Karina Canellakis
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Karina renews collaboration with London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra today announced the extension of their relationship with Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis. The contract - which commenced at the start of the 2021/22 season - has been extended for a further three years, and will see her continue to regularly conduct the orchestra in the UK and on tour. Highlights of Karina’s many appearances with the orchestra include the UK premiere of Composer-in-Residence Tania León’s Horizons this past October, as well as a six-date tour to Germany last season. She has also been involved in the LPO’s Junior Artists scheme, which offers opportunities, advice and professional insight to talented young musicians from backgrounds that are currently under-represented in professional UK orchestras. Of the appointment, Karina said, “I have had such a wonderful time conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra during the past three years and am thrilled to be working with them for a further three. It’s the response to the in-the-moment spontaneity that is so incredible with this orchestra and which makes it an electrifying experience both for me and the audience. I can’t wait to continue making music together!” Karina joins the orchestra this Wednesday at the Royal Festival Hall for a programme that includes Brahms’ Symphony No.4 as well as Mussorgsky’s Overture to Khovanschina and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto with Pablo Ferrandez as soloist. They follow this with a five-city European tour which culminates with a performance at the Musikverein Vienna on 27 February as part of Karina’s season-long residency there. The tour features the Mussorgsky presented alongside either Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto with Christian Tetzlaff and Brahms’s Symphony No.4, or Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.10 for two pianos with Arthur and Lucas Jussen with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4.
Grammy Nomination for Bartók Recording with Radio Filharmonisch Orkest
Karina's recording of Bartók's "Four Orchestral Pieces" and "Concerto for Orchestra" has received a Grammy nomination in the category "Best Orchestral Performance". "I am so thrilled to learn that my Bartók recording with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest has been nominated for a Grammy. A wonderful nod not only to this utterly expressive and stirring music but also to the musical journey the orchestra and I have made together over the years. Congratulations RFO!" The recording was released in March earlier this year and has received rave reviews. The Grammy winners will be announced at the awards show in Los Angeles on 4 February.
Karina kick’s off Vienna Musikverein Residency
Vienna’s Musikverein is featuring Karina as an Artist-in-Residence in the 2023-24 season, during which Karina will appear several times across the season with four different orchestras. Last weekend Karina kicked off her residency in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein with an epic program of Bartók's "Four Orchestral Pieces", Dvořák's "The Wood Dove" and Janáček's "Glagolitic Mass" with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Austrian newspaper Der Standard writes, "That this music released an intoxicating effect was thanks to Karina Canellakis: with her spacious and at the same time sweeping conducting technique, she not only synchronized the musical events effectively over long stretches in her house debut as conductor. The American (...) brings out the peculiarities of Janáček's music in a winning manner. On the one hand, there are these simple mini-motifs, which develop motoric power in constant repetition and like to rattle along under rugged layers of sound. On the other hand, a lusty folklore breaks through - for example at the end of the Gloria. This is a delight to listen to and yet not coarse, because Canellakis maintains rhythmic accuracy: Chapeau!"
Karina continues Janáček cycle with “Cunning Little Vixen” in the Concertgebouw
Once a year Karina Canellakis and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest go deep into the world of Janáček's operas: After last year's "Kát'a Kabanová" they are bringing "The Cunning Little Vixen" to the stage of the Concertgebouw this year joined by the Netherlands Radio Choir, a stellar cast of singers and the Netherlands Children's Choir.
Karina releases Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 on Apple Music Classical
Apple's new app Apple Music Classical launched today on 28 March, providing a new place for classical music audiences all over the world to listen to their favorite music. Karina's new recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Alice Sara Ott and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic is also released today and currently exclusively available on Apple Music Classical.
Karina to release first album with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic
Pentatone is proud to announce a long-term, multi-album partnership with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (RFO) and its Chief Conductor, Karina Canellakis. This exclusive collaboration kicks off with a recording of Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, to be released on 28 April 2023. “I am thrilled to release my first recording together with the brilliant Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Bartók’s atmospheric, often witty and riveting Concerto for Orchestra as well as his magnificent Four Orchestral Pieces are a colorful and virtuosic showcase for the orchestra and I am excited to present these works on our first recording of a long-term partnership with Pentatone."
Karina conducts London Philharmonic’s German tour under great critical acclaim
Tonight Karina conducts the London Philharmonic at Royal Festival Hall after returning from a tour through Germany's most esteemed concert halls - Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne among others - which was received by enthusiastic audiences and met with great critical acclaim. The program consisting of pieces by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev was joined by soloists Daniil Trifonov, Sol Gabetta and Vadym Kholodenko.

"It has been a long time since a concert touched and overwhelmed us as much as this one." - Rheinische Post

"[T]he New York conductor Karina Canellakis, who puts accuracy above all else, whose precise gestural language brings the entire orchestra into line and makes everything, including the solo part, seem as if made from one piece." - Süddeutsche Zeitung

"At the Kölner Philharmonie on Sunday, she conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra with economical clarity and precision that allowed the contrasting music to speak for itself." - Bachtrack
Dutch Premiere of Widmann’s monumental “Arche”
The Dutch premiere of Jörg Widmann's monumental piece "Arche" was met with standing ovations by the Concertgebouw audience after Saturday's matinee performance. With this oratorio Widman wrote a gigantic piece, comprising around three hundred musicians on the Concertgebouw stage: The Radio Filharmonisch Orkest was joined by soprano and baritone soloists, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Hongaars Nationaal Koor, the Nationaal Kinderkoor and the Nationaal Jongenskoor conducted by Karina Canellakis.
Season finale with Wagner’s “Siegfried” at Bregenz Festival
A final highlight of Karina's 2021/22 season was her return to the Bregenz Festival where she led Act III of Wagner's "Siegfried" with the Vienna Symphony and a stellar cast of singers Ricarda Merbeth, Nadine Weissmann, Andreas Schager and Greer Grimsley. The new Vorarlberger Tageszeitung wrote about the concert: "The Vienna Symphony with their instrumental groups enjoyed this excursion into the Wagner repertoire with great energy, opulence and splendor of sound and were inspired by Canellakis’ clear conducting."
Highly praised return to Tanglewood
After last year's debut Karina returned to Tanglewood in July to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The program: Wagner's Prelude to Lohengrin, Chopin's piano concerto no. 2 with soloist Emanuel Ax and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. The Boston Globe hailed: "She is a gifted communicator with a well-honed yet intense podium technique and a knack for harnessing the music’s structural architecture toward larger expressive ends." (Find the link to the full review under "Press") She looks forward to returning to the Boston Symphony in January 2023.
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