This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will perform works by Hugo Wolf, Mozart, Brahms, and Dvorák 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, at Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts. The concert will feature Orpheus violinist Liang Ping How as soloist.
Tickets cost $23 and are in limited supply. Inquire about availability by calling the box office at 610-330-5009.
The concert program includes “Italian Serenade for Chamber Orchestra” by Wolf; “Concerto No. 3 for Violin and Orchestra in G major, K. 216” by Mozart; “Liebeslieder Waltzes, Suite for Orchestra” by Brahms; and “Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22” by Dvorák.
The Orpheus series is Lafayette’s proudest accomplishment in cultural programming, with memorable performances highlighted by such celebrated guest artists as Gil Shaham, Jeffrey Kahane, Branford Marsalis, Mischa Maisky, and James Galway. Earlier this season, Orpheus performed at the Williams Center in separate concerts with cellist Melissa Meele and German countertenor Andreas Scholl. Williams Center audiences enjoy the orchestra’s final polishing of its award-winning recording projects, major international tours, and numerous Carnegie Hall programs.
A member of Orpheus since 1980, How has toured extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia with Orpheus and many other ensembles. He has often appeared as soloist and has recorded with Orpheus for Deutsche Grammophon. He made his solo debut with the National Youth Orchestra of Taiwan at age seven, and has since appeared with orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. How made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1974 with the New York String Orchestra and Alexander Schneider. His chamber music activities have included performances at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Spoleto, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Caramoor Music Festival, and the Lockenhaus Festival. He has also appeared with the New York Philomusica at the International Music Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. How began studying the violin at age four and attended the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he was a student of Jamie Laredo. He lives in Santa Fe, N.M., and is a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra.
Recognized internationally as one of the world’s great chamber orchestras, Orpheus celebrates its 29th season of concert activity spanning four continents, including appearances in the major cities of North and South America, Europe, and Asia. The centerpiece of each Orpheus season is its five-concert series at Carnegie Hall.
Accompanying the critical acclaim for the orchestra’s live appearances are numerous distinctions and awards, including a 2001 Grammy Award for “Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures,” three 1999 Grammy Awards for its jazz-inspired Ravel and Gershwin collaboration with Herbie Hancock, a 1998 Grammy nomination for its recording of Mozart piano concertos with Richard Goode, and the 1998 “Ensemble of the Year” award by Musical America.
Orpheus was founded in 1972 by cellist Julian Fifer and a group of fellow musicians who aspired to perform chamber orchestral repertory as chamber music through their own close collaborative efforts, and without a conductor. Orpheus developed its approach to the study and performance of this repertory by bringing to the orchestral setting the chamber music principles of personal involvement and mutual respect. Orpheus is a self-governing organization, making the repertory and interpretive decisions ordinarily assumed by a conductor. Holt/NY Times Books recently published a book about Orpheus and its management model, Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World’s Only Conductorless Orchestra, written by Orpheus executive director Harvey Seifter and business writer Peter Economy.
Members of Orpheus have received recognition for solo, chamber music, and orchestral performances. Of the 17 string and ten wind players who comprise the core membership of Orpheus, many also hold teaching positions at prominent conservatories and universities in the New York and New England areas, including Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Mannes College of Music, Columbia University, and Yale University.
Orpheus has recorded extensively for Deutsche Grammophon. Included in the catalogue of over 50 recordings are several Haydn symphonies and Mozart serenades, the complete Mozart wind concertos with Orpheus members as soloists, Romantic works by Dvorák, Grieg and Tchaikovsky, and a number of 20th-century classics by Bartók, Prokofiev, Copland and Stravinsky. Recent collaborations include a recording with countertenor Andreas Scholl to be released in December (Decca); “Creation,” a jazz-inspired CD of classics from 1920s Paris with saxophonist Branford Marsalis (SONY Classical); a series of recordings of Mozart piano concertos with Richard Goode (Nonesuch); a recording with cellist Mischa Maisky (DG); and a recording of Piazzolla works with tango pianist Pablo Ziegler (BMG).
The 2001-2002 Performance Series at Lafayette is supported in part by gifts from members of Friends of the Williams Center for the Arts, and by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, and New England Foundation for the Arts.