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Bramwell Tovey to Lead the NY Philharmonic at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, 7/7

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Bramwell Tovey will lead the New York Philharmonic at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in a program of works by Bernstein, Gershwin, and Tchaikovsky, Saturday, July 7, 2012, at 8:00 p.m. Canadian soprano Tracy Dahl will be the soloist in the coloratura aria, "Glitter and Be Gay" from Bernstein's Candide, along with songs by Gershwin, including "The Man I Love" and "Fascinatin' Rhythm," arranged by Mr. Tovey. Also on the program are Three Dance Episodes from Bernstein's On the Town, and two works by Tchaikovsky: music from Act IV of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, and the 1812 Overture.

The New York Philharmonic performed at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in its inaugural season, in July 2006, and has returned every year since, led by Bramwell Tovey.

Bramwell Tovey is in his 12th season as music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO), and makes annual summer appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2008 the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic co-commissioned his Urban Runway, which the New York Philharmonic premiered in 2008.

Mr. Tovey has worked with orchestras in the United States and Europe including the London Philharmonic, London Symphony, and Frankfurt Radio orchestras. In North America he has made guest appearances with the orchestras of Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Seattle, and Montreal as well as ongoing performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where his Trumpet Concerto, commissioned by that orchestra, received its premiere in winter of 2009. His first full-length opera, The Inventor, was premiered in Calgary in the winter of 2011. In 2011 he also made his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra as well as a return visit to The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Highlights of his 2010–11 season in Vancouver included Verdi's Requiem, the Canadian premiere of John Adams's Dr. Atomic Symphony, and a Bach and Beyond series. In 2009 he toured China and South Korea with the VSO and violinist Hillary Hahn; the ensemble was the first orchestra from Canada to perform in China in 30 years.

Bramwell Tovey is the first artist to win a Juno Award in both conducting and composing. He received the Best Canadian Classical Composition 2003 Juno Award for his Requiem for a Charred Skull, performed and recorded by the Amadeus Choir and the Hannaford Band in Toronto. He is also an accomplished jazz pianist, with two recordings to his name, and he has made memorable appearances on television, including two documentaries with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a 1996 CBC TV broadcast of Victor Davies's Revelation, a full-length oratorio based on the Book of Revelation, with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. His recording with the VSO and violinist James Ehnes of the Walton, Korngold, and Barber concertos received both Grammy and Juno Awards in 2007.

Awarded numerous honorary degrees, Mr. Tovey received a fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary foctorates of law from the University of Winnipeg, University of Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1999 he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a prestigious Canadian prize awarded to premier artists for outstanding contributions in professional performing arts organizations. He is conducting and hosting the New York Philharmonic's Summertime Classics in July 2012.

Canadian coloratura soprano Tracy Dahl has performed at opera houses such as Milan's Teatro alla Scala, The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and the Théâtre Chatelet in Paris. In 2009 she was awarded the Opera Canada Award.

Highlights of her 2011–12 season include appearances with the Sydney Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, works by Bach with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the title role in Donizetti's opera Maria Stuarda with Pacific Opera Victoria. In 2010–11 Ms. Dahl portrayed the quirky Violet Beauregard in the world premiere of Peter Ash's The Golden Ticket at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where she will return this summer. Other highlights have included Zerbinetta in R. Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos with Vancouver Opera, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto with Calgary Opera, the title role in Donizetti's Lucia de Lammermoor with Boston Lyric Opera and Arizona Opera, and Madame Mao in John Adams's Nixon in China with Houston Grand Opera, Colorado Opera, and Portland Opera.

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