3/10/2013

Montreal February 17, 2013 -  I Medici di McGill Orchestra continues its 24th concert season under the direction of maestro Iwan Edwards with the world premiere of Gabriel Thibaudeau's "Waiting for Brahms", a work composed for I Medici and inspired by Brahms' Double Concerto for violin and cello.   Also on the program are Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Les Preludes of Franz Liszt. The featured soloists are Elisa Barston, violin (Seattle), and Amy Sue Barston, cello (New York).

• Date and time:  Sunday March 10, 2013 at 4 pm
• Venue: FACE Auditorium, 3449 University Street, Montréal, QC H3A 2A8. 
• Tickets: Regular tickets: $20; Students and seniors: $10.
  Tickets are available at the door and can also be purchased on line on I Medici’s web site.
  

About the artists

Gabriel Thibaudeau ranks among the world’s outstanding accompanists and composers for silent film. Born in Québec in 1959, he studied piano at the École de musique Vincent d’Indy, composition at the Université de Montréal, and pursued further studies with Xenakis, Coulombe-Saint-Marcoux and Nil Parent. Since Thibaudeau’s first silent-film score in 1990 for The Phantom of the Opera (1925), for the Cinémathèque québécoise, organizations such as L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Le Musée du Louvre, L’Octuor de France, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC have commissioned compositions. These works are performed frequently in Europe, the United States and Canada.

Elisa Barston is a member of the critically acclaimed Corigliano Quartet, and the Principal Second Violinist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. She served as the Associate Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra for and as a member of the Cleveland Orchestra's first violin section. As soloist, Ms. Barston performs extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, .

Amy Sue Barston, cellist of The Corigliano Quartet, appears as a soloist and chamber musician on stages throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Ravinia, The Banff Centre, The Power House (Australia), Chicago's Symphony Center. 

Iwan Edwards, CM, Music Director of I Medici di McGill since 2000, is a noted conductor with an international reputation. During his 21 years as Director of the chorus of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Iwan Edwards collaborated with such eminent conductors as Charles Dutoit, Trevor Pinnock, Robert Shaw and Kent Nagano.  In addition to his work as choral director Iwan Edwards has conducted many Canadian orchestras, including l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestra of the National Arts Centre, L'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and the Vancouver Symphony. Former professor and Chair of the Choral Department at McGill University's Faculty of Music, Iwan Edwards is the founder of many important choirs, including the St. Lawrence Choir and Concerto Della Donna.

About the ensemble

I Medici di McGill founded in 1989 by Dr. Ante L. Padjen of Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University is based on the musical talents of staff and students of the University's Faculty of Medicine as well as on those of their colleagues and friends from the Montréal area. The mission of I Medici is to explore and celebrate the links between music and medicine through performances of the symphonic repertoire, the Neurobiology of Music annual lecture-concert, and fund-raising events in the medical community. The orchestra's current membership includes more than 70 players. Over the years more than 400 instrumentalists have been associated with the ensemble.

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For more information, please visit the orchestra website at
http://www.imedici.mcgill.ca    

Contacts:

Margaret Gundara,
E-mail: gundaram@yahoo.com 

James Roberts
E-mail: jroberts100@yahoo.com

Dr. Ante L. Padjen,
I Medici di McGill Orchestra
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
McGill University, 3655 Promenade Sir-W-Osler
Tel: (514) 398-3603
E-mail: ante.padjen@mcgill.ca