Ranked among the world’s 20 greatest orchestras by Gramophone magazine, the Czech Philharmonic embarks on its first United States tour under the baton of Semyon Bychkov. For over a century, the Czech Philharmonic has represented the pinnacle of Czech cultural achievement, engaging audiences across the globe with its warm, robust sound. Today, the orchestra has earned itself a renewed reputation as one of the most respected ensembles on the world stage, performing with artists including Hélène Grimaud, Lang Lang, Janine Jansen, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Frank Peter Zimmermann. Dvořák himself conducted the Czech Philharmonic in its debut performance on January 4, 1896, at the Rudolfinum in Prague, which is now the center for its Orchestral Academy. Other conductors in the orchestra’s history include Gustav Mahler, who conducted the Czech Philharmonic for the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7. The orchestra performs in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including recent performances at the Philharmonic in Berlin and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. The orchestra has also performed at Carnegie Hall in New York as well as the NCPA in Beijing.

On October 3, 2018, Semyon Bychkov begins his tenure as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic with a concert that celebrates 100 years of Czech Independence. In 2018-19, in addition to his commitment to the Czech Philharmonic, Bychkov will conduct the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Berlin and Munich Philharmonics, the Royal Concertgebouw, Santa Cecilia, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. Following his early concerts with the Czech Philharmonic in 2013, Bychkov devised The Tchaikovsky Project, a series of concerts, residences, and studio recordings, including Franscesca da Rimini which the orchestra will perform on night one of their Orange County residency. Born in St. Petersburg in 1952, Bychkov emigrated to the United States in 1975 and has been based in Europe since the mid-1980s. In Europe, he tours frequently with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic, as well as appearing as an annual guest of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Orchestre National de France, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In the United States, he can be heard with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Symphony, and the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras. Bychkov’s recording of Wagner’s Lohengrin was voted BBC Music Magazine’s Disc of the Year in 2010, and his recent recording of Schmidt’s Symphony No. 2 with the Vienna Philharmonic was selected as BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the Month. Bychkov was also named 2015’s Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards.

At age 13, cellist Alisa Weilerstein made her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo” Variations, and made her first Carnegie Hall appearance with the New York Youth Symphony in 1997. Weilerstein’s major career milestones include an account of Elgar’s concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and Daniel Barenboim in Oxford, England, for the Orchestra’s 2010 European Concert, which was televised live to an audience of millions worldwide and subsequently released on DVD by EuroArts. In 2009, Weilerstein was one of four artists invited by Michelle Obama to participate in a widely celebrated and high-profile classical music event at the White House, featuring student workshops hosted by the First Lady, and performances in front of an audience that included President Obama and the First Family. Later that same year Weilerstein toured in Venezuela as soloist with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel. She has since made numerous return visits to teach and perform with the orchestra as part of its famed El Sistema music education program. Other highlights of recent seasons include her debut at the BBC Proms in 2010, and with England’s Academy of St Martin in the Fields, which she joined in 2013 for a 16-city U.S. tour. Weilerstein has appeared at major music festivals throughout the world, including Aspen, Bad Kissingen, Delft, Edinburgh, Jerusalem Chamber Music, La Jolla SummerFest, Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Tanglewood, and Verbier. In addition to her appearances as a soloist and recitalist, Weilerstein performs regularly as a chamber musician. The cellist is the winner of both Lincoln Center’s 2008 Martin E. Segal prize for exceptional achievement and the 2006 Leonard Bernstein Award. She received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2000 and was selected for two prestigious young artists programs in the 2000-01 season: the ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) “Rising Stars” recital series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two.

Pianist Kirill Gerstein’s career is balanced between the United States and Europe where, in recent seasons, he has made his debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras. Brought up in the former Soviet Union studying both classical and jazz piano, Gerstein was the youngest student to attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Gerstein won the first of a series of prestigious accolades in 2001: First Prize at the 10th Arthur Rubinstein Competition. In 2002, he won a Gilmore Young Artist Award, and in 2010 both an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Gilmore Artist Award, which provided the funds for him to commission new works from Timothy Andres, Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, Oliver Knussen and Brad Mehldau. Following his belief in the importance of teaching, Gerstein taught at the Stuttgart Musik Hochschule from 2007-2017 and, from fall of 2018, will teach as part of Kronberg Academy’s newly announced Sir András Schiff Performance Programme for Young Artists. Recent performances include appearing with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony. Equally at home in chamber music, Gerstein can be heard in concert with Leonidas Kavakos at the George Enescu Festival, on tour across Japan with Daishin Kashimoto, in a French programme at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and on tour in North America with Clemens Hagen performing Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, is located at 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Ticket prices for each concert start at $48 and are available at the Philharmonic Society box office at (949) 553-2422, online at www.PhilharmonicSociety.org, and at the Center box office at (714) 556-2787. A limited number of box seats are also available for purchase. Call for pricing and availability.

ABOUT THE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY
Founded in 1954, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents the world’s most acclaimed symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, soloists and international artists for the enjoyment and appreciation of Orange County audiences. A catalyst for cultural and educational development throughout the region, the Philharmonic Society is a key resident company in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and also presents concerts at various venues throughout Orange County.

For more than 60 years, the Society has presented artists who set the standards for artistic achievement: Sir Georg Solti, Itzhak Perlman, Jacqueline du Pré, Daniel Barenboim, Lorin Maazel, Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming and Cecilia Bartoli, to name just a few. In addition, many of the world’s greatest orchestras have performed in Orange County by invitation of the Philharmonic Society, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others.

From 1999-2004, the Society celebrated the diversity of our cultural landscape with Eclectic Orange Festival presentations. Eclectic Orange events championed contemporary composers through commissions and sponsorship of regional and world premieres. Among the living composers presented were Tan Dun, Philip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, John Adams, Edgar Meyer, Burhan Öçal and Mikel Rouse. Past presentations include the West Coast premiere of Steve Reich’s “The Cave,” the Southern California premiere of Terry Riley’s “Sun Rings,” the United States exclusive engagement of Théâtre Zingaro, and the West Coast premiere of “Orion” by Philip Glass. The Society revived its Eclectic Orange brand in 2015 to offer diverse programming such as cross-genre or world music performances to celebrate and serve Orange County’s diverse demographics.

The Society’s nationally recognized Youth Music Education Programs, one of the most extensive music education programs of its kind in the country, are offered free of charge to schools, students and parents, and each year reach more than 160,000 students from elementary through high school. These programs are made possible by the tireless volunteerism and fundraising of The Committees of the Philharmonic Society.

The Society’s volunteer force and one of its principal fundraising sources, The Committees are made up of 800 volunteer members who provide more than 90,000 hours of in-kind service each year in developing, implementing and evaluating the music education programs. The Committees also present a wide variety of fundraising events, including the Philharmonic House of Design and the Huntington Harbour Cruise of Lights®.

In 2017, the award-winning Orange County Youth Symphony merged with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, representing a natural evolution for the two organizations after more than 30 years of partnership. The exceptional young musicians of the Youth Symphony have exciting opportunities to further develop and nurture their talents through engaging in exclusive opportunities with some of classical music’s most celebrated artists, performing in concerts at world-class venues, learning and playing professional repertoire, and experiencing concerts by the greatest classical musicians of our time at Philharmonic Society presentations.