La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ
Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir / Myung-Whun Chung
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
50% – Under 30 years old
15% – Over 65 years old
- Myung-Whun Chung Conductor
- Roger Muraro Piano
- Flute
- Clarinet
- Marco Fernandes
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Gulbenkian Choir
Coro Gulbenkian was founded in 1964 by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as a full symphonic body of around 100 singers. The choir joins the Orquestra Gulbenkian and other orchestras to perform Classical, Romantic and Contemporary choral-symphonic repertoire, but can also perform a cappella. It has performed – and often premiered – many 20th century works by Portuguese and international composers.
Coro Gulbenkian has been invited to collaborate with major international orchestras, under the direction of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Colin Davis, John Nelson, Emmanuel Krivine, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Frans Brüggen, Franz Welser-Möst, Gerd Albrecht, Michael Gielen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, René Jacobs and Leonard Slatkin, among others.
Besides its regular season of concerts in Lisbon and frequent national tours, Coro Gulbenkian has repeatedly toured Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Macao, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.
Coro Gulbenkian has recorded extensively for Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Erato, Cascavelle, Musifrance, as well as FNAC-Music, performing a wide range of repertoire, from Early-Renaissance polyphony to Xenakis. Several of these albums received international awards.
Michel Corboz was the Principal Conductor between 1969 and 2019. Jorge Matta and Inês Tavares Lopes are currently the Associate and Assistant conductors, respectively.
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
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Sónia Pais
Flute
Sónia Oliveira Pais (b. 1998) is the Gulbenkian Orchestra’s co-principal flute soloist. She is also currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (HMTM) under Andrea Lieberknecht and is a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, a German youth orchestra.
She studied at the Mendelssohn-Orchesterakademie, the academy of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (2021/22), during which she recorded a CD for Deutsche Grammophon of Schubert’s Symphonies No. 8 and 9 under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt.
Throughout her career, she has played for orchestras such as the Gustav Mahler Academy (2019 and 2020) and the Orquesta Joven de la Sinfonica de Galicia (2016). She was invited to play with the Dresdner Philharmonie, Tchaikovsky International Orchester Ekaterinburg, Orquestra Clássica de Espinho and the Orchester der Russisch-Deutsche MusikAkademie – a project led by Valery Gergiev in collaboration with the Mariinsky Orchestra.
Of the Portuguese and international competitions she has taken part in, she won 1st Prize and the prize for “Excellence” – category A at the Gondomar International Music Competition and 3rd Prize at Finland’s Tampere Flute Fest – Piccolo Orchestral Competition.
She began studying music at the age of 7 at the Sociedade Filarmónica Fraternidade de São João de Areias in Santa Comba Dão in Portugal. Two years later, she entered the Conservatório de Música e Artes do Dão and later enrolled at the Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho under Paulo Barros. In 2017, she was admitted into the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, in the class of Benoît Fromanger, where she graduated with a first class degree. During this period, she received a scholarship for artistic merit from the Lucia-Loeser Stipendium.
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Iva Barbosa
Clarinet
Iva Barbosa began studying music with her father. She later studied at the Music Conservatory of Oporto and at ESMAE, with Adam Wierzba and António Saiote, respectively. She has been an award winner in over a dozen competitions, in particular, first prizes received at the 12th Estoril Interpretation Competition / El Corte Inglês Award, at the Young Musicians Award, at the 1st International Clarinet Competition of Oporto and at the Rotary International Young Revelation Competition. She received second place in the international Young Artist Competition, in Utah (USA), at the International Villa de Montroy Competition, in Valencia, and was a semi-finalist in the international “Prague Spring” competition.
As a soloist, she has played with various orchestras, including: National Orchestra of Oporto, Academic Orchestra of Oporto, Gulbenkian Orchestra, ESMAE Orchestra, Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, Beiras Philharmonic and the Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra.
She has been invited to give master classes on the International Music Courses of Guimarães, the Oliveira do Bairro Summer Courses, at the Costa Cabral Academy of Music, the Piaget Institute of Mirandela, the Regional Conservatory of Vila Real, the Academy of Avintes, the Espinho Professional School of Music, the Conservatory of Music of Portalegre, the Las Palmas Conservatory and the Tenerife Conservatory. She is 1st Soloist at the Gulbenkian Orchestra and a founder member of the Vintage Quartet.
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Varoujan Bartikian
Violoncelo
Varoujan Bartikian nasceu na Arménia. Iniciou os seus estudos na Escola Especializada de Música Tchaikovsky, sob a orientação de Alexander Tchauchian – grande professor e pedagogo e um dos pilares da escola violoncelística arménia, tendo formado várias gerações de violoncelistas ao longo de quase um século. De 1978 a 1983, frequentou o Conservatório Superior de Música Komitas, em Yerevan. Em 1977 venceu o Concurso Transcaucasiano de Violoncelo, em Tbilissi. Em 1981 foi laureado no Concurso das Repúblicas Soviéticas. Licenciou-se em 1983 e obteve o grau de Mestre em Violoncelo e em Ciências Musicais, nas áreas de Teoria da Interpretação e de Metodologia do Ensino. É membro fundador do Quarteto de Cordas de Yerevan, constituído em 1982. Este quarteto venceu o Concurso Borodin de 1983.
Em 1988 começou a lecionar violoncelo no Conservatório Komitas, lugar que ocupou até se deslocar para Portugal, em 1989, quando passou a integrar a Orquestra Gulbenkian com a qual tem atuado também como solista, destacando-se a interpretação da obra Don Quixote, de R. Strauss, sob a direção de David Zinman. Tocou com a Orquestra Filarmónica da Arménia, sob a direção de John Nelson, e gravou para a Antena 2 da RDP. Em 1991 formou o Trio Bartikian, com Michel Gal (piano) e Esther Georgie (clarinete). Durante dez anos (2001-2011) foi membro do Quarteto Capela e, desde 2013, é o violoncelista do Trio Aeternus. Gravou várias obras de António Victorino d’Almeida para a etiqueta Numérica. Varoujan Bartikian é 1.º Violoncelo Solista da Orquestra Gulbenkian. É professor de violoncelo na Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa.
Olivier Messiaen
La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ
While consolidating his reputation as one of the most talented maestros of his generation, Myung-Whun Chung’s affinity with the work of Messiaen has made him an expert on the French composer’s music. Their proximity led Messiaen to choose Chung to conduct the world premiere of his Concert à Quatre in 1994, even dedicating the piece to the South Korean maestro. In the Grand Auditorium, Chung will direct one of the composer’s most impressive religious pieces, La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, a commission for the Gulbenkian Foundation premiered in 1969.
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
Sponsor Gulbenkian Orchestra
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