George Benjamin to conduct Concertgebouw Orchestra in concert full of homages
British composer and conductor leads compositions by Unsuk Chin, Oliver Knussen, György Ligeti, Igor Stravinsky and himself
On Friday, 1 December 2023, George Benjamin will be conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a very personal concert programme, inspired by friendship relations between composers. For over twenty years, the orchestra has kept a strong bond with Benjamin – this concert marks the eighth time the leading composer and conductor returns to conduct the orchestra. The programme features three Dutch premieres.
The concert opens with Choral by Oliver Knussen, Benjamin’s colleague and close friend, who died in 2018. Igor Stravinsky dedicated his Symphonies d’instruments à vent to Claude Debussy, who died in 1918. Benjamin honours his friend ‘Olly’ Knussen in his own Concerto for Orchestra. After the interval, Benjamin will conduct Unsuk Chin’s ‘concerto for orchestra’ Spira and Lontano by Chin’s former teacher György Ligeti, much admired by Benjamin and born one hundred years ago in 1923.
Knussen’s Choral, Benjamin’s Concerto for Orchestra and Chin’s Spira will be performed in the Netherlands for the first time.
Meet the Artists
After the concert, the audience is welcome to Meet the Artists in the Mirror Hall. Principal flautist Emily Beynon discusses the concert preparations and the performance itself with George Benjamin and two orchestra members, first violinist Benjamin Peled and English horn player Miriam Pastor Burgos.
Background information
The programme notes and an extensive interview with George Benjamin may be found via Preludium.nl (freely accessible for ticket holders) and in the orchestra’s monthly magazine, Preludium.
George Benjamin and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Since as early as 1986 the Concertgebouw Orchestra has performed works by George Benjamin. In 2003 he conducted the orchestra for the first time. In 2015 and 2019 Benjamin conducted his Dream of the Song for orchestra and baritone, commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In March 2023 he was awarded the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, following the footsteps of such musicians as Benjamin Britten, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, and Mariss Jansons.