By David Whitehill, ASO Executive Director
Celebrated violinist Stefan Jackiw makes his Asheville Symphony Orchestra debut on Saturday, February 13, when he takes on Beethoven’s beloved violin concerto in an ASO Masterworks concert at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
Asheville Symphony music director Daniel Meyer will conduct the 8 p.m. concert, which also includes Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and Strauss’ Metamorphosen.
“We’re excited to have Stefan Jackiw make his ASO debut with Beethoven’s bold and brilliant Violin Concerto,” says Meyer. “A concerto of symphonic proportions, Beethoven’s single entry into the genre remains at the pinnacle of music ever written for the instrument, and as Stefan has already been celebrated across the globe for his stunning musicianship, this will be an opportunity to hear this great concerto performed by a shooting star.”
Hailed for an “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as a soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such artists as Jeremy Denk, Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gil Shaham, and has played alongside luminaries Emanuel Ax, Renée Fleming, Evgeny Kissin, and James Levine.
Jackiw will follow the ASO concert with his debut in March at Carnegie Hall, where he will perform Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto with the Russian National Orchestra.
The Mendelssohn and Strauss works will be performed during the first half of the concert. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, subtitled Fingal’s Cave, musically captures the composer’s visit to and impressions of this special archipelago in Scotland. Crushed by the demise of Germany and its storied cultural history, Strauss composed Metamorphosen, an elegiac and deeply stirring work for 23 solo musicians. With its arching, spun lines of intertwined strings and a wistful nod to the funeral march from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, Metamorphosen aches for a bygone era of serious but deeply Romantic music.
Single tickets for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto are $22–62 depending on seating section, and reduced youth pricing is available. Single tickets and season ticket packages can be purchased at ashevillesymphony.org, by calling 828.254.7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87 Haywood Street.
