RAY CHEN PERFORMS
SHOSTAKOVICH
position at the Staatstheater in Saarbrücken
and at the Nationaltheater Mannheim.
JOSEPH MEYERHOFF SYMPHONY HALL
Thursday, March 19, 2020, 8 pm
Saturday, March 21, 2020, 7 pm Off The Cuff
Jun Märkl last appeared with the BSO in
October 2017, conducting works of Saint-
Jun Märkl, conductor
Ray Chen, violin
Olivier Messiaen
The Forgotten Offerings
Dmitri Shostakovich
Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, op. 77
Nocturne: Adagio
Scherzo: Allegro non troppo
Passacaglia: Andante
Burlesca: Allegro con brio
Ray Chen
INTERMISSION
The works by Messiaen, Ravel and Strauss will be performed
on the March 19 performance only.
Maurice Ravel Pavane for a Dead Princess
Richard Strauss Death and Transfiguration, op. 24
Intermission will last 20 minutes. The performance will end at approximately
10 pm on Thursday and 8 pm on Saturday.
PRESENTING SPONSOR:
SUPPORTING SPONSOR:
About the Artists
Jun Märkl
Jun Märkl is a highly
respected interpreter of
Germanic repertoire and
has become known for
his refined and idiomatic
explorations of French Impressionists. His
long-standing relationships with the state
operas of Vienna, Berlin, Munich and
Semperoper Dresden, as well as the MET,
have been complemented by his music
director positions with the Orchestre
National de Lyon and MDR Leipzig
Radio Symphony Orchestra.
From 2014 – 17, Märkl was Chief
Conductor of the Basque National
Orchestra. He also guest conducts leading
20
OV E R T U R E / BSOmusic.org
orchestras in North America, Asia and
Europe. In recognition of his achievements
in Lyon, he was honored with the Chevalier
de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2012.
Märkl has an extensive discography of
more than 50 CDs, including the complete
Schumann symphonies with the NHK
Symphony Orchestra; Mendelssohn
and Wagner with MDR Leipzig Radio
Symphony Orchestra; and Ravel, Messaien
and a highly-acclaimed Debussy set with
the Orchestre National de Lyon.
Born in Munich, Märkl won the
conducting competition of the Deutscher
Musikrat in 1986 and studied at
Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and
Seiji Ozawa. Soon afterwards, he had a
string of appointments in European opera
houses, followed by his first music director
Saëns, Mozart and Richard Strauss.
Ray Chen
Ray Chen is a violinist
who redefines what it is
to be a classical musician
in the 21 st century.
With a media presence
reaching out to millions, Chen’s remarkable
musicianship transmits to a global audience
that is reflected in his engagements with
the foremost orchestras and concert halls
around the world.
Initially coming to attention via the
Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen
Elisabeth (2009) competitions, of which
he was First Prize winner, Chen has built
a profile in Europe, Asia and the U.S., as
well as his native Australia. Signed in 2017
to Decca Classics, Chen’s forthcoming
recording with the London Philharmonic
Orchestra follows three critically acclaimed
albums on Sony, the first of which (Virtuoso)
received an ECHO Klassik Award.
Chen was featured on Forbes’ list of
30 most influential Asians under 30; made
a guest appearance on Amazon’s “Mozart
in the Jungle;” and performed for a live
TV audience on France’s Bastille Day and
at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm.
Chen has performed with the London
Philharmonic Orchestra, National
Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles
Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony
and will make debuts with the San
Francisco Symphony, Berlin Radio
Symphony and Bavarian Radio Chamber
Orchestra. He works regularly with
conductors such as Riccardo Chailly,
Manfred Honeck, Daniele Gatti and
Kirill Petrenko.
Chen’s commitment to music education
is paramount and inspires the younger
generation of music students with his
series of self-produced videos combining
comedy and music. Through his online
promotions, his appearances regularly
sellout and draw an entirely new
demographic to the concert hall.