Friday, July 31, 2009 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Xiao Dong Wei is a classically trained Chinese musician, playing everything from Erhu (two-string Chinese violin), Guzheng, Pipa to piano, cello, percussion, and vocals. A recent transplant to Detroit from her native Beijing, China, she teams up here with Yuki Mack, one half of the Mack Sisters Piano Duo. Xiao Dong and Yuki play music from the classical Asian, as well as classical Western repertoire.

Drop-in Workshop: Fans: Uchiwa
6–9 p.m.
(12 and under must be with an adult)

Uchiwa is a particular style of paper fan common in Japan. Learn about the tradition of making Uchiwa as you create a fan of your own based on this design.

Drawing in the Galleries for Youth
6–9 p.m.
(Ages 6–14, children 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult)

Artist/instructors help participants create pencil drawings to take home. No experience necessary; materials provided.

Location: See the This Week at the DIA handout at any Information Desk.

Drawing in the Galleries for Adults
6–9 p.m.
(Ages 15 & older)

Artist/instructors help participants create pencil drawings to take home. No experience necessary; materials provided.

Location: See the This Week at the DIA handout at any Information Desk.

Guided Tours
6 and 7:30 p.m.

Highlights of the museum tours offered at both times.

SUMMER NIGHTS with the DSO
MEADOW BROOK MUSIC FESTIVAL

July 25, 26, 31 & August 1 & 2
Music Director Leonard Slatkin kicks-off Summer Nights with the DSO at Meadow Brook Music Fesival with two concerts featuring the hits of Tchaikovsky and Gershwin. Hear some of your favorite music; including the 1812 Overture, music from Swan Lake, selections from Porgy and Bess and Rhapsody in Blue.
Resident Conductor Thomas Wilkins takes the podium the second weekend with a celebration of Benny Goodman’s 100th Birthday, an all Beethoven program and a Children’s Matinee.
Treat yourself to the good life and spend a night, or two, with the DSO under the stars.

MEADOW BROOK MUSIC FESTIVAL
TCHAIKOVSKY SPECTACULAR
Saturday, July 25 at 8 pm
GERSHWIN GALORE
Sunday, July 26 at 7:30 pm
BENNY GOODMAN’S 100th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Friday, July 31 at 8 pm
ALL BEETHOVEN
Saturday, August 1 at 8 pm
MUSICAL MAGIC CHILDREN’S MATINEE
Sunday, August 2 at 4 pm

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) teams up with the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) to bring music, art and summer fun to three, free outdoor events at Rivard Plaza on the Detroit riverfront with 2nd Saturdays on the Riverfront. Each event will take place between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on July 11, Aug. 8 and Sep. 12.

This family-friendly summer extravaganza includes performances by Southpaw Isle Steelband on July 11, Biakuye Percussion Group on Aug. 8 and The Gratitude Steel Band on Sept. 12. All performances begin at 11 a.m. followed by a second set at 12:15 p.m. The event will also include art-making tables, airbrush and clown balloon artists, rides on the Cullen Family Carousel and the Marshall Music Instrument Petting Zoo (Instrument Petting Zoo only available on July 11 and Aug. 8).

The Rivard Plaza is located at 1340 E. Atwater St. in Detroit. Parking will be available at the surface lots at Atwater E. of Rivard and at Atwater and St. Antoine. Reserved seats are not required for the performances. Concertgoers should arrive early for best seating. Chairs will be set up for the performances, but attendees are also invited to bring their own chairs. For more information please visit detroitriverfront.org.

While rooted in Caribbean pan tradition, Southpaw Isle Steelband continually stretches the limits of the steelband sound with a repertoire that includes jazz, classical, samba and calypso influences. The group has presented workshops, assemblies, and educational concerts for students of all ages, including three sold-out performances as part of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Tiny Tots Concert Series at the Max M. Fisher Music Center.

Known for their energetic concert programs for children, Biakuye Percussion Group not only engages the audience with their unique brand of cultural fusion, but also provides education about African and American culture. Among the Akan people of Ghana, Biakuye means unity. It is this spirit of unity that brings the American and African members together to perform “melorhythmic world percussion.” Some of the group’s performance highlights include previous engagements with the Henry Ford II Fund Tiny Tots Concert Series, the Detroit Festival of the Arts and the African Xylophone Festival in New York City.

Based in Sylvan Lake, Michigan, The Gratitude Steel Band started in 1988 as an all Gospel ensemble. Eventually the group evolved to bring listeners a combination of gospel, reggae and tropical influences that today creates their one-of-a-kind sound. Part of their mission is to provide family entertainment that promotes the art of steel drum music through educational programs, concerts and events.

The internationally acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the fourth-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, is known for trailblazing performances, visionary maestros and collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists. In the 2008-09 season, esteemed conductor Leonard Slatkin, called “America’s Music Director” by the Los Angeles Times, became the 12th Music Director of the DSO. A household name in classical music, Slatkin combines extraordinary musicianship with a passion for his role as a visionary orchestra leader.

The DSO makes its home in historic Orchestra Hall, one of America’s most acoustically perfect concert halls. The orchestra has earned awards and accolades for nearly 150 recordings since 1918, and its past touring and residency destinations include Europe, the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, Japan, the Hollywood Bowl, Florida, the Bravo! Colorado Festival and the State of Michigan.

The DSO’s diversity programs include the pioneering Classical Roots concerts, the Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Competition for Women Composers, the annual Concert of Colors music festival and the African-American Fellowship program established in 1990. For more information on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s programs, initiatives and concerts, please visit www.detroitsymphony.com.

PERFORMANCE
2nd Saturdays on the Riverfront
Southpaw Isle Steelband
Rivard Plaza
Sat., July 11at 11 a.m.
Selections to be announced from the stage.

2nd Saturdays on the Riverfront
Biakuye Percussion Group
Rivard Plaza
Sat., Aug. 8 at 11 a.m.
Selections to be announced from the stage.

2nd Saturdays on the Riverfront
The Gratitude Steel Band
Rivard Plaza
Sat., Sep. 12 at 11 a.m.
Selections to be announced from the stage.

July 1st-4th

What could be more American than celebrating Independence Day at America’s greatest history museum, feasting on sumptuous all-American favorites and listening to America’s finest orchestra?

Join the DSO and The Henry Ford for the 17th annual Salute to America July 1-4 at Greenfield Village.

The red, white and blue will be flying high in the historic Walnut Grove district as the DSO serves up a rousing portion of apple pie favorites like Stars and Stripes Forever, God Bless America, marches by John Philip Sousa and other patriotic favorites.

There will be picinics, kids activities, a drum and fife corp and a grand finale of dazzling fireworks and historical cannon firing all accomapnied by Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Gates open at 6pm

Prelude Concert at 7:30pm

Detroit Symphony Orchestra at 8:30pm
www.detroitsymphony.com

Palmer Woods Music in Homes showcases the best of Detroit’s jazz, classical, and world-music artists — musicians with international acclaim — in the ambiance of magnificent Palmer Woods living rooms.

Intimate chamber concerts with live music will be presented. Outstanding music, captivating homes, and luscious treats to delight your palate.

 A reception with refreshments is included. We regret that tickets are not refundable; when possible we will exchange them for a future concert.

Celebrate our grand finale with Detroit-born violist Jason Amos, and New York violinist Jannina Barefield, who grew up in Palmer Woods. Amos is a 2007 Sphinx Competition Laureate. Barefield has soloed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and performed with Itzhak Perlman’s youth ensembles in NYC and Israel. Both artists have toured and performed with the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Detroit’s Orchestra Hall and throughout the U.S. and are part of the resident faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy.

Jason Amos 

Violist Jason Amos has received honors in several competitions, including 4th place in the 2007 Sphinx Competition and 1st place in the 2006 Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Bradlin Scholarship Concerto Competition. He has soloed with the Ann Arbor Symphony and has been presented in Recitals by the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, as well as the “Watz Classical Presents!” concert series in New York

An active orchestral musician, he is a member of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and has played in the Ann Arbor and Flint Symphonies, and performed as Principal Viola for many other orchestras throughout Michigan.

Amos enjoys participating musical outreach programs — he is currently a member of the fellowship quartet at Community Music Works in Providence, Rhode Island. During the summer he is part of the Resident Faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy at Walnut Hill outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

His teachers include Martha Katz, Yizhak Schotten, Caroline Coade, and Catherine Carroll. He plays a viola generously loaned through Shar Music.

Jannina Barefield 

Jannina Barefield made her concert debut at the age of 11 at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall for the Detroit Chamber Music Society’s 50th Anniversary Gala, alongside performances by the Beaux Arts Trio, Cleveland String Quartet and Guarneri String Quartet.

A few years later at 13, Barefield made her solo debut at Orchestra Hall performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Since then, Barefield has performed recitals internationally, including a concert tour of the Tuscany region of Italy presented by the International Academy of Music in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana. She also performed twice at Lincoln Center for the Mostly Mozart Festival as a member of the Perlman Music Program under the direction of Izthak Perlman.

Barefield has been the recipient of numerous awards, including scholarships from the Skillman Foundation and the James Tatum Foundation for the Arts, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra League. She was the grand prize winner of the Michigan ASTA solo string competition, the Bohemian Competition and the MSBOA Competition. She has been a semi-finalist in the National Sphinx Competition and is part of the resident faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy.

Barefield is an avid chamber musician. As a member of the Stella Piano Trio, she performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, the James Tatum 20th Anniversary Gala at Detroit’s Orchestral Hall, and soloed with New York’s Ensemble 212 performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. The Stella Trio was also quarter-finalists in the ARD International Competition and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Barefield has attended many music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, Perlman Music Program, Texas Music Festival, International Music Academy of Italy and Casalmaggiore International Festival. She has been a student of Lucie Robert, Paul Kantor and Patinka Kopec, and studied chamber music with Vladimir Feltsman, Tim Eddy, Todd Phillips, Itzhak Perlman, Silvia Rosenberg, Isodore Cohen, Barbara Mallow, Peter Winograd and Jeff Cohen.

 Tickets are $30 each and will be mailed to you with the address of the concert. Late orders will receive an email confirmation with the address, or call 313-891-2514 for information.

As part of an innovative partnership, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), Henry Ford Health System and conductor Leonard Slatkin will team up to bring a free community concert titled Music and Healing to Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital on June 10. The performance, located in the Ravitz Foundation Main Atrium, begins at 7 p.m. Highlights of the all-string program include J.S. Bach’s famous Air on a G-string, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” and a string orchestra arrangement of Copland’s popular “Hoe Down” from Rodeo.

From 5-9 p.m. the hospital’s Main Street shopping area, which includes the Live Well Shoppe, New Blooms and Sleep Well, will be offering discounts on selected products as well as food samples in the Demonstration Kitchen and a free drawing for two gift packages from Sleep Well and New Blooms. Additionally, Vita, the wellness center at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, will be offering five minute chair massages and Henry’s, the hospital’s café featuring healthy, tasty cuisine, will be open for dining. The hospital is located at 6777 West Maple Rd.

In addition to this special concert event, the DSO/Henry Ford partnership will provide live music of DSO concerts in the 2009-2010 season via digital feed to patients rooms at the new West Bloomfield facility a 10 percent discount for DSO donors/season ticket holders at the Main Street Shops and a one time discount for patrons who bring in their used concert tickets; special pricing and promotions for Henry Ford’s 23,000 employees for concerts at the DSO; as well as access to custom iPod playlists created by Leonard Slatkin for Henry Ford patients.

A native of Los Angeles, Leonard Slatkin came to Detroit following a 12-year tenure as Music Director of the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. In addition to his post at the DSO, Maestro Slatkin serves as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and just concluded his tenure as Music Advisor to the Nashville Symphony. Slatkin is also renowned for his historic leadership of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1979 until 1996, where he is now Conductor Laureate and for his successful three-year tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

Throughout his career, Slatkin has received seven Grammy Awards, 60 Grammy nominations and has been recognized for his continuing commitment to arts education and to reaching diverse audiences. He is the founder and director of the National Conducting Institute, an advanced career development program for rising conductors. Additionally, he founded the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and has also worked with student orchestras across the United States, including those at the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and the Eastman School of Music. He currently serves as Arthur R. Metz Foundation Conductor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. He is well-known for his work with youth orchestras across America and abroad and regularly addresses and mentors public and private school students of all ages.

Free tickets for Music and Healing can be reserved by calling Henry Ford’s events hotline at (313) 874-6200 or eventsmanagement@hfhs.org. Reservations are required as space is limited. Free parking will be available on site and valet is available for a $4 charge.

PERFORMANCE

Special
Music and Healing at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Wed., June 10 at 7 p.m.

GRIEG: Prelude from Holberg Suite, Op. 40
J. S. BACH: Air on a G-string
MOZART: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525
BARBER: Adagio for Strings
WARLOCK: Capriol Suite
COPLAND: “Hoe Down” from Rodeo for string orchestra

Join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) in the conclusion of the 2008-09 classical season with Principal Guest Conductor Peter Oundjian and Grammy Award-winning soprano Measha Brueggergosman in Season Finale. The program, part of Chrysler Foundation Signature Classical Series, features the eloquent voice of concert artist and opera singer Brueggergosman in Strauss’ magnificent Four Last Songs, the famous composer’s final work written before his death in 1949. Also featured is Haydn’s Symphony No. 49, known as “La Passione,” and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Performances take place on Thu., June 4 at 8 p.m.; Fri., June 5 at 8 p.m.; and Sat., June 6 at 8:30 p.m. in Orchestra Hall.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), conductor Hans Graf and pianist Orion Weiss take the stage on May 29-31 in Beethoven and Tchaikovsky with a performance that completes the DSO’s season-long tribute to Beethoven‘s five Piano Concertos. The program, part of the Buick Preferred Classical Series, features Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, also known as “Emperor” alongside the music of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, commonly referred to as “Little Russian,” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Skazka. Performances take place in Orchestra Hall on Fri., May 29 at 10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m.; Sat., May 30 at 8:30 p.m.; and Sun., May 31 at 3 p.m. The May 29 concert is sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will spotlight a dynamic husband and wife duo when it brings virtuoso violinist Jaime Laredo and acclaimed cellist Sharon Robinson to center stage under the direction of renowned conductor Hans Graf in A Musical Collaboration on May 21-23. The program, part of the Comerica Charitable Foundation Favorites Classical Series and presented in partnership with the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, will feature Laredo and Robinson in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, as well as in Saint-Saëns’ La muse et le poète. Also featured are Mozart’s Symphony No. 1 and the 1947 version of music from Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka. Performances take place Thu., May 21 at 8 p.m.; Fri., May 22 at 10:45 a.m.; and Sat., May 23 at 8:30 p.m. in Orchestra Hall.

7 & 8:30 p.m.

The Piano Sonatas of Ludwig von Beethoven represent one of the great achievements in music history and shines a light on one of Western Art’s greatest minds. Maria Meirelles will play the Complete Piano Sonatas in a marathon, three concert performance. This is a rare opportunity to hear these sonatas in their entirety in this marathon weekend performance.

Second concert: Saturday, May 16, 11 a.m.
Third concert: Sunday, May 17, 11 a.m. ($)

Image: Detail: Ludwig van Beethoven; Joseph Karl Stieler., 1820. Oil on canvas.

Drop-In Workshop: Papel Picado
6–9 p.m
(12 and under must be with an adult)

Have fun as you try this Mexican art of cutting paper.
Location: Loggia, Student Lunch Area

Drawing in the Galleries for Youth
6–9 p.m.
(Ages 6–14, children 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult)

Artist/instructors help participants create pencil drawings to take home. No experience necessary; materials provided.
Location: See the This Week at the DIA handout at any Information Desk.

Drawing in the Galleries for Adults
6–9 p.m.
(Ages 15 & older)

Artist/instructors help participants create pencil drawings to take home. No experience necessary; materials provided.
Location: See the This Week at the DIA handout at any Information Desk.

Guided Tours
6 and 7:30 p.m.

Highlights of the museum tours offered at both times.

Where: Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit

When: 6:00PM-10:00PM

Tix: $8.00 general, free for members and citizens of Detroit on Fridays

www.dia.org