SAXOPHONIST BRANFORD MARSALIS JOINS ANDREY BOREYKO AND THE BASQUE NATIONAL ORCHESTRA IN A SEASON CONCERT
This week the Orchestra's Season Concerts programme welcomes an exceptional soloist, the world-renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis. Conducted by BNO Principal Guest Conductor Andrey Boreyko, the interesting duo will perform Glazunov's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra and Schulhoff's Jazz Concerto. Marsalis and Boreyko are in Euskadi after joining the New York Philharmonic this past February in a series of stellar concerts performed at the Lincoln Center in New York. Now they join the Basque National Orchestra to perform the same concert on Thursday and Friday, April 14 and 15, at the Kursaal Auditorium in San Sebastián, and on Saturday, April 16, at the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao. This will be the fifth time Marsalis and Boreyko share the stage.
Branford Marsalis (New Orleans, 1960) was born into one of the southern city's most distinguished jazz families. Ellis Marsalis is patriarch of the musical dynasty, as well as pianist and educator. Brandford's siblings are Wynton, Ellis III, Delfeayo and Jason. The three-time Grammy winner has forged his career in wide range of musical directions. As saxophonist he has shared the stage with jazz giants including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins. In addition to performing, in 2002 he founded the label Marsalis Music, which has allowed him to produce both his own projects and those of the jazz world's most promising new and established artists. He has put much energy into sharing his knowledge at a number of US universities. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, together with his friend Harry Connick, Jr., Marsalis conceived the Habitat Musicians' Village in New Orlean's historic Ninth Ward. Marsalis has visited Euskadi on a number of occasions. The first time was in 1980, when he played at the Jazzaldia festival in San Sebastián. He came back four times to perform at Jazzaldia. In 1999 and 2004 his Quartet joined him in concert at the Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival.
This will be the first time in Spain that Marsalis will be playing with a symphony orchestra. In recent years he has garnered great acclaim as classical music soloist with numerous chamber and symphony orchestras. Known for his innovative spirit and broad musical scope, Branford is equally at home on the stages of the world's greatest clubs and concert halls. He has played with orchestras from such cities as Chicago, Detroit and Düsseldorf and his repertory today includes music by Copland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem and Vaughan Williams.
Andrey Boreyko, Basque National Orchestra Principal Guest Conductor, will take up the baton for Marsalis's debut with the BNO. In an interview about the concerts at the Lincoln Center in New York, Branford Marsalis had this to say about Boreyko: "I think the audience can expect a very exciting performance; Andrey creates music and hears music in a very natural, very human way."
The concert programme includes Four Slavonic Dances by Antonín Dvorák, Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra by Alexander Glazunov and Jazz Concerto by Erwin Schulhoff. The concert will close with Ravel's La Valse.
Concerts
14 April: Kursaal Auditorium, Donostia-San Sebastián. 8:00 pm
15 April: Kursaal Auditoriim, Donostia-San Sebastián. 8:00 pm
16 April: Palacio Euskalduna, Bilbao. 8:00 pm
Programme:
Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904): Four Slavonic Dances
Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936): Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942): Jazz Concerto, Hot-Sonate for Saxophone and Chamber Ensemble
(Orchestrated by Richard Rodney Bennet)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): La Valse [12']
Branford Marsalis, saxophone; Andrey Boreyko, conductor; Basque National Orchestra
