Copland’s popular Billy the Kid Suite complements Schubert’s sublime and familiar “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8. and Wagner’s glorious operatic prelude to Die Meistersinger. Conductor Gerard Schwarz welcomes his son, Julian, who takes on the tremendous Cello Concerto by Arthur Foote.

Program

Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Julian Schwarz, cello

COPLAND  Suite from Billy the Kid
I. The Open Prairie
II. Street in a Frontier Town
III. Card Game at Night
IV. Gun Battle
V. Celebration After Billy’s Capture
VI. Billy’s Death
VII. The Open Prairie Again
FOOTE  Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 33
I. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Andante con moto
III. Allegro comodo

-INTERMISSION-

SCHUBERT  Symphony in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished”
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante con moto
WAGNER  Three Excerpts from Act III of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Introduction to Act III
Dance of the Apprentices
Procession of the Meistersingers

About Julian Schwarz

Julian Schwarz was born to a multigenerational musical family in 1991. Recognized from a young age as a cellist destined to rank among the best of the 21^st century, his powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palette are hallmarks of his style.

Since making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony with his father, Gerard Schwarz, on the podium, Julian Schwarz has led an active career as a soloist performing with the symphony orchestras of Buffalo, Charlotte, Columbus, Hartford, Jacksonville, Louisville, Memphis, Modesto, Omaha, Puerto Rico, Richmond, Rochester, San Antonio, Seattle, Toledo, Tucson, and Virginia, among others. Internationally, he has appeared in Australia with the Queensland Symphony, in Mexico with the Boca del Rio Philharmonic in Veracruz and the Mexico City Philharmonic, and in Hong Kong at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival. He has also appeared at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Schwarz performs extensively in recital with pianist Marika Bournaki. In 2016, the Schwarz-Bournaki duo was awarded the first prize at the inaugural Boulder International String Competition’s “The Art of Duo,” and subsequently embarked on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in March 2017.

Julian Schwarz is an ardent supporter of new music and has premiered concertos by Richard Danielpour and Samuel Jones. In the 2017-18 season, he gave the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s first Cello Concerto with the Toledo Symphony, followed by performances of the work with a consortium of five other orchestras. No stranger to the recording studio, he has recorded Bright Sheng’s “Northern Lights” for Naxos, the complete cello/piano works by Ernest Bloch for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, and a CD of concertos with the Seattle Symphony.

A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Assistant Professor of Cello at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University, and on the artist faculty of New York University. He spends his summers teaching and performing at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC.

Born in Seattle, WA, Julian Schwarz studied at the Colburn School in Los Angeles under Ronald Leonard, followed by a move to New York City to study with mentor Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School, earning his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

Mr. Schwarz plays a Neapolitan cello made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743, and uses an American bow made by Paul Martin Siefried. He is an active contributor to Strings Magazine’s Artist Blog and sits on the music committee of the National Arts Club. A Pirastro artist, he endorses and plays the “Perpetual” medium and edition sets of cello strings, as well as Melos Rosin.

About Gerard Schwarz

The GRAMMY-nominated American conductor Gerard Schwarz – internationally recognized for his moving performances, innovative programming, and extensive catalog of recordings – serves as Music Director of the All-Star Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival, Palm Beach Symphony, and Mozart Orchestra of New York. He is also Conductor Laureate of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of the Mostly Mozart Festival. Schwarz is the Distinguished Professor of Music, Conducting and Orchestral Studies of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and Music Director of the Frost Symphony Orchestra.

Guest appearance highlights of Schwarz’s 2023-24 season include performances with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with violinist Karen Gomyo, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra with pianist Orion Weiss, the Buffalo Philharmonic and Charleston Symphony with cellist Julian Schwarz, and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. His considerable discography of over 350 albums showcases his collaborations with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Tokyo Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. The Gerard Schwarz Collection, a 30-CD box set of previously unreleased or limited-release works spanning his entire recording career, was released by Naxos in 2017.

Schwarz began his professional career as co-principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, and has held Music Director positions with the Mostly Mozart Festival, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and New York Chamber Symphony. As a guest conductor, he has worked with many of the world’s finest orchestras, and has led the San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and Seattle Opera on many occasions.

With more than 300 world premieres to his credit, Schwarz has always commissioned and performed new music. As Music Director of the Eastern Music Festival, he initiated the Bonnie McElveen-Hunter Commissioning Project in 2013, celebrating American composers. The project has commissioned works by John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, André Previn, HyeKyung Lee, and Lowell Liebermann.

Schwarz is a renowned interpreter of 19^th-century German, Austrian, and Russian repertoire, in addition to his illustrious work with contemporary American composers. He completed his final season as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony in 2011 after an acclaimed 26 years, a period of dramatic artistic growth for the ensemble. During his leadership, Schwarz was indispensable in the building of Benaroya Hall, spearheading efforts that resulted in the acoustically superb new home for the Seattle Symphony. The city of Seattle recognized his outstanding achievements by naming the street alongside Benaroya Hall “Gerard Schwarz Place.”

In more than five decades as a respected classical musician and conductor, Schwarz has received hundreds of honors and accolades, including nine Emmy Awards, 14 GRAMMY nominations, eight ASCAP Awards, and numerous Stereo Review and Ovation Awards. He holds the Ditson Conductor’s Award from Columbia University and was the first American named Conductor of the Year by Musical America. He has received numerous honorary doctorates, including from The Juilliard School, his alma mater. His memoir, Behind the Baton: An American Icon Talks Music, was published by Hal Leonard in 2017. He has been married to Jody for 40 years, has four children, and lives in Florida.