RELEASE: The Omaha Symphony debuts two artists – conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya and violin soloist Simone Porter

Media Contact:

Daniela Volkovinsky

Communications Manager

Office: 402.661.8422

dvolkovinsky@omahasymphony.org

Soloist Simone Porter makes her debut with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64.

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the orchestra in evocative French repertoire.

OMAHA, Neb., Apr. 19, 2022— Up-and-coming violinist Simone Porter makes her Omaha Symphony debut under the direction of conductor and Music Director at Chicago Opera Theater, Lidiya Yankovskaya. Porter, praised for her “silken-toned virtuosity and expressive panache” by the Chicago Classical Review, will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor and Yankovskaya will lead the Omaha Symphony through programmatic French works D’un matin de printemps by Lili Boulanger, Ibéria, No.2 from Images by Claude Debussy, and Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No.2 by Maurice Ravel.

“I absolutely love the French repertoire, in particular of this time, and it's such a joy to be able to bring it to life in Omaha…The long shapes and phrases, as well as the sparkling orchestrations, are unlike anything else. It's always a thrill to find and bring out the different colors within the orchestration…” says Yankovskaya. She also looks forward to performing Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps, “which is new to me and is a gem that is not heard often enough on our stages.” Similarly, Debussy’s Ibéria, No.2, a work that was inspired by impressions of Spain, utilizes the various colors of the orchestra to evoke scenes of Spanish streets, scents of the evening, and the morning on a festive day. The orchestral masterpiece Daphnis et Chloé by Ravel, already well-known and loved, continues to enchant audiences due to its vivid orchestration, striking programmatic elements, and exuberant rhythmic vitality.

Performances will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, April 29-30 at the Holland Performing Arts Center Peter Kiewit Concert Hall. Tickets are on sale now at omahasymphony.org.

Performance Details:

Friday-Saturday, April 29-30 at 7:30 p.m.
Holland Performing Arts Center Peter Kiewit Concert Hall

Lidiya Yankovskaya, conductor
Simone Porter, violin

BOULANGER: D’un matin de printemps

MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64

DEBUSSY: Ibéria, No.2 from Images

RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

About Simone Porter

Violinist Simone Porter has been recognized as an emerging artist of impassioned energy, interpretive integrity, and vibrant communication. In the past few years, she has debuted with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and with a number of renowned conductors, including Stéphane Denève, Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Nicholas McGegan, Ludovic Morlot, and Donald Runnicles. Born in 1996, Simone made her professional solo debut at age 10 with the Seattle Symphony and her international debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London at age 13. In March 2015, Simone was named a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Recent highlights include Mendelssohn with New Jersey Symphony, Brahms with the Pacific Symphony, Barber Concerto with the Seattle Symphony, and extensive tour throughout the US, including concerts with the Santa Rosa, Amarillo, Pasadena, Fairfax, and Midland Symphonies; the Rochester, Westchester, Orlando and Greater Bay Philharmonics; the Sarasota Orchestra and the Northwest Sinfonietta.

About Lidiya Yankovskaya

Russian American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya has earned national recognition not only as a daring conductor but also as an advocate for highlighting refugee contributions to our cultural landscape and the promotion of contemporary operatic repertoire. As Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater, Ms. Yankovskaya has led the Chicago premieres of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick, Rachmaninov’s Aleko, Joby Talbot’s Everest, Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, and the world premiere of Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride.

Among recent engagements, she makes a trio of Texan debuts, leading performances of Carmen at Houston Grand Opera, a tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and concerts featuring works by Gershwin and Dawson at Fort Worth Symphony. Elsewhere, she debuts with Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, leads a program of Brahms and Wagner at Elgin Symphony, and makes her Pasadena Symphony debut conducting works by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Gabriela Lena Frank.

Ms. Yankovskaya is also Founder and Artistic Director of the Refugee Orchestra Project, which proclaims the cultural and societal relevance of refugees through music and has brought that message to hundreds of thousands of listeners around the world.

As Music Director of Harvard’s Lowell House Opera, Ms. Yankovskaya conducted sold-out performances of repertoire rarely heard in Boston, including Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the U.S. Russian-language premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden.

Ms. Yankovskaya’s belief in the importance of mentorship has fueled the establishment of Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative, an investment in new opera that includes a two-year residency for emerging opera composers. Committed to developing the next generation of artistic leaders, she also volunteers with Turn The Spotlight, a foundation dedicated to identifying, nurturing, and empowering leaders – and in turn, to illuminating the path to a more equitable future in the arts.

Ticketing Information

Tickets for Daphnis et Chloé start at $20. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.omahasymphony.org, through the Ticket Omaha app, or by calling Ticket Omaha at 402.345.0606. Student rush tickets are $10 and can be purchased one hour before the performance. Performance dates are subject to change. In the event of performance changes or cancellations, the Omaha Symphony will email ticket holders to inform them of new dates and ticketing options. Patrons with questions may email ticketomaha@o-pa.org. The Omaha Symphony also regularly posts performance updates at omahasymphony.org, along with the Omaha Symphony’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages. Patrons can sign up for the latest updates at omahasymphony.org.

This performance is sponsored by Omaha Steaks.

The Omaha Symphony is a non-profit organization that presents more than 100 live orchestral performances from September through June. In addition to Masterworks, Symphony Pops, Symphony Rocks, Movies, Symphony Joslyn, and Family series concerts, the Omaha Symphony’s nationally recognized education and community engagement programs touch the lives of more than 40,000 people each year. For tickets or information regarding the Omaha Symphony, call 402.345.0606 or visit omahasymphony.org. Programs, artists, dates, times, prices, and availability are subject to change.

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