Conductor and Juilliard alumnus Gerard Schwarz leads the Juilliard Orchestra in the New York premiere of Juilliard faculty member and composer Behzad Ranjbaran's Violin Concerto with student violinist William Harvey, Diamond/Schwarz's Fanfare, and Mahler's Symphony No. 5 on Monday, April 10 at 8 PM in Alice Tully Hall.

Behzad Ranjbaran

Mr. Ranjbaran's Violin Concerto, with soloist William Harvey, was commissioned for Joshua Bell, who performed the premiere with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, also conducted by Mr. Schwarz.  Mr. Bell went on to give the work's North American premiere with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and further performances with Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony.  The work, which received the Rudolf Nissim Award from ASCAP, was inspired by Persian music - in particular - by the ancient instrument, the kamancheh, which is considered an ancestor to the violin.  The concerto is divided into three movements:  the first movement is heroic; the second movement is more intimate and lyrical; and the third movement is like a Persian dance and uses Persian modes.  The concerto is a mix of east and west and ancient and modern worlds. (www.behzadranjbaran.com)

Renowned American conductor and Juilliard alumnus Gerard Schwarz celebrates his 21^st season as Seattle Symphony music director in the 2005-06 season.  Under Mr. Schwarz's artistic leadership, the Seattle Symphony has evolved into one of the world's finest orchestras.  His vast repertoire, including his devotion to the music of our time, has earned him praise both in concerts worldwide and on recordings, for his compelling sensitivity and extraordinary depth.  This is also Maestro Schwarz's fifth season as music director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and his first season as principal conductor for the Eastern Music Festival after a highly successful season as music advisor there.  He also serves on the NEA's National Council on the Arts.  

Building on Maestro Schwarz's tradition of performing and recording contemporary American music, the Seattle Symphony presented the Made in America Festival: Part I in May 2005, featuring the music of American symphonists such as Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, William Schuman, Virgil Thomson, Leonard Bernstein, and others who created a distinctive American symphonic tradition.

Maestro Schwarz has an extensive discography with Naxos, Delos, EMI, Koch, New World, Nonesuch, Reference Recording, RLPO Classics, and RCA, primarily with the Seattle Symphony.  He also has recorded with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, London Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra National De France, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and New York Chamber Orchestra.  His recent recording activity includes all the Mahler symphonies and Strauss tone poems with Liverpool.  He is a graduate of Juilliard and a recipient of the Ditson Conductor's Award from Columbia University.  He has received honorary doctorates from Juilliard, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Seattle University, and the United of Puget Sound.  In 2001, he was named Honorary Fellow of John Moores University, Liverpool. 

William Harvey has soloed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and given many recitals in the Midwest and in New York. He frequently plays the 20^th-century repertoire for unaccompanied violin, including works by Babbitt, Boulez, Schnabel, and Sessions. At Juilliard, he has served as concertmaster of the orchestra and a member of New Juilliard Ensemble.

After 9/11, Mr. Harvey performed for members of the Fighting Sixty-Ninth regiment as they recuperated from a long day of rescue and clean-up work at Ground Zero.  As a result, he was a guest on the Judith Regan Show and FOX News Magazine, and his account of the event was reproduced in a broadcast by WFMT-Chicago.

Mr. Harvey is the founder and director of Music for the People (www.musicforthepeople.org), an organization that sends young classical musicians around the world on missions of cultural diplomacy. For its first project, Mr. Harvey went on a solo violin concert tour of Moldova and Tunisia in summer 2005. In Moldova, he presented a benefit concert for UNICEF's Early Childhood Development campaign, which collected over 6,000 books. Over the following week, he gave children's concerts in villages throughout Moldova, promoting the campaign and helping distribute the books. In Tunisia, he taught a week of master classes and gave a performance promoting the government's adolescent health campaign. On July 7, 2005, the day of the London terrorist attacks, he gave a recital dedicated to all the victims of terrorism.

His 43 compositions have received a total of 95 performances.  In 2005, "When I Have Fears" for soprano and piano, received a performance at the New York Festival of Song.  The Indiana University String Academy has played his works in the U.S., France, and Japan.  Mr. Harvey earned a bachelor of music degree with highest distinction from Indiana University, where he studied violin with Mimi Zweig. Currently, he is pursuing a master's degree at Juilliard, where he studies violin with Ronald Copes and composition with Samuel Adler.  He is a recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship.

Behzad Ranjbaran is on the faculty of Juilliard where he teaches Literature and Materials of Music. His music has been performed by such internationally acclaimed artists as Renée Fleming,
Joshua Bell, and Yo-Yo Ma, among others.  "Songs of Eternity" was written for Renée Fleming, who gave the premiere with the Seattle Symphony, conducted by Gerard Schwarz. Recordings include Persian Trilogy on the Delos label by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.  Ms. Falletta also conducted Elegy for cello and orchestra with soloist Yo-Yo Ma and the Buffalo Philharmonic.

In the summer of 2005, Mr. Ranjbaran was composer-in-residence for the 40^th anniversary of the Saratoga Music Festival.  In celebration of the occasion, he composed the orchestral overture Saratoga, which was premiered by Charles Dutoit and The Philadelphia Orchestra.  

Mr. Ranjbaran was born in 1955 in Tehran, Iran.  His musical education started early when he entered the Tehran Music Conservatory at the age of nine.  He came to the United States in 1974, where he attended Indiana University and received his master of music degree and doctorate from Juilliard.  His honors include a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a grant from Meet the Composer, and a Charles Ives Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.