Oberlin Orchestra with Pianist Jeremy Denk to give NYC Tour Preview Concert on January 16

OBERLIN, OH – The Oberlin Orchestra, performing with guest soloist Jeremy Denk ’90 and led by Associate Professor of Conducting Raphael Jiménez, will give a preview of their 2013 NYC Tour Carnegie Hall program on January 16 in Finney Chapel. The concert will begin at 8:00 p.m. and admission is free.

The orchestra with Denk, piano, will present the entire program slated for their January 19 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The program includes Ravel’s La Valse, Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C Major, K. 467, Christopher Rouse’s Iscariot, and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919 version).

“A pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs,” (New York Times) Jeremy Denk has steadily built a reputation as an unusual and compelling artist, with a broad and thought-provoking repertoire. Distinguished as both a soloist and a chamber musician, Denk has appeared with numerous orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and London. He regularly gives recitals in New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, and throughout the United States. This season he makes solo appearances in venues including Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and London’s Wigmore Hall.

Denk is known for his witty and insightful music criticism, much of which can be found on his blog entitled “Think Denk.” He has written articles for the New York Times Book Review, Newsweek, and the website of NPR Music. Alex Ross of the New Yorker calls him “a superb musician who writes with arresting sensitivity … sophisticated on the one hand, informal on the other, immediate in impact.”In 2012, Denk released an album under Nonesuch featuring Ligeti’s famously complex Etudes and Beethoven’s last Piano Sonata. Its success earned it a feature on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, while BBC Music hailed it as nothing short of “a marvel.”

Raphael Jiménez began his conducting career with the Venezuelan National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras, and soon began conducting all of the country’s professional orchestras. At the age of twenty-two he was appointed principle conductor of the Caracas National Ballet. Among others, he has conducted the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Florida Orchestra, and the opera orchestras of Lubeck in Germany and Palm Beach in Florida in acclaimed productions.

The Oberlin Conservatory’s 2013 New York City Illumination Tour is a series of four performances from January 15 to 19 at a variety of venues in New York City. Five ensembles comprising 155 students, faculty, and alumni will perform music ranging from baroque to jazz, and classical to contemporary. More information can be found at www.oberlin.edu/nyc2013tour/.

The event listing for the January 16 preview concert can be found at www.new.oberlin.edu/calendar.