Ted Rosenthal Jazz and Classical Music with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony

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Park Avenue Chamber Symphony led by its music director David Bernard, will return to the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Sunday, December 6, 3:00 PM for Brilliant Innovations, featuring two seminal 20th century works Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Gershwin's Concerto in F. Performing the Gershwin will be noted jazz pianist Ted Rosenthal, who recently kicked off the 92nd St Y's 2015-2016 season performing Gershwin's Concerto in F. The New York Times praised his performance of the work as "notable both for its flair and languid, sultry expressive gestures" (October 21, 2015). The complete program follows:

Gershwin Concerto in F
Bartók Concerto for Orchestra

"These works exemplify the impact of Gershwin's and Bartók's on classical music through their brilliant innovation." said Maestro David Bernard. "What is most interesting is that they did this with idioms closest to their hearts. Gershwin's melodies are infused with an endearing beauty and accessibility that is reminiscent of American musical theater, but with a harmonic sophistication and transparent orchestration that dramatically enhances their settings. Bartók's fuses folk music from Hungary and other Eastern European countries with departures from traditional tonality and non-traditional modes in a brilliant and captivating ride for the audience."

"George Gershwin is a big influence and inspiration for me. The Concerto in F is excellent example of how he melded of European and American musical languages. Gershwin fused soaring song-like melodies, American jazz sounds, pulsing rhythms and elements of the blues into an expansive work on the scale of a major Romantic-era piano concerto."

Mr. Rosenthal actively tours worldwide with his trio, as a soloist, and has performed with many jazz greats, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and James Moody. Winner of the 1988 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, Rosenthal has released fifteen CDs as a leader. "Rhapsody in Gershwin" (2014), which features his arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue for jazz trio, reached #1 in jazz album sales at iTunes and Amazon. "Wonderland" (2013), was selected as a New York Times holiday pick, and received much critical praise: "Sleek, chic and elegant" – Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune. In "Impromptu" (2010), Rosenthal showcases his re-imaginings of classical themes for jazz trio. "A serious listen to "Impromptu" will be a mind-changing experience...sit back and enjoy these wonderfully creative takes on ten compositions from the classical canon that have never sounded so cool." - Elliott Simon, AllAboutJazz.
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Mr. Rosenthal's solo album, The 3 B's, received 4 stars from DownBeat magazine. It features renditions of the music of Bud Powell, Bill Evans and his improvisations on Beethoven themes. "With this subtly provocative solo recital, Ted Rosenthal merges three very different streams of piano history, putting his personal stamp on all of them. In Rosenthal's hands all this music sounds as though it sprang from the same muse, and that's the sign of a skilled, imaginative artist." - David R. Adler, All Music Guide.

Mr. Rosenthal is artistic director of Jazz at the Riverdale Y and previously was artistic director of Jazz at Dicapo Theatre, both in New York City. He has also performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Jon Faddis and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. In addition, Rosenthal is the pianist of choice for many top jazz vocalists including Helen Merrill, Ann Hampton Callaway and Barbara Cook. He appeared on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio and performed with David Sanborn on NBC's Night Music.

Mr. Rosenthal's orchestral performances include solo and featured appearances with The Detroit Symphony, The Boston Pops, The Grand Rapids Symphony, The Rochester Philharmonic, The Pittsburgh Symphony and The Fort Worth Symphony.

A recipient of three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mr. Rosenthal regularly performs and records his compositions, which include jazz tunes and large-scale works. He has also composed music for dance, including "Uptown, " for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. "The Survivor, " a concerto for piano and orchestra, has been performed by the Manhattan Jazz Philharmonic and the Rockland Symphony Orchestra, with Rosenthal at the piano. In 2011, Mr. Rosenthal premiered his second jazz piano concerto, "Jazz Fantasy, " with The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony in New York City.

Ted Rosenthal received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. Active in jazz education, he is on faculty and the Board of Trustees at Manhattan School of Music and also teaches at The Juilliard School. In addition, he presents jazz clinics throughout the world, often in conjunction with his touring. Mr. Rosenthal was a contributing editor for Piano and Keyboard magazine and has published piano arrangements and feature articles for Piano Today, The Piano Stylist and The Juilliard Journal.

Conductor David Bernard has gained recognition for his dramatic and incisive conducting in over 20 countries on four continents, including a nine-city tour of the People's Republic of China and as guest conductor/lecturer with the China Conservatory Orchestra. Under Maestro Bernard's leadership, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's membership has thrived, expanding in size and achieving critical acclaim. A multiple First Prize Winner of the Orchestral Conducting Competition of The American Prize, David Bernard was described by the judges as "a first rate conductor. With no score, an animated and present Maestro Bernard led a phenomenal performance of incredibly difficult repertoire—masterly in shaping, phrasing, technique and expressivity". Alan Young of lucidculture praised Bernard's recent Lincoln Center performance of Stravinsky and Wagner: "Conducting from memory, David Bernard led a transcendent performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Segues were seamless, contrasts were vivid and Stravinsky's whirling exchanges of voices were expertly choreographed."

Active throughout the greater New York City area, David Bernard has appeared as a guest conductor with the Brooklyn Symphony, the BTMG Chamber Orchestra, the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Litha Symphony, the Massapequa Philharmonic, the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, the Putnam Symphony and the South Shore Symphony. Mr. Bernard has previously served as Music Director of the Stony Brook University Orchestra, the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island, and Theater Three. Devoted to the music of our own time, Bernard has presented world premières of scores by Bruce Adolphe, Chris Caswell, John Mackey, and Ted Rosenthal. Maestro Bernard's critically acclaimed discography includes 20 albums spanning music from Vivaldi to Copland, including a complete Beethoven symphony cycle and a release of "The Rite of Spring". David Bernard is an alumnus of The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Stony Brook University, Tanglewood, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

A multiple First Prize Winner of the Orchestral Conducting Competition of The American Prize, David Bernard was described by the judges as "a first rate conductor. With no score, an animated and present Maestro Bernard led a phenomenal performance of incredibly difficult repertoire—masterly in shaping, phrasing, technique and expressivity”. A reading of Richard Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung brought high praise from Lucid Culture which found the performance to be “unsurpassed in its dynamic range and attention to detail.”

Maestro Bernard recently led the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony at the Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, Time Warner Center in New York City on February 22, 2015 in a program of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps and the Wagner/Maazel The Ring Without Words, which drew the following superlatives from Alan Young of Lucid Culture (February 24, 2015):

Anyone who experienced Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for the first time in concert Sunday at the Rose Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center is spoiled for life. Conducting from memory, David Bernard led a transcendent performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Segues were seamless, contrasts were vivid and Stravinsky’s whirling exchanges of voices were expertly choreographed.

Paul Pelkonen of Superconductor praised the “large and ambitious program” for its “ferocity, building a dark, memorable crescendo around the rising chords that indicate the procession of the ancients, and blasting through the thunderous Final Dance and Sacrifice in powerful fashion. ... The (February 25, 2015)

Devoted to the music of our own time, Bernard has presented world premières of scores by Bruce Adolphe, Chris Caswell, John Mackey, and Ted Rosenthal, while distinguished concert collaborators include Carter Brey, David Chan, Catherine Cho, Pedro Díaz, Stanley Drucker, Bart Feller, Whoopi Goldberg, Sirena Huang, Judith Ingolfsson, Christina Jennings, Anna Lee, Jessica Lee, Kristin Lee, Jon Manasse, Spencer Myer, Todd Phillips, and James Archie Worley.

Maestro Bernard’s discography includes 17 albums spanning music from Vivaldi to Copland, including a complete Beethoven symphony cycle praised for its “intensity, spontaneity, propulsive rhythm, textural clarity, dynamic control, and well-judged phrasing” (Fanfare). About his release of 20th century orchestral music by Copland, Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, and Bartók Fanfare Magazine wrote:

David Bernard is an exceptional conductor... His performances are mar

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