Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia

Phillipe Entremont
Principal Conductor

Claire Huangci
Piano Soloist
Huangci

PROGRAM

MOZART - Overture to Don Giovanni

SAINT-SAENS - Piano Concert No. 2 in G minor, op. 22

WAGNER - Siegfried Idyll

DVORAK - Czech Suite, op. 39

The exceptional career of Philippe Entremont began at the age of eighteen when he came to international attention with his great success at New York’s Carnegie Hall playing Jolivet’s piano concerto and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Since then, he has pursued a top international career as a pianist, and for the last 30 years, on the podium as well. The 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons will take Entremont all over the world, with many orchestral tours including the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Festival Orchestra, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie, and the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. He will also guest conduct European and American orchestras as well as perform numerous piano and chamber music concerts. As conductor, he has toured with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra ten times in the United States and seven in Japan; with the Orquestra de Cadaqués, eleven concerts in capitals of countries in Asia; and with the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, a tour in Switzerland and Germany. As Principal Guest Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra, he has led tours internationally, including the US in 2005 and 2006, conducting from the piano as well as the podium. He returned in both capacities for the Munich Symphony’s highly successful 15-concert US tour in February of 2009.

In 1997, Entremont founded the biennial Santo Domingo Music Festival, of which he is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Festival Orchestra. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquestra de Cadaqués. In 2006, in connection with the “Mozart Year,” he conducted the Tokyo-based Super World Orchestra. Entremont was among the ten world-class pianists chosen to perform in the “Piano Extravaganza of the Century” at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He served as Music Director of the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra between 1981 and 1986, after which he became Music Director of the Denver Symphony. He was Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra until 2002. After having served as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra for almost thirty years, he is now Conductor Laureate for Life. He was Music Director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra and is now their Conductor Laureate.

Entremont has directed the greatest symphony orchestras of Europe, Asia and America: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit, Minnesota, Seattle, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Montreal, The Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquestra Nacional de España, the Academy of Santa Cecilia of Rome, l’Orchestre National de France, the orchestras of Göteberg, Stockholm, Oslo and Warsaw, the NHK of Tokyo, the KBS Orchestra of Seoul, the Vienna Symphony and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bergen, to name a few. He has worked with the world’s greatest soloists, both instrumental and vocal.

One of the most recorded artists of all time, Philippe Entremont has appeared on many labels, including CBS Sony, Teldec and Harmonia Mundi, and he has garnered all of the leading prizes and awards in the industry. He has been the recipient of many honors such as the Great Cross of the Austrian Republic Order of Merit, Officer of the French Legion of Honor, Commander of the Order of Merit, and Commander of the Order of Arts and Lettres. He is President of the International Certificate for Piano Artists, President of the Bel’Arte Foundation of Brussels, and Director of the famed American Conservatory of Fountainebleau, a post formerly held by the legendary Nadia Boulanger.

Born in Rochester, New York, pianist Claire Huangci astonishes all who hear her perform. She received a grand piano for her sixth birthday and started taking lessons when she was seven. That same year, she was featured on Fox News as a child prodigy with “the skills of a professional pianist.” During her studies, Huangci was awarded a number of scholarships and won many competitions, including the Grand Prize at the 1999 World Piano Competition. As a result, she performed in the gala concert with the World Festival Orchestra in Cincinnati, Ohio and in a winner’s concert at Carnegie Hall. Continuing her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, she went on to win the Philadelphia Orchestra Competition and performed under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch.

In April 2006, Huangci won the first prize in the 57th Kosciuszko Chopin International Piano Competition in New York City. She then performed in numerous solo recitals and appeared as soloist with many orchestras throughout the USA. The 2006 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition introduced Claire to Japanese audiences; she was awarded the Diploma of Outstanding Merit and was an audience favorite.

The 2007 season represented a milestone in Claire Huangci’s career. She made her first appearances in Europe with solo performances in Munich (Herkulessaal), Frankfurt, Leipzig (Gewandhaus), and Paris (Salle Cortot). In addition, she made her debut with the China Philharmonic. In April, she toured Switzerland and Germany, performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie. Beginning in 2008, Huangci appeared worldwide in solo and concerto performances at various venues and festivals such as the Vienna Konzerthaus, Mozarteum Salzburg, Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center, Aspen Festival, Chopin Duszniki Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Schwetzinger Festspiele, and Yokohama Music Festival.

Huangci’s 2009-10 season opened with Grieg’s Piano Concerto at the Tonhalle Zurich with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow under the baton of Vladimir Fedosseyev. She appeared in further concerts throughout Europe, the United States, and Asia, including a China tour with Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington, during which she performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at the opening of the Shanghai Expo. Appearances during the 2010-11 season included such prestigious concert halls as the Konzerthaus Berlin, Gasteig Munich, Tivoli Copenhagen, Smetana Hall Prague, Slovenian Philharmonie, and Slovak National Theater.

Having won the International Chopin-Competition in Darmstadt/Germany in October 2009, she was awarded the first prize at the National Chopin Piano Competition of the United States in March 2010, again for her distinguished Chopin interpretations. Claire Huangci currently continues her music education in Germany at the Hannover Hochschule für Musik with Arie Vardi. She is sponsored by the Orpheum Foundation for the advancement of young soloists.