Bell brings 2017/18 season to finale

THE Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) caps its 2017/18 season of concerts with the return of renowned violinist Joshua Bell (pix), who has performed with the MPO at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) in two sold-out concerts in 2004 and 2007.
Bell’s career spans more than 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artiste and conductor. He has recorded more than 40 albums which have won Grammy, Mercury, Gramophone, and Echo Klassik awards.
A recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, Bell was named as the music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in 2011, the only person to hold this post since Sir Neville Marriner formed the orchestra in 1958.
This year, Bell tours with the Academy to the UK, Germany, the US and Asia.
Together with the MPO, Bell will perform the works of Max Bruch and Anton Bruckner, most notably Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 and Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony in E major, June 9 at 8.30pm and June 10 at 3pm at DFP.
Leading the orchestra is British conductor Mark Wigglesworth, who is also returning to the podium after collaborating with the MPO in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO) will also close the season with a special concert, An Evening with MPYO – Rhapsody of Emotion, on June 10 at 8.30pm at DFP.
The concert, led by MPO resident conductor Naohisa Furusawa, will feature Frédéric Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grand Polonaise brilliante played by Tengku Mohd Hadif Sharifudin, Nikolai Medtner’s Piano Concerto No.1 played by Kwan Yee Lim, and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No.5 played by Choong See May.
Also included are Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No.104, and Vasily Kalinnikov’s Symphony No.1 in G.
For more, visit the MPO website.