MDR Symphony Orchestra

Closing Event in the Anhaltisches Theater Dessau

MDR Symphony Orchestra

Kurt Weill: Symphony Nr. 2
Daniel Schnyder: Violin Concerto
Dmitri Schostakowitsch: Jazz-Suite Nr. 2

Soloist: Nora Chastain, Violin

MDR Symphony Orchestra

Musical Direction: Michael Sanderling


In addition to Weill’s second symphony, the closing concert of this year’s festival will feature works that forge a link between classical music and jazz. Under conductor Michael Sanderling, the MDR Symphony Orchestra will perform Shostakovich’s Suite No. 2, made famous by its use in the film Eyes Wide Shut. The Programme also includes a violin concerto by Daniel Schnyder, a composer whose music attempts to fuse classical and jazz elements in a way that borrows from both the European and non-European musical traditions. Born in Zurich and now settled in New York, this versatile artist also appears regularly as a saxophonist in solo concerts, as a chamber musician and jazz improviser. Daniel Schnyder has collaborated with leading jazz soloists and classical orchestras, such as Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra or Berlin’s Radio Symphony Orchestra.
The soloist appearing at this closing concert in Dessau will be the American violinist Nora Chastain. This native Californian has performed with some of the world’s top orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris, the Cincinnati Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In addition she has been a guest at the music festivals of Schleswig Holstein and Ludwigsburg, as well as the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad.
The conductor and cellist Michael Sanderling stems from a well-known German family of musicians. He has already worked with illustrious orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. From the 2006/2007 season Michael Sanderling has been artistic director and principal conductor of Potsdam’s Chamber Academy Ensemble.

Cooperation of the Kurt Weill Festival Dessau with the MDR