkable artistry and irrepressible joy for making music.

Perlman's recordings have garnered 16 Grammy Awards and regularly appear on the best-seller charts. In 2008, he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in the recording arts.

A major presence in the performing arts on television, Perlman has been honored with four Emmy Awards, most recently for the PBS documentary Fiddling for the Future, a film about his work as a teacher and conductor for the Perlman Music Program. One of his proudest achievements is his collaboration with film composer John Williams in Steven Spielberg's Academy Award -winning film Schindler's List, in which he performed the violin solos.

Perlman was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in November 2015 by President Obama for his meritorious contributions to cultural endeavors of the United States and for being a powerful advocate for people with disabilities. In 2003, he was granted a Kennedy Center Honor by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in celebration of his distinguished achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of the United States. President Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts in 2000, and President Reagan honored him with a Medal of Liberty in 1986.

FREE Peace Interlude: Virtuosos and Shiraz

Join Peace Center Artist-in-Residence Igor Begelman for a free musical happy hour gathering at the Peace Center on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at 5:15 p.m., to learn about some of the violin greats of the past and present, including Itzhak Perlman, Jascha Heifetz, Midori, Fritz Kreisler and Hilary Hahn. A ticket is required. To register, visit www.peacecenter.org.