YOA Orchestra of the Americas will tour China

YOA ORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICAS TO TOUR CHINA WITH CONDUCTOR JOSÉ SEREBRIER.

In commemoration of its 10th anniversary, YOA Orchestra of the Americas will tour China from 14 December 2011 to 5 January 2012, presenting 12 concerts in major cities and concert halls.

Following 10 years’ history of extensive Latin American and European tours, this project marks YOA’s Asian debut. Presented by Armstrong Arts Limited, the tour begins with a week-long Residence at the Chongqing Academy of Arts and Sciences. Under the leadership of conductor José Serebrier and YOA Faculty Leon Spierer (former Concertmaster, Berlin Philharmonic), Mauro Maur (Principal Trumpet, Rome Opera Orchestra), and Michael Webster (Professor of Clarinet, Shepard School of Music – Rice University), the 80-musician YOA orchestra will prepare several programs to be performed in China's most prestigious theaters. YOA musicians will have the opportunity to take part in cultural exchanges and visits to a number of China's important historic sites, including the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors museum in Xi'An.

Repertoire includes works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Dvorak, Verdi, Ginastera, Strauss, Bizet, Glazunov and others.

2011–2012 YOA / SEREBRIER CHINA TOUR PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

14–19 December Chongqing Residence: Chongqing Academy of Arts and Sciences
20 December Chongqing Chongqing Grand Theater
21 December Chongqing Chongqing Grand Theater
23 December Guangzhou Guangzhou Opera House
24 December Guangzhou Guangzhow Opera House
25 December Shenzhen Shenzhen Grand Theater
27 December Dalian People’s Cultural Center
28 December Dalian People’s Cultural Center
29 December Beijing Beijing Concert Hall
30 December Lanzhou Gansu Grand Theater
31 December Lanzhow Gansu Grand Theater
1 January Xi'An Xi’An Concet Hall
2 January Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre

JOSÉ SEREBRIER
The tour will be conducted by GRAMMY Award winning composer and conductor José Serebrier, who has had extensive experience with youth orchestras. During his early teens in his native Urugauy, he organized the first youth orchestra in Latin America, and toured with them for five years, until receiving a US State Department Fellowship to study with Aaron Copland and at the Curtis Institute of Music. One of today's most recorded artists , with more than 300 titles to his credit, his recent CDs have been with the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar and many others. José Serebrier has received 39 GRAMMY nominations, and has won the Latin GRAMMY for "best recording of the year", and many other awards including the Grand Prix du Disque in France and Deutsche Schallplatten award in Germany.

At 21 Serebrier became Leopold Stokowski's Associate Conductor in New York's Carnegie Hall. Stokowski premiered several of his compositions, which have also been recorded by John Eliot Gardiner and others. At 22, Serebrier won the Ford Foundation American Conductors Award, sharing the prize with James Levine. George Szell, who was in the jury, invited Serebrier to be the Cleveland Orchestra's Composer in Residence for several seasons, under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. As composer, Serebrier has won most awards, including two Guggenheims (as the youngest in their history), Kousevitsky Foundation Award, commissions from the Harvard Musical Association, National Endowment for the Arts and many others. A prolific composer, his 100+ works are published by Peermusic, Kalmus, Peters Editions, Boosey & hawkes, Universal Edition Vienna, Hal Leonard Publications.

Serebrier is the regular guest conductor for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra and Toulouse Chamber Orchestra, a relationship that includes yearly concerts, recordings and international tours. In February 2012 Serebrier tours with the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra to several international festivals. In April 2012 Serebrier takes the Russian National Orchestra on a tour of Latin America following concerts and recording sessions in Moscow. French music critic Michel Faure has recently written a new book about Serebrier, published in Paris by L’Harmattan.

YOA ORCHESTRA OF THE AMERICAS
Under the guidance of Artistic Advisor Plácido Domingo, YOA Orchestra of the Americas is a world-class symphony orchestra of gifted young musicians, ages 18 to 30, representing more than 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere. YOA’s mission is to bring together energetic, talented musicians to pursue excellence and celebrate cultural diversity as a catalyst for social change. In ten years, YOA has become an international brand performing with renowned artists from Yo-Yo Ma to Paquito D’Rivera, from Valery Gergiev to Philip Glass, from Joshua Bell to Plácido Domingo, from Nelson Freire to Gabriela Montero, and many others.

YOA has performed more than 250 concerts since its 2002 Inaugural Tour in prestigious concert halls and venues not often associated with symphonic music. YOA has reached over 8 million people through live performances, television and radio broadcasts, CD recordings, print media, and documentary films. The impact of YOA stretches far beyond its programs. Participants return to their native countries to share experiences and knowledge with their communities. YOA connects musicians to institutions of higher learning and professional job opportunities. YOA is a model for music education programs in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, Saint Lucia, the United States, and Uruguay.

Additional information on José Serebrier may be found at the following website:

www.joseserebrier.com

YOA Orchestra of the Americas will tour China | Danza Ballet