Pianist Leon Fleisher gives master class on November 29
November 25, 2002 -
Ottawa, Canada -- The National Arts Centre Orchestra's
Bostonian Bravo Series, on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November
29, at 20:00 in the NAC's Southam Hall, features renowned
pianist Leon Fleisher making his first appearance at the NAC where he
will perform Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand. The
program also includes the Orchestra's first-ever performance of
Mussorgsky's monumental Pictures at an Exhibition
orchestrated by Ravel, and David Diamond's Symphony No.
4.
While in Ottawa, the legendary pianist Leon Fleisher will also
give master classes to students on Friday, November 29, from 10:00 to
13:00. The master classes are co-presented with the Department of
Music, University of Ottawa, and will take place in Southam Hall, at
the National Arts Centre. The public is invited to attend the master
classes. Tickets are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students, and are only sold at the door.
He had made his debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 16,
going on to become the first American to win the prestigious Queen
Elisabeth International Piano Competition in Belgium. Following the
onset of his debilitating ailment, severe repetitive stress syndrome,
he became a teacher and conductor, and eventually turned to the
left-hand piano literature, winning immediate acclaim and two Grammy
nominations for his recordings of the Ravel and Prokofiev
concertos.
Holder of the Andrew W. Mellon Chair at the Peabody Conservatory
of Music since 1959, Mr. Fleisher also serves on the faculties of the
Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Royal Conservatory
of Music in Toronto. From 1986-97 he was Artistic Director of the
Tanglewood Music Center. Teaching activities have been an important
element of his activities at the Aspen, Lucerne, Ravinia and Verbier
festivals, among others. He has also given master classes at the
Salzburg Mozarteum, the Paris Conservatory, the Ravel Academy at St.
Jean de Luz, the Reina Sofia School in Madrid, the Mishkenot in
Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Leon Fleisher holds honorary doctorates from The Juilliard School,
the Cleveland Institute of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of
Music and Towson University and is a Fellow of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences. In 1994, Musical America named him
"Instrumentalist of the Year." He has also been the recipient of the
Johns Hopkins University's President's Medal. Mr. Fleisher
received the Decoration of Commander in the Order of King Leopold II
from the Belgian Government in 2000. In April of the same year Mr.
Fleisher became the first living pianist to be inducted into the
Classical Music Hall of Fame.
