Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra Featuring Violin Soloist, Gil Shaham

About This Event

Program:

Mozart
Overture to Don Giovanni
Mussorgsky
Night on Bald Mountain
Saint-Saëns
Danse Bacchanale
Brahms
Violin Concerto in D Major

About the Artist:

On February 10th, the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra will present a special performance with legendary violin virtuoso, Gil Shaham. Conducted by Kevin Hekmatpanah, the performance will take place at Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center. The event will open with Mozart’s colorful and delightful Overture to Don Giovanni. It will be followed by Mussorgsky’s powerful and dramatic Night on Bald Mountain, concluding the first half with Saint-Saëns’ virtuosic Danse Bacchanale. The program will conclude with Brahms’ passionate and triumphant Violin Concerto. The Brahms will feature the great violinist, Gil Shaham. According to the Denver Post, “Gil Shaham delivered the finest performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto I’ve ever experienced…. From his first entrance in the colossal first movement, he seemed to play from the soul, probing every nuance of Brahm’s romanticism and making his Stradivarius sing with a beauty that hovered between joy and tears. From the serene lyricism of the slow movement to the rustic lift of the dancing finale, his control of dynamics and subtle use of rubato were mesmerizing.”

Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time; his flawless technique combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit has solidified his renown as an American master. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

Highlights of recent years include a recording and performances of J.S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin and recitals with his long-time duo partner, pianist Akira Eguchi. He regularly appears with the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphonies, the Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and in multi-year residencies with the Orchestras of Montreal, Stuttgart and Singapore.

Mr. Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, earning multiple GRAMMYs, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Many of these recordings appear on Canary Classics, the label he founded in 2004. His 2016 recording 1930s Violin Concertos Vol. 2 as well as his 2021 recording of Beethoven and Brahms Concertos with The Knights were nominated for GRAMMY Awards.

Gil Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008 he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. In 2012, he was named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and performs on an Antonio Stradivari violin, Cremona c1719, with the assistance of Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.