CONTACT:
Thomas Lee, Office for the Arts at Harvard, 617.495.8676, lee16@fas.harvard.edu; Lesley Bannatyne,
Harvard University Music Department, 617.495.2791, bannatyn@fas.harvard.edu
FEDERICO CORTESE APPOINTED CONDUCTOR OF HARVARD-RADCLIFFE
ORCHESTRA
Leader of Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and N.E. String Ensemble—and former assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—to assume new post July 1
(Cambridge, MA)—The
Office for the Arts at Harvard and Harvard UniversityÕs Music Department
announced today that Federico Cortese has been appointed Conductor of the
Harvard Radcliffe-Orchestra (HRO).
Cortese assumes the post on July 1 following the 45-year tenure of Dr.
James Yannatos, who retired at the end of the 2008-09 academic term. Cortese has a joint appointment in the
Office for the Arts and Music Department, serving the latter as a Senior
Lecturer on Music.
ÒWe are thrilled with the appointment of Federico Cortese as the
new conductor of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra,Ó said Jack Megan, Director of
the Office for the Arts. ÒHe is a
highly intelligent, musically gifted and passionate conductor and teacher who
will build beautifully on Dr. YannatosÕ rich legacy with the HRO. I look forward to an exciting new era
for the orchestra with Federico's energetic and committed leadership.Ó
ÒFrederico
Cortese is not only a first-class conductor and musician,Ó noted Anne C.
Shreffler, James Edward Ditson Professor of Music and Chair of the Music
Department, Òbut he is also passionately devoted to teaching and guiding young
people in their musical development and we are delighted to welcome him as a
colleague in the Music Department.Ó
Added Robert D. Levin, Dwight P. Robinson,
Jr., Professor of Music, ÒThe HRO is most fortunate to have Federico
Cortese as its new Music Director.
Passionate, articulate, and committed to the orchestraÕs mission, Mr.
Cortese will assure that the shining legacy of Dr. James Yannatos will be
carried forward with vision and distinction.Ó
Federico
Cortese has served as Music Director of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras
since 1999 and in the same capacity for the New England String Ensemble since
2005. He has conducted operatic
and symphonic engagements throughout the United States, Australia, Asia and
Europe. From 1998-2002, he served
as Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa. CorteseÕs tenure with the BSO as
Assistant Conductor was the longest of anyone who has served in that capacity;
in addition to his annual scheduled concerts he led the orchestra several times
on short notice in Symphony Hall and at Tanglewood, most notably performing
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and
Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Cortese has conducted several prominent
symphony orchestras, including Atlanta, Dallas, BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra, Sydney Symphony and Oslo Philharmonic. Opera engagements have included, among others, Maggio Musicale
in Florence, the Spoleto Festival in Italy and, in the United States, the
Boston Lyric Opera, the St. Louis Opera, the Finnish National Opera and the
Washington Opera.
Cortese
has been music coordinator and associate conductor of the Spoleto Festival in
Italy. He also served as Assistant
Conductor to Robert Spano at the Brooklyn Philharmonic and to Daniele Gatti at
the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Cortese studied composition and
conducting at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome and subsequently
studied at the Hochschule fŸr Musik in Vienna. In addition, he has been a conducting fellow at the
Tanglewood Music Center. Cortese
studied literature and humanities and holds a law degree from La Sapienza
University in Rome.
Recently
completing its 201st season, the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra traces its roots
back to 1808 with the formation of the Pierian Sodality, a Harvard College
social/musical organization. By
the turn of the century the group began to refer to itself as the Harvard
University Orchestra and grew into a more serious musical organization that
eventually became the largest college orchestra in America. After building a national reputation
via tours throughout the country, the group joined forces with the Radcliffe
Orchestra, and eventually became the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra in 1942. The HRO continued to improve in quality
and reputation as it took tours to Mexico (1962), Washington, D.C. (1966), and
Canada (1972). In 1978, the HRO
placed third in the Fifth Annual International Festival of Student
Orchestras. The 80s and 90s saw
tours of the former Soviet Union (1984), Asia (1985 and 1988), Europe (1992),
and Italy (1996). Since the turn
of the last century, HRO has toured Brazil (2000) and Canada (2004). Currently the orchestra performs four
full concerts annually in HarvardÕs historic Sanders Theatre. For more information, call
617.496.6276, email hro@hcs.harvard.edu,
or visit http://hcs.harvard.edu/hro.
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The Office
for the Arts at Harvard
(OFA), established in 1973, supports student engagement in the arts and serves
the University in its commitment to the arts. Through its programs and services, the OFA fosters student
art-making, connects students to accomplished artists, integrates the arts into
university life, and partners with local, national, and international
constituencies. By supporting the
development of students as artists and cultural stewards, the OFA works to
enrich society and shape communities in which the arts are a vital part of
life. For more information, call
617.495.8676, email ofa@fas.harvard.edu
or visit www.fas.harvard.edu/ofa.
The Music Department is an academic department of Harvard University, and offers both
an undergraduate and a graduate program.
The Music Department is located in the Fanny Peabody Mason Music
Building, which houses classrooms, music practice rooms, the Eda Kuhn Loeb
Music Library, John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, the Harvard University Studio
for Electroacoustic Composition (HUSEAC), an Ethnomusicology Lab, and Early
Instrument Room. The Department
sponsors numerous concerts, colloquia, lectures, and special music events each
month, which are free to students and the public. For more information, call 617.495.2791, email musicdpt@fas.harvard.edu,
or visit www.music.fas.harvard.edu.