RACHMANINOV INTERNATIONAL ORCHESTRA

Born of a singular moment in history, the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra embodies the vision of its founder, Mikhail Pletnev, and his commitment to dismantling barriers through the universal language of music.   

Like its namesake – composer, pianist, and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff – the RIO is dedicated to the highest standards of performance and artistic expression.   

 Composed of preeminent musicians from Eastern and Western Europe, the RIO’s recordings and performances draw from the wide breadth of classical repertoire, with a focus on the Romantic and modern composers whose works have been the hallmark of Mikhail Pletnev’s celebrated interpretations.  

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Kent Nagano is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. Since September 2015, he has been General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg. In addition, he is committed as Artistic Director of the Ring project with Concerto Köln and the Dresden Festival Orchestra, and as patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival. 2023 he was appointed Honorary Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra, in 2021 of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, in 2019 of the Concerto Köln, and in 2006 of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

Kent Nagano has worked with the world’s leading international orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France, the Orchestre de l’Opéra national in Paris, theChicago and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Wiener Symphoniker. Special projects were productions of Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Concerto Köln and the Bernstein opera A quiet place at the Paris Opera.​ His operatic work has included Dusapin‘s Ilviaggio, Dante at the Festival d‘Aix-en–Provence, Hindemith’s Cardillac andPoulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites at the Opéra National de Paris and Henze’s The Bassarids and the premiere of Saariaho’s L’amour de loin at the Salzburg Festival.

To celebrate Kent Nagano’s 70th birthday in 2021, a 3-CD box set of works by Olivier Messiaen was released in October on the BR Klassik label. The release includes live recordings of the works Poèmes pour Mi, Chronochromie and La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ from his concerts with the Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks. In September 2021,Kent Nagano published his second book with Berlin Verlag. In « 10 Lessons of my Life« , he recalls ten deeply personal encounters from which he learned important lessons, not only for his career but for his life more broadly. In 2015 Kent Nagano published « Erwarten Sie Wunder! » also in Berlin Verlag, apassionate appeal for the relevance of classical music in today’s world. It was also released in English by the Canadian McGill-Queen’s University Press in French by Éditions du Boréal.

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Pianist, conductor, and composer, Mikhail Pletnev is one of the most respected and influential artists of the era. His prodigious talent as a pianist has earned widespread acclaim ever since the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, where he won First Prize at the age of 21.   

  An invitation to perform at a 1988 diplomatic summit in Washington led to Pletnev’s friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev and a lifelong commitment to dismantling barriers through the universal language of music. In 1990, Pletnev formed the Russian National Orchestra – the first independent orchestra in Russia’s history. Under his leadership, the RNO achieved recognition as one of the world’s great orchestras.   

 Over thirty years later, Pletnev has renewed his commitment to artistic freedom with his founding of the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra, named after the celebrated pianist, conductor, and composer whose own career inspired audiences from all corners of the globe.  

  Pletnev’s performances and recordings have shown him to be an outstanding interpreter of an extensive repertoire, both as pianist and conductor. His recordings have earned numerous prizes, including a 2005 Grammy Award for his own arrangement of Prokofiev’s Cinderella. He received Grammy nominations for Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes (2004) and the Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev Piano Concertos No. 3 (2003). His critically acclaimed album of Scarlatti’s Sonatas (Virgin/EMI) received a 1996 Gramophone Award, BBC Music Magazine called it « piano playing at its greatest… this performance alone would be enough to secure Pletnev a place among the greatest pianists ever known.” His recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos (Deutsche Grammophon) was named “Best of 2007” by the NewYorker.   

  The London Telegraph remarked, « from Pletnev’s fingers and brain come ideas that vitalise the music and make it teem with freshness and wit. [He] made the music positively leap for joy. » The Times describes his playing as « born of a prodigious virtuosity of imagination outrageous in its beauty. »  

  Pianist, conductor, composer and cultural leader – all are significant facets of Mikhail Pletnev’s remarkable life. Yet with his characteristic humility, he insists that he is, simply, a musician.

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Acclaimed by opera and concertgoers worldwide, Lester Lynch is regarded not only as a true Verdi baritone, but also as one of today’s foremost interpreters of American spirituals and contemporary opera.

Lynch has appeared at most of Europe’s and North America’s leading opera houses, such as Teatro alla Scala, Covent Garden, Semperoper, Dusseldorf Oper, Welsh National Opera, English Nation Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Detroit Metro Opera, Minneapolis Opera, LA Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Washington National Opera. He has also sung with the leading orchestras of the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra.

Lynch released his debut album in 2017 and can be heard on numerous other recordings, such as San Francisco Opera’s Porgy and Bess and Gordon Getty’s Joan and the Bells. Upcoming performances include appearances in Russia, England, Spain, German, and the United States.

Lynch’s recent recording of spirituals and hymns On My Journey Now on Pentatone was received with great acclaim. His recording of the role of Iago in Verdi’s Otello with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Portugal will soon be released, also on the Pentatone label.

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Soprano, Alexandra Armantrading, most recently made her debut at Festival Napa Valley in the summer of ’22, singing three world premiere art songs composed by Jake Heggie (the morning after), Jack Perla (triad), and Luna Pearl Woolf (Journey), set to poetry by Lisa Delan. Prior to this, she earned her first Associate Session Producer credit working on the film soundtrack for the opera film Goodbye, Mr. Chips, with music composed by Gordon Getty.  Alexandra recently sang as a soloist in Milhaud’s L’homme et son desír, at Mills College under the baton of Maestro Nicole Paiement. Praised for her ”shimmering Nordic quality” of her voice, and “evocative” presence as a performer, Alexandra has been cast in such roles as Amelia in Ballo in Maschera, Elettra in Idomeneo, Elsa in Lohengrin, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterly, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Arabella in Arabella, and Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier among others.

This coming fall season, Alexandra will sing music from Getty’s Plump Jack alongside renowned baritone Lester Lynch, with the newly formed Rachmaninoff International Orchestra.

Alexandra continues to study under the tutelage of the esteemed Jane Randolph. In her spare time, she enjoys playing golf, learning new languages, and going to the beach with her dog Charlie.

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