Schenectady, N.Y. (October 19, 2001) – Irish pianist Barry Douglas will perform with his handpicked orchestra, the Camerata Ireland, at Union College's Memorial Chapel on
Saturday, Oct. 27, at 8 p.m. The performance marks a Capital District
premier for both the Camerata and Douglas, featuring works by Mozart,
Stravinsky, and Nocturne for Strings (1990) by John Kinsella.
Douglas has gained world
recognition as an artist of prodigious technical mastery of the keyboard. He
has been acclaimed for his commanding interpretations of the piano repertoire's most challenging masterworks and the music of living composers, as well as for his brilliant performances of established piano showpieces.
Since his 1986 triumph as Gold Medallist at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow and his earlier Bronze Medal win at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1985, Mr. Douglas has been invited to perform on the concert stages of five continents. He has played with some of the most distinguished orchestras of our
time, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus
Orchestra. He has also collaborated with many of the world's leading
conductors, most notably Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis, Andre Previn, Kurt
Sanderling, Leonard Slatkin, and Mstislav Rostropovich.
Highlighting Mr. Douglas'
2001-02 engagements is a tour of the United States with the Camerata Ireland, a chamber orchestra he founded in 1999 with players from both Northern and Southern Ireland.
Camerata Ireland has brought Irish musicians who live and work in Ireland and Irish musicians abroad together as a chamber ensemble that celebrates Ireland, its music-making and the wealth of musical talent that abounds in Ireland and throughout the world.
The ensemble's inaugural concerts
in April 1999 included one at Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast hosted
by The Lord Alderice, and another at the State Apartments in Dublin Castle.
Both concerts were in association with Co-operation Ireland, the Irish charity
whose aims reflect those of Camerata Ireland, and which inspired Barry Douglas to create the ensemble. Mr. Douglas received messages of support from the president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
Born in Belfast, Barry Douglas went to London in 1978 to study at the Royal College of Music. He first came to international attention when he won the Bronze Medal at the 1985 Van Cliburn Piano Competition. In 1986 he rocketed to musical stardom by winning the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow-the first Westerner to do so outright since Van Cliburn won the prize in 1958.
From his earliest years as a musician, Mr. Douglas has been drawn to opera and song as ideal forms of musical expression, and this has had a considerable influence on his approach
to the piano. Several years ago he took a sabbatical at Oxford University,
where he pursued studies in European history and languages, and worked on new
repertoire, especially works of the 20th century. He speaks French, German,
Italian and Russian. Mr. Douglas makes his base in Paris, where he lives with
his wife and three children. He also maintains an apartment in London and is a frequent visitor to his hometown of Belfast.
Tickets at $20 ($8 for students) are available in advance at the Office
of Communications, Union College (518) 388-6131 and at the door at 7 p.m. For
more information, call 372-3651.
The Union College Concert Series is made
possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the
Arts, a State Agency; additional support comes from the Times Union Newspapers. Memorial Chapel is located near the center of the Union College campus. Parking is available on campus and nearby side streets.