News
March 02, 2010
The ensemble is pleased to announce that Los Angeles composer Prof. Dr. Erica Muhl has accepted a commission to write a work for string orchestra, which will receive its world premiere by the ensemble this fall; details upcoming.
February 12, 2010
Dresden’s Lord Mayor Helma Orosz and Saxony’s minister of health Christina Clauß will be giving addresses of welcome at the orchestra’s April 8 concert in Dresden (see WELCOME).
November 26, 2009
The New Jewish Chamber Philharmonic is a winner of the national German competition „365 Places in the Land of Ideas.“ At the awards ceremony, which took place at the Forum of the Deutsche Bank in Dresden, Michael Hurshell addressed an audience of representatives from cultural, corporate and political institutions on the challenges the orchestra faced in its unique mission. He then presented a CD of live recordings of the ensemble to Saxon governor Stanislaw Tillich. (See GALLERY, see PRESS.)
November 10, 2009
The orchestra played a return engagement at the Representation of the Saxon State to the Federation in Berlin, commemorating Kristallnacht (see GALLERY). Dr. Johannes Beermann, Saxon cabinet member and head of the state chancellery, welcomed the orchestra and composer Dr. Erica Muhl, who flew in from L.A. to hear the Berlin premiere. Also on the program: Marc Lavry’s On the Banks of Babylon (Berlin premiere) and Mendelssohn’s D major sinfonia. Rounding off the program were Eric Zeisl’s Variations on a Slovak Folksong (Berlin premiere). Prominent guests at the reception included Belgian Ambassador Marc Geleyn and representatives from the Jewish communities of Antwerp and Berlin.
November 04, 2009
Michael Hurshell is the featured artist on Middle German Radio’s (MDR) portrait series „Figaro trifft“ in Halle; this hour-long interview focuses on the ensemble’s activities and the „normalization of the repertoire“ by Jewish composers. Excerpts from the program are available here .
September 12, 2009
The orchestra makes its first appearance at the recently opened Concert Hall of Dresden’s University of Music Carl Maria von Weber, and is most pleased by the acoustics there. The program featured works by Mendelssohn, Zeisl and Waxman; the audience would not let the orchestra go without an encore, the final movement of Waxman’s Sinfonietta for String Orchestra and Timpani. (Excerpts from the works Saxon premiere performance of this work can be heard here.)
August 21, 2009
In Leipzig, Michael Hurshell meets Brendan Carroll, musicologist and author of the essential Korngold biography „The Last Prodigy.“ Unpublished and unrecorded works by the Viennese master are on the agenda.
June 03, 2009
The Sächsische Zeitung publishes an article about the orchestra’s activities, „Comeback for Jewish composers.“ (The German article can be downloaded here)
May 20
The Leipzig Volkszeitung praises the ensemble’s concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus (can be downloaded here)
May 17 and 18, 2009
Gala Concerts „60th Anniversary of the German Constitution“
The orchestra appeared in concerts in Chemnitz and Leipzig, playing a program with many Saxon connotations. String sinfonias by Sir William Herschel (whose grandfather was a brewer in the city of Pirna) – Saxon concert premieres which the audience warmly received (excerpt can be heard here ); the Andante for String Orchestra by Miklos Rózsa, who studied in Leipzig, as well as the European concert premiere of Marc Lavry’s Al Naharot Bavel („On the Banks of Babylon“) – another composer who studied in Leipzig. Both concerts were featured extra-musical events: the Jewish Community Center in Chemnitz hosted a post-concert panel discussion on the topic „Jewish life in Saxony today,“ the Leipzig Gewandhaus (the orchestra’s second appearance there) featured a pre-concert exhibition opening on the Jewish history of Saxony. In both cities the appearance of Israeli violinist Ilya Konovalov, as soloist in Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Strings in d minor (excerpt can be heard here ), resulted in ovations. The Chemnitz as well as the Leipzig audience insisted on an encore of the concerto’s finale.
February 24, 2009
The concert on Feb. 22 was enthusiastically received by the audience as well as the media. Here is the article published in the "Sächsische Zeitung" (translation available here).
February 22, 2009
The ensemble opened its 2009 concert series with a program of quartets transcribed for string orchestra, performed at Dresdens Dreikönigskirche: Schubert’s "Death and the Maiden" (using Mahler’s suggestions, augmented by Mr. Hurshell’s instrumentation) and two world concert premiers. L.A. composer Erica Muhl flew in to hear her Trucco for String Orchestra; the work was warmly received by audience and press. The Andante from Eric Zeisl’s second quartet, a moving dialogue between man and his creator, was performed in a transcription by conductor Michael Hurshell. The complete program notes (in German) may be downloaded here.
November 2008
The orchestra wound up its 2008 concert series with three concerts commemorating the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, presented in three cities: on Nov. 10 at the Dresden New Synagogue, on Nov. 11 in Leipzig where the orchestra appeared at the Gewandhaus (Mendelssohn Hall) for the first time; and on Nov. 12, exactly one year after its first public appearance, the ensemble gave its debut in Berlin. Upon the Saxon State Chancellory’s invitation, a concert was given at the Saxon State’s Berlin Representation. The world concert premiere of Miklos Rosza’s Andante for String Orchestra op. 22a was acclaimed in all three cities. Further works on the program were Bloch’s Concerto grosso #2 for string quartet and string orchestra, and Mendelssohn’s Sinonias for Strings # 3 and 5.
Saxon cabinet member Dr. Johannes Beermann, who presided over the November project, gave a speech in which he thanked the orchestra and its artistic director for their initiative, and praised the artistic level of the orchestra’s work. He also expressed his hope that the ensemble would be able to appear in Berlin again.
The New Jewish Chamber Philharmonic wishes to thank all donors and sponsors for the wonderful support over the past year. This founding season surpassed all our expectations.
9-30-08:
Peter Zacher's glowing review of the Sept. 28 concert appeared in the Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten.
9-29-08:
The orchestra's guest appearance in Görlitz was enthusiastically received; the orchestra was immediately invited for a return engagement in 2009.
9-28-08:
The audience at the Dresden New Synagogue greeted the Dresden premiere of Korngold's Symphonic Serenade with an ovation.
9-26-08:
The ensemble's November performance in Leipzig will take place at one of the world's most celebrated venues, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Mendelssohn Hall.
9-16-08:
The orchestra has been invited to play in Berlin on November 12, 2008 as part of the cultural events commemorating the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. The concert will take place at the "Representation of the Freestate of Saxony to the Federation," the Saxon State Chancellory's Berlin venue. This marks the ensemble's first appearance in the nation's capitol. The program will include works by Mendelssohn and Ernest Bloch.
8-12-08:
The Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten published a feature article about the ensemble and its music director, Michael Hurshell
8-10-08:
The orchestra has been invited to give its first concert in Görlitz on September 29, 2008. The venue will be the great hall of the Wichernhaus.
7-28-08:
The ensemble will give its first concert in Chemnitz on October 5, 2008, at the Chemnitz Festival "Begegnungen" (Encounters). The venue is the Jewish Community Center in Chemnitz.
6-11-08:
On June 9, the orchestra performed in Leipzig for the first time. The capacity crowd at the Mendelssohn Museum, responding enthusiastically to the program performed in Dresden the day before, was rewarded with an encore of Schreker's Scherzo.
6-10-08:
On June 8, the orchestra opened its 2008 concert series at the New Synagogue, Dresden with the following program:
"In Memoriam" - concert series opening
June 8 / 9, 2008
Franz Schreker: Scherzo for String Orchestra (Saxon premiere)
Pavel Haas: Study for Strings
Erich Zeisl: Variations on a Slovak Folksong (German premiere)
Felix Mendelssohn: Sinfonia for Strings No. 9 in C
Click here to download the complete original program notes (in German).
5-7-08:
Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, the orchestra appeared at two gala evenings in the New Synagogue, Dresden. On the program:
Israel Anniversary Gala
May 4 / 5, 2008
Felix Mendelssohn: Sinfonia for Strings No. 12, G minor
Franz Waxman: Sinfonietta for String Orchestra and Timpani
Click here to download the complete original program notes (in German).
11-15-07:
On November 11 the newly founded orchestra gave its premiere concert, performing works by composers with ties to Saxony. On the program:
Festive Concert commemorating the Consecration of the Synagogue
November 11, 2008
"Jewish Composers in Saxony"
Erwin Schulhoff: Three Pieces for String Orchestra op. 6
Franz Waxmann: Sinfonietta for String Orchestra and Timpani (Saxon premiere)
Felix Mendelssohn: : Sinfonia for String Orchestra No. 11 in F
Click here to download the complete program notes (in German).
