Program also includes a Canadian work by composer Jordan Pal and Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony

Halifax, NS – Canadian piano phenomenon Stewart Goodyear makes his Symphony Nova Scotia debut performing Edvard Grieg’s passionate Piano Concerto on Thursday, February 9 at 7:30 pm at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Halifax.

Stewart Goodyear is “one of the best pianists of his generation” (Philadelphia Inquirer), and his stylish, kinetic playing has earned him rave reviews, a high-octane career, and top billing with some of the world’s most prominent orchestras.

Not only has Goodyear performed as soloist with many major orchestras around the world, but he is also known for his work as a composer, writing commissioned works for orchestras and chamber music groups, and performing his own solo works.

Acclaim for Goodyear includes:

• “…a crisp, emotionally radiant performance that combined dexterity and sensitivity in equal measure. Goodyear’s delivery of this music was breathtaking.” —San Francisco Chronicle
• “The phenomenal pianist Stewart Goodyear was a knockout in Bartok’s Concerto No. 2, a Magyar-flavored showpiece that shows no mercy for soloist or orchestra.” —The Cincinnati Post
• “Goodyear is a phenomenon who deserves wide attention.” —Los Angeles Times

Symphony Nova Scotia also welcomes Brazilian-born Marcelo Lehninger, the newly-appointed Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, to guest conduct this concert.

“I believe that this program is a wonderful choice of repertoire for the audience,” says Lehninger.

“They will hear what is currently being composed, a piece by a living Canadian composer, and one of the most important masterpieces of Germanic orchestral literature, the Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony… It will be exciting to perform this piece in Halifax, with its Scottish heritage and influence.”

He continues: “Adding to the excitement of the program, taking into consideration the connection between Mendelssohn and Grieg, since they both lived and had intense musical activity in Leipzig, we will also perform one of the most beloved and popular piano concertos of all time: the Grieg Piano Concerto.”

The complete concert program includes:

• Jordan Pal: On the Double: Concert Overture
• Grieg: Piano Concerto
• Mendelssohn: Symphony no. 3 “Scottish”

Tickets are on sale now! Prices start at $30 (HST included) or $16 for under-30s, and you can pick up a ticket package and save up to 30%. Tickets are available at the Dalhousie Arts Centre box office (6101 University Avenue, Halifax), at 902.494.3820, or online at symphonynovascotia.ca.

About Stewart Goodyear
Proclaimed “a phenomenon” by the Los Angeles Times and “one of the best pianists of his generation” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished young pianist as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist, and composer.

He has performed with major orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Bournemouth Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, MDR Symphony Orchestra (Leipzig), Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Goodyear began his training at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, received his Bachelor’s degree from Curtis Institute of Music, and completed his Master’s at the Juilliard School. Known as an improviser and composer, he has been commissioned by orchestras and chamber music organizations, and performs his own solo works. This year, Stewart premiered his Suite for Piano and Orchestra, “Callaloo”, with Kristjan Jarvi and MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig, and the Clarosa Quartet will premiere his Piano Quartet commissioned by the Kingston Chamber Music Festival. Stewart performed all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in one day at Koerner Hall, McCarter Theatre, the Mondavi Center, and the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas.

Stewart recently made his recital debut at the Rheingau Musik Festival standing in for Maria Joao Pires, and two performances at the Frankfurt Museum-Gesellshaft under the baton of Lawrence Foster. Highlights of the 2016/17 season are recital dates at McCarter Theatre and the Phillips Collection, return engagements with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Symphony, and his debut at the Savannah Music Festival performing the complete Beethoven piano sonatas in one day.

About Marcelo Lehinger, conductor
Brazilian-born Marcelo Lehninger is the newly-appointed Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony. He previously served as Music Director of the New West Symphony in Los Angeles, for which the League of American Orchestras awarded him the Helen H. Thompson Award for Emerging Music Conductors.
Lehninger was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra by James Levine, and, after a very successful two-year tenure that included stepping in for Maestro Levine on short notice in Boston and on tour at Carnegie Hall, was later promoted to Associate Conductor.

Lehninger ‘s 2016/17 season includes debuts with the Sydney, Melbourne, Colorado, Hawaii, Toledo, and Portland Symphonies; the Colorado Springs Philharmonic; and this performance with Symphony Nova Scotia. He also returns to the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Minas Gerais Philharmonic, Slovenian Philharmonic, New Mexico Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Bard Orchestra, the orchestra of his alma mater.

As a guest conductor in the U.S., Lehninger has led the Chicago, Houston, Detroit, Baltimore, Seattle, Milwaukee, National, Jacksonville, New Jersey, Indianapolis, Omaha, Chautauqua, Hartford, and Fairfax Symphonies; the Florida and Louisville Orchestras; and the Rochester and Orlando Philharmonics. In Canada, he has appeared with the Toronto, Winnipeg, and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphonies, and the Calgary and Hamilton Philharmonics. European highlights include the Lucerne Symphony, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, and a tour with the Concertgebouw Orchestra assisting Mariss Jansons.

Lehninger was music advisor of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas (YOA) for the 2007/08 season. Plácido Domingo serves as artistic advisor for the ensemble, which is composed of 120 talented musicians from more than 20 countries throughout the Americas. In 2008, Lehninger toured with YOA and pianist Nelson Freire in South America, conducting concerts in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. He has led all of the top orchestras in Brazil as well as regular guest conducting in Argentina, and previously served as Associate Conductor of the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra in Brazil.

Chosen by Kurt Masur in 2008, Lehninger was awarded the First Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship sponsored by the American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation. He was Maestro Masur’s assistant with the Orchestre National de France (during their residency at the Musikverein in Vienna), Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, and the New York Philharmonic. In 2011, he participated in the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, organized by the League of American Orchestras, conducting the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and debuted with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center as part of the National Conducting Institute.

Before dedicating his career to conducting, Lehninger studied violin and piano. He holds a Master’s degree from the Conductors Institute at New York’s Bard College, where he studied conducting under Harold Farberman and composition with Laurence Wallach. His mentors also include Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, and Roberto Tibiriçá. A dual citizen of Brazil and Germany, Marcelo Goulart Lehninger is the son of pianist Sônia Goulart and violinist Erich Lehninger.

For more information, please visit marcelolehninger.com.

About Symphony Nova Scotia
Symphony Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia’s orchestra. Each year more than 50,000 audience members (including 15,000 young music lovers) join us in communities across Nova Scotia for performances of the music they love – from baroque and classical to pop and rock and folk. Under the inspirational leadership of Music Director Bernhard Gueller, Symphony Nova Scotia is one of the most broadcast orchestras in the country, with over 20 commercial releases and multiple East Coast Music Awards. Visit symphonynovascotia.ca to learn more, listen online, or get tickets today!