The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra announced recently that renowned Portland organist, Jonas Nordwall, will be soloist on the Saint Säens Symphony No. 3 Organ Symphony at the opening concerts of its 34th season on Sat.-Sun., Oct. 6-7.
Joining Nordwall will be guest artists, Israeli brothers Nitai Zori, violin and Hillel Zori, cello. This will be the 22nd consecutive season under the direction of Maestro Salvador Brotons.
The first half of the concert will contain An Outdoor Adventure by Copland, Tzigane by Ravel featuring Nitai and Carmeniana by Bizet/Zori with Hillel and The Muse and the Poet by Saint-Säens. In the second half, the orchestra will perform the majestic Symphony #3 Organ Symphony by Saint-Saëns, featuring Mr. Nordwall.
Both concerts will be performed at Crossroads Sanctuary, located at 7708 NE 78th Street in Vancouver. Concert sponsorship is provided by a generous grant from Paul and Loti Christensen, Congregation Kol Ami and the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.
“Jonas Nordwall has been a Northwest institution for over forty years. We are so proud that he will be playing a composition that the audience will just love,” said VSO Executive Director Igor Shakhman. “With the Zori brothers in the first half and Jonas Nordwall in the second, we have created a truly memorable concert of music and musicians not to be missed.”
Nordwall, a Portland native, is the Northwest’s internationally-renowned virtuoso organist equally skilled in both traditional classical and modern/popular schools of musical performance. For over 40 years he has performed with rave reviews in North America, Japan, Europe, China and Australia.
Nitai Zori comes from a family of musicians. In addition to The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, he has performed as a soloist in Israel and abroad with different orchestras in Slovenia, Georgia, Italy and with the Orquestra Simfonica de Balears, under the baton of our own Salvador Brotons. With a keen interest in contemporary music, Nitai has performed new works written especially for him. He is currently the concertmaster of the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra in Israel.
Hillel Zori is considered by many to be one of the most exciting cellists of his generation, who has distinguished himself by winning coveted prizes in many important international competitions. He made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta in 1984. Since then, he has performed with Israeli’s major orchestras. He is a senior faculty member at the Israel Rubin Music Academy of Te1-Aviv University, and has given master classes in Israel, Europe and China.
