Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is the resident orchestra at Colston Hall, performing a series of concerts here every year. Since its foundation in 1893 the ensemble has worked with such historic figures as Bartok, Sibelius, Holst, Stravinsky, and Vaughan-Williams, among many others. The orchestra gives over 150 performances each year, collaborating with world-class conductors and soloists keeping them at the forefront of the UK orchestral music scene.
The BSO is proud to serve the communities of South and South West England, as well as appearing on many of the world’s great stages including Carnegie Hall, New York; Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; and Musikverein, Vienna. Since the first pioneering recordings in 1914, the BSO now has over 300 recordings to its name. Releases include a critically-acclaimed collaboration with James Ehnes and the top-selling classical recording of 2012 in partnership with Nicola Benedetti.
Away from the concert hall and recording studio, the orchestra is committed to engaging new audiences through their education and community department, BSO Resonate. BSO musicians also take part in an extensive array of community outreach projects.
Andrew Litton, Music Director of the New York City Ballet, also is Artistic Director of Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest, Principal Guest Conductor of the Colorado Symphony, Conductor Laureate of Britain’s Bournemouth Symphony, Music Director Laureate of Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Litton led the Dallas Symphony as Music Director from 1994 to 2006, leaving a legacy of touring including Carnegie Hall, the BBC Proms, the Berlin Philharmonie, and Vienna’s Musicverein. His Dallas Symphony series of young people’s Amazing Musicvideo recordings is in use throughout schools in the United States and abroad. He regularly guest conducts leading orchestras and opera companies around the globe and adds to his discography of almost 130 recordings, which have garnered America’s Grammy Award, France’s Diapason d’Or and other honors.
Litton’s guest appearances last season included the Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia of Spain, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Singapore Symphony.
An avid opera conductor with a keen theatrical sense, Litton has led major opera companies throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. In Norway, he was key to founding the Bergen National Opera, which he led in critically acclaimed performances of Tosca, Carmen, The Flying Dutchman, and La Bohème. Litton often conducts semi-staged opera programs with symphony orchestras who enjoy the change of repertoire. He always concludes the Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest with a sold-out Opera performance — this season Strauss’ Salome.
Litton’s work with New York City Ballet has earned praise from critics, dancers, and audiences, bringing new prominence to the Ballet’s Orchestra. Litton’s first work in ballet began while he was still a Juilliard student, performing as on-stage pianist for Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, and Cynthia Gregory. An accomplished pianist, Litton often performs as piano soloist, conducting from the keyboard. He participates with orchestra colleagues throughout the world in chamber music concerts.
Litton, an acknowledged expert on George Gershwin, has performed and recorded Gershwin widely as both pianist and conductor and serves as Advisor to the University of Michigan Gershwin Archives. After leading the Covent Garden debut of Porgy and Bess, he arranged his own concert suite of that work, which is now performed around the world. In 2014 he released his first solo piano album, A Tribute to Oscar Peterson, testimony to his passion for jazz, particularly the music of that great pianist.
Born in New York City, Litton is a graduate of New York’s Fieldston School. Litton earned degrees from the Juilliard School in piano and conducting. He served as assistant conductor at La Scala and at the National Symphony under Rostropovich. Among his numerous awards are Yale’s Sanford Medal, the Elgar Society Medal, and an honorary Doctorate from the University of Bournemouth. For his work with the Bergen Philharmonic, Norway’s King Harald V knighted Litton with the Norwegian Royal Order of Merit.
Violinist Stefan Jackiw is recognized as one of his generation’s most significant artists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with an impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, as well as the Russian National Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony and the Seoul Philharmonic.
In March 2014 he gave the world premiere of American composer David Fulmer’s Violin Concerto No 2 “Jubilant Arcs”, written for him and commissioned by the Heidelberg Festival with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Matthias Pintscher.
In recent seasons, Jackiw made his Carnegie Hall recital debut performing Stravinsky, Brahms, Strauss and the world premiere of a new work for piano and violin by David Fulmer. Other recent highlights include performances with the St. Louis Symphony under Nicholas McGegan, and with the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Stefan’s recent return engagements include performances with the Indianapolis Symphony under Krzysztof Urbanski, the Pittsburgh Symphony under Juraj Valcuha, and the Kansas City Symphony under Michael Stern.
Stefan has recorded for Sony the complete Brahms sonatas, hailed by Fanfare as “the recording of the Brahms sonatas to have”. He is also a member of Ensemble Ditto – a wildly popular Korea-based chamber music group, with a mission to introduce new audiences to the chamber music repertoire. Ensemble Ditto plays to sold out halls across the country, presenting works from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to George Crumb, Steven Reich, and John Zorn.
Stefan made his European debut age 14 to great critical acclaim, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra. His sensational performance was featured on the front page of London’s Times, and theStrad reported, “A 14-year-old violinist took the London music world by storm.” Stefan has also performed abroad with the London Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra of Ireland, the Seoul Philharmonic, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
Stefan is also an active recitalist and chamber musician. He has performed in numerous important festivals and concert series, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, and Caramoor International Music Festival, the Celebrity Series of Boston, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Washington Performing Arts Society and the Louvre Recital Series in Paris. As a chamber musician, Stefan has collaborated with such artists as Jeremy Denk, Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gil Shaham. He is a regular participant at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music and Bard Music Festivals. At the opening night of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in New York, Stefan was the only young artist invited to perform, playing alongside such artists as Emanuel Ax, Renée Fleming, Evgeny Kissin, and James Levine.
Born in 1985 to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He lives in New York City.
