Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra concerts planned for the 2021-22 season will reflect on the composers that shaped Yampolsky’s career, as well as his musical legacy.
“My programs will represent a musical homage to great masters of orchestral music, as viewed nostalgically back from today,” Yampolsky said. “You will see the deep thanks to Beethoven and Brahms in October; to Debussy, Messiaen and Honegger in November; and to my time as a violinist of the Boston Symphony, performing light classics for the holidays, with a program conducted by my students.”
Saturday, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m.
Victor Yampolsky and graduate assistant Jake Taniguchi conducted a program featuring Ludwig van Beethoven’s Overture from “Fidelio,” Op. 72c and his Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60, as well as Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73.
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.
Victor Yampolsky and graduate assistant Moyue Zhou conducted a program showcasing Claude Debussy’s “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune” (Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun); Olivier Messiaen’s “L’Ascension” (Four Symphonic Meditations for Orchestra); and Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 3 (“Symphonie liturgique”).
Saturday, January 29, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Victor Yampolsky and graduate assistant Jennifer Huang led a program of Gioachino Rossini's Semiramide Overture and Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47.
Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 3 p.m.
This performance showcased winners of Northwestern’s Concerto Competition—pianist Vincent Ip, alto saxophonist Charles Lilley, and cellist Haddon Kay. The program included Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26; Kenneth Fuchs's Rush: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra; and Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, B. 191.
Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 7:30pm
Victor Yampolsky and graduate assistant conductor Yuxin Dai conduct a program of William Bolcom’s Violin Concerto in D Major, featuring Bienen faculty violinist Desirée Ruhstrat. The concerto, which Bolcom wrote for colleague Sergiu Luca as he worked with jazz technique, is both bluesy and bold, drawing harmonic and rhythmic inspiration from Gershwin and Stravinsky alike. The concert also features Samuel Barber’s pensive “Essay” and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s versatile “Symphonic Dances.”
Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
In the final concerts of his 38 years at the Bienen School of Music, Victor Yampolsky conducts Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, closing a season reflecting on the composers that shaped his career. Beloved by audiences and conductors alike, Mahler’s Ninth is often interpreted as his farewell to the world, though it may also be heard as a paean to life’s fleeting joys, and a pondering of eternity. Sweeping in scope, the symphony references Beethoven, Strauss, and Mahler’s own music, concluding with a deeply poignant finale.
June 4 Tickets June 5 Tickets