Extraordinary young American violinist to play with NZSO

Critics say American Stefan Jackiw is one of the best young violinists in the world today. In June he will perform in New Zealand for the first time.

Stefan Jackiw. Credit: Sophie Zhai

Jackiw will join the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for concerts in Auckland and Wellington, led by acclaimed Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

The NZSO’s Brahms & Tchaikovsky sees Jackiw perform Brahms’ exhilarating Violin Concerto in a concert also featuring Tchaikovsky’s captivating Symphony No. 4, and the world premiere of award-winning New Zealand composer Gareth Farr’s He iwi tahi tātou.

Jackiw shot to fame at age 14 when he performed in Britain and made the front page of The Times. Critics continue to praise him as one of the most exciting and talented young violinists performing today. The Washington Post heralded him as “talent that’s off the scale”.

“Such soaring beauty of tone, such strength and purity of feeling, that this hardened listener burst into tears,” said The Boston Globe.

“Stefan Jackiw has risen swiftly in the past decade to challenge the foremost talents of our day … by the quality of his insight and skill,” said Canada’s The Globe and Mail. “He played Mozart like an angel. The result was about as pure and as close to perfection as music can get.”

Jackiw will be in his element when he performs Brahms’ Violin Concerto. Known for its lyrical melodies and rich orchestration, the concerto is a favourite of virtuoso violinists. Brahms is also Jackiw’s favourite composer. “What I find most deeply moving about his music is the sense of nostalgia and longing that often yields to heart-breaking acceptance,” Jackiw has said.

Farr’s He iwi tahi tātou is one of three NZSO-commissioned works this year by New Zealand composers which commemorate the 250th anniversary in 2019 of Captain James Cook’s arrival in New Zealand and his encounters with Māori. More specifically, Farr’s piece is inspired by Governor William Hobson's greeting to the Māori chiefs as they came forward to sign the Treaty of Waitangi - “He iwi tahi tātou” – “we are all one people”.

Tchaikovsky described his Symphony No. 4 as characterising the nature of fate. It has become one of his most performed works, thrilling audiences from its opening sounds of brass to its seductive Russian folk themes.

Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Harth-Bedoya last conducted the NZSO in 2016, delighting audiences and critics. The Dominion Post praised the conductor for “a rhythmically sharp, exciting performance”, while the Taranaki Daily News loved his ability to conjure “a brilliant display of orchestral colour.”

Harth-Bedoya regularly conducts leading American orchestras, including the Chicago, Boston, Atlanta and Baltimore symphonies and New York Philharmonic, and top orchestras around the world. It includes the National Orchestra of Spain, Helsinki Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, London Philharmonic and Japan’s NHK Symphony. He is in his 18th season as Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas and Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

“A conductor has to be like a chef,” he told a Fort Worth newspaper. “You have to have a taste for sound, like a taste for flavours.”

ENDS

Brahms & Tchaikovsky

MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA Conductor
STEFAN JACKIW Violin

Gareth Farr He iwi tahi tātou
Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
Tchaikovsky No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36

AUCKLAND | Town Hall | Friday 22 June| 7.30pm
WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre | Saturday 23 June| 7.30pm

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