Windsor Symphony Orchestra ~ News

Windsor Symphony Orchestra CD
Wins Juno Award Nomination

(Windsor, ON – February 5, 2008) The Windsor Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf was nominated today for a 2008 Juno Award by the Canadian Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).

The WSO’s recording received the nomination for “Children’s Album of the Year”. Other nominees included Daniel Cook, Eddie Douglas, Jen Gould, and The Doodlebops.

The WSO’s self-produced CD, conducted by Music Director John Morris Russell, features two works for orchestra and narrator intended for children. The first is Sergei Prokofiev’s world famous Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Windsor native Colm Feore. The second is a world premiere recording of Windsor composer Brent Lee’s Last Minute Lulu, based on a story by Windsor author Christopher Paul Curtis, who narrates the story.

The Juno Awards will be broadcast live from Calgary on Saturday, April 6, 2008 on CTV. Check local TV listings for times. The Juno awards website is www.junoawards.ca

When Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf premiered in 1936, it met with limited critical and popular success. In the composer’s own words: “Attendance was poor; it failed to attract much attention.” Indeed, he could hardly have anticipated that this piece would become a beloved staple of orchestras and
listeners of all ages.

Prokofiev created the tale and accompanying score as a means of introducing the orchestra as a whole, and several individual instruments, to his young audience. The story begins as Peter steps out of the gate to the green meadow, as his theme, full of childlike innocence and wonder, is played by the strings.

Peter sees his friend, the little bird, intoned by the flute, and a duck, played by an oboe, who has followed Peter from the yard. Soon, Peter is aware of another visitor: the cat! The clarinet’s tones paint a sly, clever picture of this character. In the midst of all of this, the gruff tones of the bassoon introduce Grandfather, as he lectures Peter on the dangers of the world beyond the gate. As Grandfather leads a recalcitrant Peter back into the house, the wolf appears; the French horns convey its ominous presence. The wolf quickly follows the duck, and after a brief chase, swallows her! Seeing the plight of his friends, Peter sets out to help. Enlisting the aid of the bird, he traps the wolf, tying a strong rope around its tail. At that moment, the hunters arrive, in a flurry of bumbling brass and thundering timpani. Peter forestalls their wrath, and convinces the hunters to take the wolf to the zoo. The ensuing march brings all of the characters, and indeed all of the orchestra, together in a triumphant procession.

Last Minute Luluis the comical story of a girl who is late for everything, but has to overcome her tardiness to pass the Big Study Assessment Test and continue into fourth grade. With text by Christopher Paul Curtis and music by Brent Lee, Lulu’s surprising and humorous adventures are set to a relaxed and jazzy orchestral score that matches the playful tone of the narration. The work was commissioned by the WSO with the aid of the Ontario Arts Council.

COLM FEORE was commissioned by the WSO with the aid of the Ontario Arts Council. Colm Feore has become one of Canada’s leading actors. A veteran of the prestigious Stratford Festival of Canada since 1991, his stage credits include Coriolanus, Fagin (Oliver!), Don Juan, Hamlet, Romeo, Richard III, Iago (Othello) and Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady). In 2005 he played Cassius opposite Denzel Washington in Julius Caesar on Broadway, and received the St. Clair Bay Field Award for his performance. Mr. Feore has appeared in over thirty-five films, including The Red Violin, Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (for which he received a Genie nomination), Face/Off, City of Angels, Paycheck, The Sum of All Fears, and the Academy Award-winning Chicago. Mr. Feore’s television credits include Trudeau (for which he received Gemini and Monte Carlo Television Festival awards), The West Wing, Boston Public, Nuremburg, Benjamin Franklin, Napoleon and a starring turn as Julius Caesar in ABC’s mini-series Empire.

Brent Lee is among the new generation of significant Canadian composers. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, he served as Composer in-Residence with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2006 with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. During his tenure with the WSO he created nine compositions for the orchestra, including his first symphony, Chorea. His compositions range from orchestral music to electroacoustic pieces, and include jazz, dance and incidental music.

Mr. Lee’s work has been performed and broadcast internationally, and has appeared on the Centrediscs, Arktos, McGill, Artifact, BEAMS, Shelan, Clef and Unical CD labels. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Windsor.

Christopher Paul Curtis is one of the most important voices in children’s literature today. Born in Flint, Michigan, he spent his first 13 years after high school on the assembly line of Flint’s historic Fisher Body Plant No. 1. His job entailed hanging car doors, and it left him with an aversion to getting into and out of large automobiles.

Curtis’ writing, and his dedication to it, has been greatly influenced by his family members, particularly his wife, Kaysandra. With grandfathers like Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a Negro Baseball League pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, it is easy to see why Christopher Paul Curtis was destined to become an entertainer.

Christopher Paul Curtis made an outstanding debut in children’s literature with The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. His second novel, Bud, Not Buddy, is the first book ever to receive both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award.

Maestro John Morris Russell has consistently won international praise for his gift for making extraordinary music and for making a difference. Since his appointment as Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in 2001, Mr. Russell has ushered in a new era of unprecedented artistic growth for the WSO and has invigorated the musical life of the Windsor-Essex region. The Windsor Star reported in 2006 that “the Windsor Symphony Orchestra is on a roll...Russell never shrinks from the most demanding works in the repertoire [and] his enthusiasm shows in virtually every aspect of the orchestra.” Now in his seventh season, Mr. Russell will conduct 17 weeks with the WSO including symphonic and pops subscription programmes, concerts on the Bach and Mozart series, and the prestigious Windsor Canadian Music Festival.

During his tenure, Mr. Russell has attracted some of the world’s most notable soloists to perform with the WSO, including Lara St. John, Stewart Goodyear, Anton Kuerti and Kevin McMillan. He has also championed the works of some of Canada’s most illustrious composers, including Jacques Hétu, Brent Lee and Nathaniel Dett, conducting numerous Windsor premiers of important Canadian works and 32 world premiers of commissioned compositions. Mr. Russell has also performed the USA premiers of many Canadian works during his active schedule as guest conductor. He created the WSO’s first multi-year composer-in-residence position, and is deeply involved in the production of the annual Windsor Canadian Music Festival (WCMF), described by CBC producer David Jaeger as, “one of the most exciting and innovative developments to appear lately in the Canadian musical scene.”

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra has made twelve national broadcasts with Maestro Russell on CBC Radio and the orchestra’s first nationally televised production on the CBC series Opening Night, with violinist Eugene Nakamura and pianist Darrett Zusko. The WSO segment from this production was originally broadcast in December 2003 and again in 2004; it was subsequently nominated for a Gemini Award and won the Gold World Medal for “Best Performance Program” at the New York Festivals Awards for Television and New Media. In 2005, the WSO and Mr. Russell were featured in the documentary Clearly Symphony: Not All Performances Are On Stage by filmmaker Nicholas Shields and Suede Productions. In December 2006, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra released its second commercial recording, including Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf narrated by the internationally acclaimed actor, Colm Feore, and Last Minute Lulu, composed by WSO Composer-in-Residence, Brent Lee, with text by the Newbery Medal winning author, Christopher Paul Curtis.

Maestro Russell has taken an active role in creating and revitalizing programmes and programming to develop young listeners and musicians in the region. His passionate support of music in the schools has forged performance partnerships with the Windsor Centre for the Creative Arts, the University of Windsor School of Music and dozens of choral, dance and performing ensembles throughout the community. Mr. Russell’s intensive work with educators, administrators, and students has helped to bolster annual attendance at the WSO’s spring Educational Concerts by nearly 100% within five years, to over 12,000 students and teachers in Essex, Lambton and Kent counties.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Russell has led many of North America’s most distinguished ensembles, including the orchestras of Toronto, Edmonton, Victoria, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Louisville, Miami’s New World Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, New York City Ballet, and the New York Philharmonic. 2008 marks his eleventh year with Carnegie Hall, where he conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in the “LinkUP!” concert series, as well as Carnegie Hall’s family concert series.

Mr. Russell served as associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for eleven years where he regularly led concerts at the Music Hall and the Riverbend Music Center. In September of 1999, Mr. Russell replaced Erich Kunzel with an hour’s notice to conduct the Pops’ opening weekend concerts. The following week he substituted for Maestro Kunzel in concerts on the stage of the famed Musikverein in Vienna, featuring the Harlem Boychoir, the Vienna Choir Boys and actor Gregory Peck. The performance was televised throughout Europe, Japan and in the USA on PBS, and has been made into a compact disc and DVD.

Maestro Russell received a Master of Music degree in conducting from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Williams College in Massachusetts. He has also studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.

Founded in 1947, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra is a professional regional orchestra of 43 contracted musicians. It enjoys a national reputation for its innovative programming with a strong creative commitment to Canadian performers and composers. The WSO has established a national reputation for its musical excellence and wide-ranging Educational and Community Outreach programs. The WSO can be heard regularly on CBC national radio broadcasts, and made its Gemini-nominated national television debut on CBC Television's Opening Night in 2003. The WSO is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Ontario Lieutenant Governor's Award for the Arts (2001, 2003). In 2007 it was awarded the prestigious Vida Peene Fund Orchestra Award for artistic excellence. Since 1998, the WSO has doubled its subscription sales, and in 2005 launched the Windsor Symphony Youth Orchestra. Since 2000, the WSO has added five new concert series, and has commenced a ground-breaking Music Therapy programme, in partnership with the University of Windsor and Windsor Regional Hospitals. The WSO performs a 33-week concert season from September to May.

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra would like to extend its gratitude to the following people, whose invaluable help made this project possible: Kaysandra Curtis, Elaine Hamat, Dr & Mrs. Douglas J. Paterson, Lauren Sheil at IndiePool, CBC Studios - Windsor, and Kathleen McCrone.

Peter and the Wolf and Last Minute Lulu is available at the WSO Office for $20.

Please contact Julia Galli at 519-973-1238 X. 31 or jgalli@windsorsymphony.com
For more information, please contact:
Rob Gold, Director of Marketing
Tel: 519-973-1238, ext. 23
Email: rgold@windsorsymphony.com
URL: www.windsorsymphony.com