Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Israeli cellist Inbal Segev on
Dvořák’s rapturous Cello Concerto
Pasadena CA – Music Director David Lockington returns to the podium on Saturday, February 17 for Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite at Ambassador Auditorium with performances at 2:00 and 8:00pm. The Pasadena Symphony’s ode to romance arrives just in time to celebrate with your Valentine, with Stravinsky’s impassioned fairytale topping off what Lockington calls “a magnificent, warm, and rich Romantic program.” The February concert will also feature Dvořák’s tribute to a long-lost love, his rapturous Cello Concerto, and a world premiere Pasadena Symphony commission by up-and-coming Pasadena composer Dale Trumbore entitled Infinitely and Without Apology.
“A rising star among modern choral composers” (AXS), Dale Trumbore’s newest work, Infinitely and Without Apology was written to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Women’s Committee of the Pasadena Symphony Association. Her subject is timely, with the piece being written as the #metoo movement came to the fore. This ambitious piece explores the idea of developing confidence, particularly—but not exclusively—as a woman. Trumbore addresses how women develop the kind of resilience it takes to share and project their voice in a world where they are often socialized to be quiet and take up minimal space.
“I’m so thrilled to be collaborating with the Pasadena Symphony to bring this new work to life. Infinitely and Without Apology explores the struggle between self-confidence and self-doubt. As the piece progresses, we move from self-assuredness through a crisis of confidence and ultimately emerge irrepressible, persisting even in the face of doubt.”
– Dale Trumbore
Following Trumbore’s world premiere, Israeli cellist Inbal Segev will perform Dvořák’s emotionally charged Cello Concerto. Having premiered with the Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic led by Zubin Mehta, at only 17, Segev has risen to international acclaim bringing interpretations that are both unreservedly natural and insightful to the vast range of music she performs. Known for her “glowing, burnished tone,” (The Washington Post) Segev will make her Pasadena debut on what fellow cellist and Music Director David Lockington calls the “backbone of the cello repertoire.” Segev reminisces, “the bigger than life Dvořák concerto is a piece that I have played since I was 14 years old so it grew with me and still feels new every time I play it. It is rich with beautiful melodies and virtuosic passages and a tour de force for the cello and cellist.”
Make it a night to remember and treat your Valentine to a one-of-a-kind occasion with dinner in the luxurious Lounge, yet another addition to the delightful and elegant concert experience the Pasadena Symphony offers. A posh setting at Ambassador Auditorium’s beautiful outdoor plaza, the lounge will offer specialized Valentine’s menus at each concert by Claud &Co, fine wines by Michero Family Wines, plus music before the concert and during intermission. Or come early to learn more about the music with Insights, a pre-concert discussion with Music Director David Lockington and composer Dale Trumbore, which begins one hour prior to curtain.
All concerts are held at Ambassador Auditorium, 131 South St. John Ave, Pasadena, CA with both matinee and evening performances at 2pm and 8pm. Subscription packages start at as low as $99. Single tickets start at $35 and may be purchased online at www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org or by calling (626) 793-7172. A limited number of tickets will be available at the box office on the day of the concert.
What: The Pasadena Symphony presents Stravinsky Firebird Suite
David Lockington, conductor
Inbal Segev, cello
Dvořák Cello Concerto
Dale Trumbore Infinitely and Without Apology (world premiere, Pasadena Symphony and Margaret H. Sedenquist co-commission)
Stravinsky The Firebird Suite
When: Saturday, February 17, 2018 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm
Where: Ambassador Auditorium | 131 South St. John Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105
Cost: Tickets start at $35.00
Parking: Valet parking is available on Green Street for $15. General parking is available in two locations: next to the Auditorium (entrance on St. John Ave) at the covered parking structure for $10 and directly across the street at the Wells Fargo parking structure (entrance on Terrace at Green St). ADA parking is located at the above-ground parking lot adjacent to the Auditorium (entrance on St. John Ave.) for $10. Parking purchased onsite is cash only.
Symphony Lounge: Located on the plaza at Ambassador Auditorium. Opens at 12:30 pm before the matinee and 6:00 pm before the evening performance.
Pre-Concert Discussion: Pre-concert discussions with David Lockington and Dale Trumbore begins one hour before curtain and is available to all ticket holders at no cost.
Recent Acclaim for the Pasadena Symphony and POPS:
“The Pasadena Symphony signals a new direction…teeming with vitality…dripping with opulent, sexy emotion.” – Los Angeles Times.
“…full of pulsating energy from first note to last… the strings were lushly resonant, the wind principals were at the top of their games, and the brass rang out with gleaming vigor.” –Pasadena Star News.
Formed in 1928, the Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an ensemble of Hollywood’s most talented, sought after musicians. With extensive credits in the film, television, recording and orchestral industry, the artists of Pasadena Symphony and POPS are some of the most heard in the world.
The Pasadena Symphony and POPS performs in two of the most extraordinary venues in the United States: Ambassador Auditorium, known as the Carnegie Hall of the West, and the luxuriant Los Angeles Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Internationally recognized, Grammy-nominated conductor David Lockington, serves as the Pasadena Symphony Association’s Music Director, with performance-practice specialist Nicholas McGegan serving as Principal Guest Conductor. The multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” Michael Feinstein, is the Principal Pops Conductor, who succeeded Marvin Hamlisch in the newly created Marvin Hamlisch Chair.
A hallmark of its robust education programs, the Pasadena Symphony Association has served the youth of the region for over five decades through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO), comprised of five performing ensembles with 300 gifted 4th-12th grade students from more than 50 schools all over the Southern California region. The PYSO has toured internationally at prestigious venues in New York, Vienna, and most recently San Jose, Costa Rica. They regularly perform throughout Southern California and have appeared on the popular television show GLEE.
The PSA provides people from all walks of life with powerful access points to the world of symphonic music.
David Lockington
Music Director
David Lockington began his career as a cellist and was the Principal with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for two years. After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Cambridge where he was a choral scholar, Mr. Lockington came to the United States on a scholarship to Yale University where he received his Master’s Degree in cello performance and studied conducting with Otto Werner Mueller. He was a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and served as assistant principal cellist with the Denver Symphony Orchestra for three years before turning to conducting.
Over the past thirty years, David Lockington has developed an impressive conducting career in the United States. A native of Great Britain, he served as the Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony from January 1999 to May 2015, and is currently the orchestra’s Conductor Laureate. He has held the position of Music Director with the Modesto Symphony since May 2007 and in March 2013, Mr. Lockington was appointed Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony. He has a close relationship with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain, where he was the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor from 2012 through 2016, and in the 15/16 season was named one of three Artistic Partners with the Northwest Sinfonietta in Tacoma, Washington.
In addition to his current posts, since his arrival to the United States in 1978 Mr. Lockington has held positions with several other American orchestras, including serving as Assistant Conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and Opera Colorado, and Assistant and Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In May 1993 he accepted the position of Music Director of the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, assumed the title of Music Director of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in September 1995 and was Music Director of the Long Island Philharmonic for the 96/97 through 99/2000 seasons.
Mr. Lockington’s guest conducting engagements include appearances with the Saint Louis, Houston, Detroit, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Oregon and Phoenix symphonies; the Rochester and Louisiana Philharmonics; and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall. Internationally, he has conducted the Northern Sinfonia in Great Britain, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra in Beijing and Taiwan, and led the English Chamber Orchestra on a tour in Asia.
Recent and upcoming guest conducting engagements include appearances with the New Jersey, Indianapolis, Utah, Pacific, Colorado, Nashville, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Stamford, Tucson and Kansas City symphonies, the Florida and Louisville Orchestras, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and the Buffalo, Calgary and Oklahoma Philharmonics. Mr. Lockington’s summer festival activities include appearances at the Grand Teton, Colorado Music, Interlochen, Chautauqua and Eastern Music festivals.
David Lockington began his career as a cellist and was the Principal with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for two years. After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Cambridge where he was a choral scholar, Mr. Lockington came to the United States on a scholarship to Yale University where he received his Master’s Degree in cello performance and studied conducting with Otto Werner Mueller. He was a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and served as assistant principal cellist with the Denver Symphony Orchestra for three years before turning to conducting.
Inbal Segev
Cello
Cellist Inbal Segev’s playing has been described as “characterized by a strong and warm tone . . . delivered with impressive fluency and style,” by The Strad and “first class,” “richly inspired,” and “very moving indeed,” by Gramophone. Equally committed to new repertoire and masterworks, Segev brings interpretations that are both unreservedly natural and insightful to the vast range of music she performs.
Segev released her recording of the complete Cello Suites of J.S. Bach in fall 2015 on the Vox label, to critical acclaim and a spot on The New York Times Classical Playlist. Audiences have the opportunity to look behind the scenes at the making of Segev’s album through a companion documentary film about her journey through the music of Bach. She has performed Bach’s Cello Suites in venues around the world including Lincoln Center and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Shanghai Concert Hall, and Henry Crown Hall in the Jerusalem Theatre.
Inbal Segev has performed as soloist with top orchestras around the world including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Boulder Chamber Orchestra, San Juan Symphony in Colorado, Arkansas Symphony, Castleton Festival Orchestra with Lorin Maazel, Bogotá Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Dortmund Philharmonic, the Haifa and Be’er Sheva Symphonies in Israel, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Polish National Radio Symphony, the Bangkok Symphony, and more. She made debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic, led by Zubin Mehta, at age 17.
Segev’s repertoire includes all of the standard concerti and solo works for cello, as well as new pieces and rarely performed gems. She recently gave the world premiere of Gity Razaz’s Legend of Sigh for cello and electronics, which she commissioned, at National Sawdust in Brooklyn. She also premiered cello concertos by Avner Dorman and Lucas Richman, performed jazz composer David Baker’s cello concerto in New York, the U.S. premiere of English composer Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Cello Concerto in D Major, and was the first cellist to perform Henri Dutilleux’s challenging Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher for solo cello at Carnegie Hall. In May 2017, Segev will perform the world premiere of Dan Visconti’s new cello concerto, Tangle Eye, with the California Symphony. Commissioning new repertoire for the cello is a priority for Segev; current projects include new works by Timo Andres and Fernando Otero.
Inbal Segev is a founding member of the Amerigo Trio with former New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and violist Karen Dreyfus. She recently performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has collaborated with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Jeremy Denk, Anthony McGill, Jason Vieaux, Gilbert Kalish, Michael Tree, Anne Akiko Meyers, the American Chamber Players, and the Vogler Quartet. Festival appearances include the Banff, Ravinia, Bowdoin, Olympic, and Cape & Islands festivals in North America; the Siena, Rolandseck, and Montpellier festivals in Europe; and the Jerusalem Music Center and Upper Galilee festivals in Israel.
In addition to her new Bach album, Segev’s discography includes Lucas Richman’s Three Pieces for Cello and Orchestra with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Albany), Sonatas by Beethoven and Boccherini (Opus One), Nigun (Vox), and Max Schubel’s Concerto for Cello and Horn (Opus One). With the Amerigo Trio she has recorded serenades by Dohnányi (Navona)
Inbal Segev’s many honors include the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship and top prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo, and Washington International Competitions. She began playing the cello in Israel at age five and at 16 was invited by Isaac Stern to come to the U.S. to continue her studies. She earned degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale University.
Inbal Segev lives in New York City with her husband and three children. Her cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673.
For more information, visit www.inbalsegev.com.
Dale Trumbore
Composer
Dale Trumbore (b. 1987) has been called “a rising star among modern choral composers” (AXS), and her music has been praised for its “soaring melodies and beguiling harmonies” (The New York Times).
Trumbore’s compositions have been commissioned and performed widely in the United States and internationally by ensembles including the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), Inscape Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Modesto Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony, The Singers – Minnesota Choral Artists, and VocalEssence. She has served as Composer in Residence for Nova Vocal Ensemble and as Artist in Residence at Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Copland House, Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, and Willapa Bay AiR.
How to Go On: The Choral Works of Dale Trumbore, Choral Arts Initiative’s album of Trumbore’s choral works, debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart. Choral Arts Northwest, The Esoterics, New York Virtuoso Singers, and soprano Gillian Hollis have also recorded works by Trumbore, and her music is available through Boosey & Hawkes, G. Schirmer, and MusicSpoke.
As a composer who works frequently with text, Trumbore is passionate about setting poems and prose by living authors to music. She has written extensively about overcoming creative blocks and establishing a career in music in essays for CantateMagazine, the Center for New Music, MusicSpoke, and NewMusicBox.
Originally from New Jersey, Trumbore decided to stay in Los Angeles after graduating with her master’s degree in Music Composition from the University of Southern California, where she studied with Donald Crockett and Morten Lauridsen.