An exciting program that marries a classical masterpiece with two works rooted in the jazz world. Masterful violinist Regina Carter performs Schiff’s Concerto, which pays homage to Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan, who changed our musical landscape. Duke Ellington’s masterpiece is a jazz-fueled walk through Black and African-American history. Finally, Tchaikovsky’s jovial Second Symphony is said to have been his favorite.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

Program

Michael Francis, conductor
Regina Carter, violin

ELLINGTON  Black, Brown and Beige Suite
SCHIFF  Four Sisters: Concerto for Jazz Violin and Orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY  Symphony No. 2 in C minor[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

About Regina Carter

Trying to fit Regina Carter into a neatly defined musical category is pointless. She enjoys performing many styles of music – jazz, R&B, Latin, classical, blues, country, pop, African, and on and on. In each she explores the power of music through the voice of the violin.

A recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Award and a Doris Duke Artist Award, Regina has been widely hailed for her mastery of her instrument and her drive to expand its possibilities. In 2018 she was named Artistic Directorof the Geri Allen Jazz Camp at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, a unique summer immersion program for aspiring women jazz professionals. That December, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best Improvised Solo for “Some of That Sunshine,” the title track on vocalist Karrin Allyson’s album. In 2020, Regina was nominated for Best Improvised Solo for “Pachamama” from Thana Alexa’s album. She is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and New Jersey City University, and is Artist-in-Residence at the Oakland University School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Past positions have included Resident Artist for San Francisco Performances and Resident Artistic Director for SFJAZZ.

Born in Detroit, Regina began studying violin at the age of four using the Suzuki method. She attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, and her training continued at the New England Conservatory of Music and at Oakland University in Michigan for jazz. She taught violin in public schools in Detroit and on a U.S. military base in Germany. She first gained attention with Straight Ahead, an all-female jazz quintet that recently celebrated its 25-year reunion at the Detroit Jazz Festival. She also recorded and toured for six years with The String Trio of New York.

In 1995 Regina released her self-titled solo debut on Atlantic Records. Three more albums followed in rapid succession: Something for Grace (1997), Rhythms of the Heart (1999), and Motor City Moments (2000), all on Verve. Traveling to Genoa, Italy and making history by being the first nonclassical violinist to play Niccolò Paganini’s Il Cannone (“The Cannon”), the legendary violin built by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1743 inspired her next effort, Paganini: After a Dream (Verve, 2003). I’ll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (Verve, 2006) became a powerful and heartfelt tribute to her late mother. The connection to family, history, and tradition continued in Reverse Thread (E1 Music, 2010) and Southern Comfort (Sony Masterworks, 2014), drawing ties between her own African heritage and her family’s history. In 2017 she released, Ella: Accentuate the Positive (OKeh, 2017), which celebrates the music and spirit of her inspiration, musical legend Ella Fitzgerald. Her latest recording Swing States: Harmony In The Battleground (Tiger Turn Productions E1 Music 2020) is a project that extols the importance of taking part in the democratic process.

Regina can also be heard on such albums as Arturo O’Farrill’s Fandango at the Wall, Stefon Harris’ Sonic Creed, John Beasley’s MONK’estra, Volume 2, and James Carter’s Caribbean Rhapsody, along with Eddie Palmieri’s Listen Here!, which won a 2005 Grammy award for best Latin Jazz album, and the Grammy-nominated Freefall with Kenny Barron.

She has performed at countless jazz festivals including Monterey, Newport, Detroit, Atlanta, Bern, Montreux, New Orleans, Montreal, Mid-Atlantic, Rochester, and North Sea (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). She has performed with orchestras including the Atlanta and Detroit Symphonies, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Particularly thrilling was her participation in the 2017 International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert in Havana, Cuba.

A winner of multiple readers’ and critics’ poll awards from DownBeat, JazzTimes, and other publications, Regina tours with her own group and has appeared as a guest soloist with Kenny Barron, the late bassist Ray Brown, Akua Dixon, Steve Turre, Stefon Harris, George Wein, Mary J. Blige, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Jackson, Billy Joel, Dolly Parton, and Omara Portuondo.

Regina has three times been a Pulitzer Prize jurist. She is currently featured in J. Jill’s “Inspired Women” ad campaign. Regina lives in Maywood, NJ with her husband, drummer Alvester Garnett.

About Michael Francis

Appointed Music Director of the Florida Orchestra in the fall of 2014, Michael Francis is now in his eighth season with a contract extension through the 2024-25 season. His role in building transformative community engagement initiatives has helped to grow the organization significantly. Also Music Director of the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego since 2014, Francis and Mainly Mozart have recently completed an ambitious multi-year exploration of Mozart’s life. Francis is in his fourth season as Chief Conductor of Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Previously, he was Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra from 2012-16.

This season, Francis returns to the Cincinnati Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. Previous highlights include North American performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, San Diego, Houston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Montreal, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. In Europe, he has conducted the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, MDR Leipzig, the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE Madrid, and the Mariinsky Orchestra, among others. In his home country, he has worked with the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. In Asia, Maestro Francis has worked with the NHK Symphony, and the philharmonic orchestras of Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Seoul.

Francis has collaborated with such notable soloists as Lang Lang, Arcadi Volodos, Itzhak Perlman, Christian Tetzlaff, Vadim Gluzman, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Javier Perianes, Jamie Barton, Truls Mørk, Håkan Hardenberger, Maximilian Hornung, Miloš, Benjamin Grosvenor, Emanuel Ax, Ian Bostridge, James Ehnes, Sting, Rufus Wainwright, and many others.

Alongside his extensive educational work with young musicians, Francis is passionate about sharing the hidden truths in music with audiences worldwide through his acclaimed podium talks. His “Inside the Music” series and pre-concert talks in Florida have greatly helped develop new audiences. An exciting new series of “Keynote” presentations (explaining the music alongside performances) with Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz was recently released on Naxos.

Francis’ discography includes the Rachmaninoff piano concertos with Valentina Lisitsa and the London Symphony, and Rihm’s Lichtes Spiel with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the New York Philharmonic. A complete cycle of Mahler’s arrangements of Beethoven’s symphonies and overtures with Staatsphilharmonie will be released soon.

A former double-bass player in the LSO, Michael Francis came to prominence as a conductor in January of 2007, stepping in for Valery Gergiev and John Adams with the LSO.