ENERI NEWS (CHICAGO 7/5/11 # 3 – Original Announcement via fbk) ENERI Communications is thrilled to announce we’ve been engaged by the Chicago Sinfonietta! (www.chicagosinfonietta.org). We’ll provide media and marketing counsel in the Asian Pacific American (APA) community for the (CS) 2011-2012 season, with special emphasis on the introduction of new Music Director
, Maestro Mei-Ann Chan, to Chicagoland’s Asian Pacific American Community.
The first woman to win the Malko International Conductors Competition (2005), Mei-Ann Chen, 37, is considered one of America’s most exciting and promising young conductors. The 2011-2012 Chicago Sinfonietta season marks the debut of Mei-Ann Chen, the first new Music Director in the 24-year history of the Chicago Sinfonietta, the nation’s most diverse orchestra. Maestro Chen was selected after a two-year international search to inherit the baton from Dr. Paul Freeman, Founder and now Music Director Emeritus, upon his retirement. Chen assumed the reins in June 2011. She will be introduced to Chicago in a special Millennium Park Concert at Pritzker Pavilion, Hello Chicago! on Sunday, August 14, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
Update (7/29/11): Please join us for a special event in Chicago’s Chinatown! A public Welcome Reception in the Asian Pacific American Community honoring Maestro Mei-Ann Chen in the Asian Pacific American community at the Chinese American Service League, Kam L. Liu Building, 2141 South Tan Court, Monday, August 15, 2011, with program beginning at 10 a.m. SHARP (registration and camera sets at 9:45 a.m.).
Reservation required. RSVP by August 8, 2011 to rsvp (at) enericom.net . Images, interview requests and other media requests to info (at) enericom.net. (Invite in text below and formatted invite on pdf available upon request.)
You are cordially invited to attend
Hello Maestro!
A Welcome Reception
in the
Asian Pacific American Community
honoring
Maestro Mei-Ann Chen
One of America’s most exciting and promising
young conductors and the new
Music Director of the Chicago Sinfonietta,
the nation’s most diverse orchestra
Monday, August 15, 2011
Chinese American Service League
Kam L. Liu Building – Grand Ballroom
2141 South Tan Court (Corner Princeton Avenue)
Chicago Chinatown, Illinois
9:45 AM Registration
10:00 AM Program (SHARP)
rsvp (at) enericom.net
by August 8, 2011.
MEDIA is invited to attend.
Asian Pacific American Media Requests:
ENERI Communications
Irene Cualoping info (at) enericom.net
MEI-ANN CHEN
The first woman to win the Malko International Conductors Competition (2005), Mei-Ann Chen, 37, is considered one of America’s most exciting and promising young conductors.
The 2011-2012 Chicago Sinfonietta season marks the debut of Mei-Ann Chen, the first new Music Director in the 24-year history of the Chicago Sinfonietta, the nation’s most diverse orchestra. Maestro Chen was selected after a two-year international search to inherit the baton from Dr. Paul Freeman, Founder and now Music Director Emeritus, upon his retirement. Chen assumed the reins in June 2011.
Mei-Ann Chen recently completed her first season as Music Director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. In great demand as a guest conductor, Chen has appeared with the symphonies of Alabama, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Edmonton (Canada), Florida, Fort Worth, Honolulu, National (Washington, DC), Oregon, Pacific, Phoenix, Princeton, Seattle, Toronto, and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra. Worldwide engagements include all the principal Danish orchestras, BBC Scottish Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Graz Symphony, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, and the Trondheim Symphony.
During the 2011-12 season, she will debut with the symphonies of Jacksonville, Naples, Nashville, Pasadena, Sarasota, as well as the National Symphony of Mexico and the Netherlands Philharmonic at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Chen has served as Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Symphony, and has recently completed highly successful tenures as Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony and Baltimore Symphony; these two positions were sponsored by the League of American Orchestras. Recipient of the 2007 Taki Concordia Fellowship, she has appeared jointly with Marin Alsop and Stefan Sanderling in highly acclaimed subscription concerts with the Baltimore Symphony, Colorado Symphony and Florida Orchestra.
In 2002, Chen was unanimously selected as Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Oregon, the oldest of its kind and the model for many of the youth orchestras in the United States. During her five-year tenure with the orchestra, she led its sold-out debut in Carnegie Hall, received an ASCAP award for innovative programming, and developed new and unique musicianship programs for the orchestra’s members. She was honored with a Sunburst Award from Young Audiences for her contribution to music education.
Born in Taiwan, Mei-Ann Chen has lived in the United States since 1989. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Michigan, where she was a student of Kenneth Kiesler. Prior to that, she was the first student in New England Conservatory’s history to receive master’s degrees, simultaneously, in both violin and conducting. Chen also participated in the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C. and the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen.
ABOUT THE CHICAGO SINFONIETTA
The Mission of the Chicago Sinfonietta is to serve as a national model for inclusiveness and innovation in classical music through the presentation of the highest quality orchestral concerts and related programs. The Chicago Sinfonietta aspires to remove the barriers to participation in, and appreciation of classical music through its educational and outreach programs that expose children and their families to classical music, and by providing professional development opportunities for young musicians and composers of diverse backgrounds enabling new, important voices to be heard. This will help America become a true cultural democracy, in which everyone can share fully in its cultural resources and in which all can contribute to it cultural richness.
THE CHICAGO SINFONIETTA STORY
Maestro Paul Freeman founded the Chicago Sinfonietta in 1987 in response to the lack of opportunity for minority classical musicians, composers, and soloists. Twenty-three seasons later, the Chicago Sinfonietta remains as the national model and true trailblazer for promoting diversity and inclusiveness in orchestral music.
Built upon the core value of inclusion, the demographics of the Chicago Sinfonietta’s musicians, guest artists, board of directors, volunteers, and staff mirror those of the audience. Over fifty-five percent of the Sinfonietta’s musicians, fifty-six percent of its Board of Directors, and forty-two percent of the staff are people of color; subsequently, forty-six percent of the audience is people of color. This relationship is a testament to the fact that the music performed, supporting a diverse array of composers and musicians, has the distinct ability to reach new listeners and communities. The vibrant and very real connection between orchestra and audience exudes an undeniable energy and life to each performance, reinforcing the rich culture that exists in Chicago’s communities.
The Chicago Sinfonietta’s vision of inclusiveness extends beyond the concert hall. To develop tomorrow’s musicians and audience members, the orchestra has created innovative outreach programs that annually serve thousands of elementary and high-school age children. In 2008, the Sinfonietta implemented a new program entitled Project Inclusion that provides 1-2 year fellowships to promising orchestral musicians of color. Six fellows performed and rehearsed with the orchestra in the program’s inaugural year in 2008. The program has enjoyed much success.
During the Sinfonietta’s first ten years, the orchestra embarked on a number of international tours performing concerts in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the Canary Islands. By 1997, the Sinfonietta had attracted more than 1,100 season subscribers and released nine recordings.
Since 1997, the Sinfonietta has released five additional recordings including the much heralded African Heritage Symphonic Three-Volume Series released by Cedille Records in 2002, seen its subscriber base increase to over 1,600 and watched single ticket sales increase to their largest in history. The Sinfonietta performs subscription seasons at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center and at Lund Auditorium in River Forest. The Sinfonietta also serves as the official orchestra of the Joffrey Ballet.
The Chicago Sinfonietta truly represents the city’s rich cultural landscape, and continues to fulfill the mission of Musical Excellence through Diversity. all can contribute to it cultural richness.
2011-2012 CHICAGO SINFONIETTA SEASON
Sunday, August 14, 2011, 6:30 p.m., HELLO Chicago! Millennium Park
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 8 p.m., Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville
Monday, September 26, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Center, Chicago
Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Saturday, November 5, 2011, 8 p.m., Wentz Concert Hall
Monday, November 7, 2011, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Center
Sunday, January 15, 2012, 3 p.m., Wentz Concert Hall
Monday, January 16, 2012, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Center
Thursday, April 19, 2012, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Center
Saturday, June 16, 2012, 8 p.m., Wentz Concert Hall
Monday, June 18, 2012, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Center
TICKETS
Chicago Sinfonietta, 70 East Lake Street – Suite 226, Chicago, Illinois 60601, www.chicagosinfonietta.org, tel. 312.236.3681 x. 2 (Mention Code E)
FOR MORE INFORMATION/MEDIA REQUESTS
ENERI Communications info (at) enericom.net
- END –
www.chicagosinfonietta.org
Maestro Mei-Ann Chen Music Director Chicago Sinfonietta www.chicagosinfonietta.org
www.enericom.net and www.enericom.net/blog
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