July 12 @ 6:00pm
Del Sole Festival Orchestra
James Gaffigan, conductor
Measha Brueggergosman, soprano
André Watts, piano
   
Bizet: Suite from L'Arlesienne
Ravel: Shéhérazade
Mussorgsky: Prelude to Khovantchina
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2

Conductor James Gaffigan graduated from Boston's New England Conservatory of Music and in 2003 he earned his Masters of Music in conducting at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston. He made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival in 2000. In 2001, he was selected to study at the Tanglewood Music Center and has subsequently conducted concerts for and has been coached by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, Andre Previn, Hans Graf, Robert Spano and Jorma Panula. Between 2003 and 2006, Gaffigan was Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. In September 2006, he became Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony. He has guest conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, the New World, Indianapolis orchestras as well the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert. In June 2005 he made his professional opera debut at the Zurich Opera conducting La Boheme.

Pianist André Watts burst upon the music world at the age of 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in their Young People's Concerts, broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV. Only two weeks later, Bernstein asked him to substitute at the last minute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt's E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, thus launching his career in storybook fashion. More than 45 years later, Watts remains one of today's most celebrated and beloved superstars. His performances each year with the world's great orchestras and conductors and his sold-out recitals and appearances at the most prestigious international festivals bring him to every corner of the globe.


July 13 @ 3:00pm
Napa Valley Symphony
Carolyn Kuan, conductor

Glass: Life: A Journey Through Time

Life: A Journey Through Time is an original multimedia orchestral performance merging arts, science, photography and music. It chronicles the story of life on Earth through the imagery of acclaimed National Geographic wildlife photographer Frans Lanting and the music of celebrated composer Philip Glass, arranged for orchestra by Michael Riesman, with visual design by Alexander V. Nichols, and a recorded introduction by actor Peter Coyote.

Life: A Journey Through Time was produced and premiered in 2006 by the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, under the direction of Marin Alsop. The East Coast premieres of Life were performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Marin Alsop, and it was performed in November at the Teatro della Corte in Genova, Italy.

After spending seven years photographing every continent on the planet, including Antarctica, Lanting compiled a photo collection comprised of over 200 images that paralleled new scientific insights about the evolution of life on Earth. The result is a lyrical interpretation of life on Earth, from its earliest beginnings to its present diversity. From prehistoric trilobites to giant tortoises, delicate jellies to spiny octopus trees, and from erupting volcanoes to shimmering coral reefs, Life: A Journey Through Time is a testament to the magical beauty and enduring miracle of life on Earth.

Proceeds from this concert will benefit the Napa Land Trust and other conservation organizations.


July 18 @ 6:30pm
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, violin
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
   
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has a rich 108-year history of artistic excellence. After an exhaustive search, the DSO named Jaap van Zweden as music director beginning in the 2008-2009 season. Eminent music directors such as Antal Dorati, Paul Kletzki, Georg Solti, Eduardo Mata and Andrew Litton laid the groundwork for important elements of today’s DSO, including extensive touring and recording, special community and education concerts and the building of the world-renowned Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

Conductor Jaap van Zweden is presently the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Radio Kamer Filharmonie, a position he commenced in the 2005/6 season and which has recently been extended till 2013. He has recently been announced as the new Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra a position which he starts in 2008/09 season, and from that same season, he will also assume the role of Chief Conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent seasons, Jaap van Zweden has worked with orchestras such as the Gothenburg Symphony, WDR Cologne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Munich Philharmonic, Oslo Phiharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.


July 20 @ 3:00pm
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
Jill Grove, mezzo soprano

Mahler: Rückert Lieder
Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Renowned for her distinctive dramatic mezzo soprano and passionate artistry, American mezzo soprano Jill Grove has won critical raves throughout America and Europe for her distinguished portrayals of the heroines of German and Italian opera. She was named as a winner of the 2003 ARIA award. Grove is the winner of a 2001 Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant, a 1999 George London Foundation Career Grant, a 1997 Sullivan Foundation Career Grant, a 1996 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a 1996 recipient of a Richard Tucker Foundation Study Grant and a 1995 recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant. She was a member of the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera and the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and has also sung with the Opera Theater of St. Louis.