ESA-PEKKA SALONEN RETURNS TO CHICAGO TO LEAD THE CSO IN MAHLER’S SIXTH SYMPHONY DECEMBER 15–17

Concert Also Features the World Premiere of James Matheson’s Violin 
Concerto with CSO Principal Second Violin Baird Dodge in Debut as Soloist

Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO CHICAGO — Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Chicago to lead the CSO in subscription programs featuring Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and the world premiere of James Matheson’s Violin Concerto, a co-commission by the CSO, on Thursday, December 15 at 8 p.m.; Friday, December 16 at 1:30 p.m.; and Saturday, December 17 at 8 p.m. at Symphony Center.
CSO Principal Second Violin Baird Dodge makes his solo debut with the Orchestra performing Matheson’s new work, which was written in close collaboration with him.
Matheson and Dodge have been friends and collaborators since they were both music students at the same college.
The second half of the program features Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, a distinctive work best known for its musical depiction of the hammer blows of fate. The CSO released a recording of this powerful piece on its CSO Resound label in 2008, and this performance of the work is part of the CSO’s 2011/12 focus, An Exuberant Era: 1911/12. This season-long theme examines that era, the time of Mahler’s death, a century afterwards, exploring the impact that this great composer had on musical history.

Finnish conductor and composer ESA-PEKKA SALONEN has been principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra London since 2008 and artistic director of the Baltic Sea Festival since 2003. After 17 years at its helm as music director, he has also held the title of conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009. For the 2011/12 season, he
continues his artistic odyssey with the Philharmonia through performances of Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard's Castle in collaboration with video collective Yeast Culture as part of the project ―Infernal Dance: Inside the World of Béla Bartók,‖ launched in January 2011. With 20 concerts in 11 European
cities, the project will explore the life, influences and music of Béla Bartók.
As a composer, Salonen’s works are regularly performed and broadcast around the world; his compositions Floof and LA Variations have become established as modern classics. Three major retrospectives of his work have been performed, most recently at Festival Présences Paris, in February 2011. Salonen is the recipient of many major awards, including the UNESCO Rostrum Prize for his composition Floof in 1992 and the Siena Prize, given by the Accademia Chigiana in 1993; he is the first conductor ever to receive the prize. In 1998, the French government awarded him the rank of Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Musical America named Salonen as its "Musician of the Year" in 2006. He was elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April 2010, and granted honorary doctorates by the University of Southern California in May 2010 and the Royal College of Music London in May 2011.
Appointed New York City native BAIRD DODGE joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a violist in 1996. He moved to the second violin section later that same year, and he was appointed principal second violin by Daniel Barenboim in 2002. Dodge studied violin and viola from an early age and attended the
precollege division of the Juilliard School. He received a achelor’s degree in chemistry from Swarthmore College in 1990, and a master’s degree in music from the State University of New York–Stony Brook in 1994.

His teachers have included Helen Kwalwasser, Gregory Fulkerson and Joyce Robbins. He has championed the works of composer James Matheson, giving premieres of several pieces. In 2006, he premiered and recorded Carillon Sky, a chamber concerto written for him by Augusta Read Thomas, on the CSO’s MusicNOW series with Oliver Knussen conducting, and later performed the work with Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia.
Brooklyn-based composer JAMES MATHESON has rapidly emerged as one of the most distinctive, vital and creative musical voices of his generation. Among his commissions are works for the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Chicago and Albany Symphony Orchestras, Carnegie Hall and the Borromeo
String Quartet. In September of 2009, Matheson joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as director of their innovative Composer Fellowship Program. Recent projects include True South, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic; Violin Concerto, co-commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Los
Angeles Philharmonic; Four Fanfares, commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and Borromean Rings, commissioned by the Cheswatyr Foundation for the Borromeo String Quartet and pianist Judith Gordon. Buzz, for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano was extensively performed worldwide by Antares and Ensemble X, and Pull was recently released by the Ambassador Duo on the Equilibrium label. Orchestra 2001 premiered The Paces for Piano and Large Ensemble at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in 2002/03. In previous seasons, Ensemble X featured three Matheson works in a Merkin Hall (NYC) performance, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra chamber series featured the world premiere of Falling and the local premiere of Spin; the Civic Orchestra of Chicago world premiered the CSO-commissioned orchestral work River, River, River; and the MATA Festival programmed Pound. In addition to the Guggenheim, Matheson has received fellowships and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship in 2008 and the Hinrichsen Award in 2002), the Bogliasco and Sage Foundations, ASCAP and the Robbins Prize.
A musical force in Chicago and around the world, the CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA has been consistently hailed as one of the finest international orchestras since its founding in 1891. In collaboration with renowned conductors and guest artists on the international music scene, the CSO performs well over 150
concerts each year at its home, Symphony Center, and in summer residency at the Ravinia Festival. With the launch of the Institute for Learning, Access and Training, the CSO engages more than 200,000 Chicago-area residents annually. Music lovers outside Chicago enjoy the sounds of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra not
only through its Chicago Symphony Orchestra Radio Broadcast Series and best-selling recordings on its acclaimed in-house record label CSO Resound, but also through sold-out tour performances in the United States and around the globe. Since 1971, the CSO has undertaken 37 overseas tours: 28 to Europe, six to the Far East, as well as one each to Russia, Australia and South America. Bank of America is the global sponsor of
the CSO. For more information about the CSO, visit cso.org.
Complete program details follow: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Thursday, December 15, 2011, 8 p.m.
An Exuberant Era: 1911/12 Friday, December 16, 2011, 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 17, 2011, 8 p.m.
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Baird Dodge, violin
MATHESON  Violin Concerto (World premiere, CSO cocommission)
MAHLER  Symphony No. 6 in A Minor
Tickets: $26–$250
Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency and the National Endowment for the Arts.