AVIE Records is a UK-based independent classical music recording company founded in 2002 by Simon Foster and Melanne Mueller who devised a unique business model based on artist ownership. Foster and Mueller continue to run the company together with executives Barry McCann and Steve Winn. The label maintains offices in the UK and US.
37-960: AVIE's catalogue includes over 300 recordings by artists including Harry Bicket and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment , Semyon Bychkov and the WDR Symphony Orchestra , Augustin Hadelich , Andreas Haefliger , the Handel and Haydn Society , Jon Lord , Antônio Meneses , New York Polyphony , Menahem Pressler , Rachel Barton Pine , and Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo's Fire . AVIE works with various independent distributors worldwide making CDs available in over 30 countries. Recordings are widely available on digital platforms including Apple Music, Amazon and Spotify, among many others. AVIE's artists have won numerous international awards. In 2016, Laura Karpman won
74-507: A Grammy Award for her creation ASK YOUR MAMA based on the poetry of Langston Hughes . Lorraine Hunt Lieberson , Monica Huggett , the Dufay Collective and Antônio Meneses have received Grammy Nominations. Gramophone Awards have gone to Julian Bream for his DVD My Life in Music , Adrian Chandler and his ensemble La Serenissima , for Vivaldi: The French Connection , Andrew Parrott and
111-412: A harpsichordist in 1984. Bicket has conducted commercial recordings with The English Concert for Harmonia Mundi . Bicket first conducted at Santa Fe Opera (SFO) in 2004, in a production of Agrippina . He returned to SFO as conductor for subsequent productions of Platée (2007) and Radamisto (2008). In April 2013, SFO named Bicket its next chief conductor, effective 1 October 2013. Although
148-513: A live concert at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, April 15. The concert was later made available on YouTube. On March 20, 2011, Tilson Thomas also conducted the "YTSO2" (YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2) in Sydney . In October 2017, the orchestra announced that Tilson Thomas would conclude his tenure as its music director at the close of the 2019–2020 season, and subsequently take the title of music director laureate. His first television appearances were in
185-518: A middle school history teacher, respectively. He is the grandson of noted Yiddish theater stars Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky , who performed in the Yiddish Theater District in Manhattan. The family talent goes back to Tilson Thomas's great-grandfather, Pincus, an actor and playwright, and before that to a long line of cantors ; his father, Theodor Herzl Tomashefsky (Ted Thomas), was also
222-835: A poet and painter. He was an only child and musical prodigy. Tilson Thomas studied piano with John Crown and composition and conducting under Ingolf Dahl at the University of Southern California , where he graduated from the USC Thornton School of Music '67 and MM '76. As a student of Friedelind Wagner , Tilson Thomas was a Musical Assistant and Assistant Conductor at the Bayreuth Festival . Tilson Thomas lives in San Francisco with his husband and partner of over 40 years, Joshua Robison. The couple married on November 2, 2014. On August 6, 2021, Tilson Thomas disclosed publicly for
259-587: A prime-time special, Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals , a combined live action/animated broadcast of The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns . In 2011, he hosted a concert stage show celebrating his grandparents and the music of American Yiddish theatre The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater , which aired in 2012 on the PBS series "Great Performances." Tilson Thomas hosted
296-466: A relationship with the San Francisco Symphony , coordinating international distribution and marketing of the orchestra's in-house label SFS Media which has won numerous Grammy Awards for its Mahler Symphony cycle with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas . Harry Bicket Harry Alexander Clarence Bicket OBE (born 1961) is a British conductor , harpsichordist and organist . He
333-572: Is also renowned for his interpretation of the works of Gustav Mahler ; he has recorded all nine Mahler symphonies and other major orchestral works with the San Francisco Symphony. These recordings have been released on the high-resolution audio format Super Audio CD on the San Francisco Symphony's own recording label. Tilson Thomas is also known as a premier interpreter of the works of Aaron Copland , Charles Ives , and Steve Reich . A sampling of Tilson Thomas's own compositions include From
370-595: Is intended to record and preserve his grandparents' theatrical achievements, and is on the faculty of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music . Due to health concerns, Tilson Thomas announced on March 2, 2022, he would be stepping down as the Artistic Director of the New World Symphony and instead serve as the Artistic Director Laureate. From 1968 to 1994, Tilson Thomas
407-505: Is particularly associated with the baroque and classical repertoire. Bicket was educated at Radley College , Christ Church, Oxford , where he was an organ scholar, and the Royal College of Music . Before Oxford , he was an organ scholar at St George's Chapel, Windsor . Afterwards, he was sub-organist at Westminster Abbey , during which time he performed at the wedding of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew . He first performed on
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#1733084613027444-617: The Keeping Score television series, nine one-hour documentary-style episodes and eight live-concert programs, which began airing nationally on PBS stations in early November 2006. He and the San Francisco Symphony have examined the lives and music of Gustav Mahler, Dmitri Shostakovich, Charles Ives, Hector Berlioz, Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tilson Thomas has made more than 120 recordings, including works by Bach, Mahler, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Stravinsky as well as his pioneering work with
481-625: The 2022 Birthday Honours for services to music. Bicket is married to the environmental scholar Audrey de Nazelle, of Imperial College London . The family resides in London. Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony , an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida , Music Director Laureate of
518-662: The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE). In 2004, Bicket made his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in a production of Rodelinda with Renée Fleming in the title role. He returned to Handel and the Met in 2020, conducting a production new to that house of Agrippina . In October 2006, Bicket was named music director of The English Concert , and formally assumed the post in September 2007, his first orchestral directorship. He first worked with The English Concert as
555-863: The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra . Projects released by AVIE include the first release by the Seattle Opera of Wagner's Ring cycle ; numerous world premiere recordings of the music of Hans Gál including the Four Symphonies by Kenneth Woods and Orchestra of the Swan , the Cello Concerto by Antônio Meneses with Claudio Cruz and the Royal Northern Sinfonia , the Piano Concerto by Sarah Beth Briggs with Kenneth Woods and
592-701: The San Francisco Symphony , and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra . He gave his last performance with the San Francisco Symphony in January 2024 while fighting brain cancer. He led the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Beethoven's 9th Symphony on November 14, 2024. Tilson Thomas was born in Los Angeles, California, to Ted and Roberta Thomas, a Broadway stage manager and
629-500: The Taverner Consort for Western Wind: Mass by John Taverner and Court Music for Henry VIII , Trevor Pinnock for his Brandenburg Concertos with the specially formed European Brandenburg Ensemble, and viol quartet Phantasm for its recording of Gibbons ’ Consorts. Other international citations include France's Diapason d'Or de l’année for Simon Trpčeski ’s Rachmaninov Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 , with Vasily Petrenko and
666-599: The YouTube Symphony Orchestra , an orchestra whose members were selected from 30 countries based on more than 3,000 video auditions on YouTube. The Orchestra, as well as such soloists as Mason Bates , Measha Brueggergosman , Joshua Roman , Gil Shaham , Yuja Wang , and Jess Larsen, and participated in a classical music summit in New York City at the Juilliard School over three days. The event culminated in
703-623: The Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, airing from 1971 to 1977. He has also made regular appearances on PBS, with broadcasts featuring Tilson Thomas airing from 1972 through 2008. Eight episodes of WNET's Great Performances series have featured Tilson Thomas. He has also been featured on Japan's NHK and the BBC many times in the last three decades. In 1976, Tilson Thomas appeared alongside Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in
740-592: The Boston Symphony as Principal Guest Conductor until 1974 and made several recordings with the orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon . He was music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1971 to 1979, and recorded for Columbia Records with the orchestra. Between 1971 and 1977, he also conducted the series of Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic as well as
777-476: The Diary of Anne Frank (1990), Shówa/Shoáh (1995, memorializing the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima ), Poems of Emily Dickinson (2002) and Urban Legend (2002). Tilson Thomas has also been devoted to music education. He leads a series of education programs titled Keeping Score which offers insight into the lives and works of great composers, and led a series of Young People's Concerts with
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#1733084613027814-550: The Los Angeles Philharmonic again in the Mahler Eighth, announcing jokingly, "Now where were we?" In 1987, Tilson Thomas founded the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida , an orchestral academy for gifted young musicians whose stated mission is "to prepare highly-gifted graduates of distinguished music programs for leadership roles in orchestras and ensembles around the world." He played an instrumental role in
851-586: The New World Symphony as of June 1, 2022. From 1988 to 1995, Tilson Thomas was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), and recorded with them for such labels as Columbia (now Sony Classical), including the Symphony No. 3 of Mahler. From 1995, he held the title of principal guest conductor with the LSO, and became conductor laureate in 2016. Tilson Thomas became the San Francisco Symphony 's 11th Music Director in 1995. He originally made his debut with
888-515: The New York Philharmonic. Tilson Thomas founded the New World Symphony in Miami in 1987. Most recently, Tilson Thomas has led two incarnations of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra , which brings young musicians from around the world together for a week of music making and learning. Tilson Thomas currently serves as president of the Tomashefsky Project, a $ 2 million undertaking formed in 2017 that
925-674: The Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the complete works for solo piano by Leon McCawley ; the world premiere recording of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor ’s Violin Concerto by Philippe Graffin with Michael Hankinson and the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra ; and the complete Beethoven symphonies by Douglas Boyd and the Manchester Camerata . AVIE passionately nurtures young, emerging talent and has helped to build
962-556: The San Francisco Symphony presented a landmark 12-concert American Mavericks Festival, recognizing the innovative works of 20th century American composers. Additional season-ending festivals in Davies Symphony Hall have included explorations of the music of Wagner , Prokofiev , Mahler, Stravinsky , Beethoven and Weill , including semi-staged productions of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera-ballet Mlada , Beethoven's Fidelio , and Wagner's The Flying Dutchman . During his tenure,
999-674: The Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra based in Los Angeles. From 1981 to 1985, he was principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra . During a 1985 performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl , a (police) helicopter flew over the venue, disrupting the concert. Tilson temporarily left the stage. In 2007, he returned to the Hollywood Bowl leading
1036-531: The company, effective 1 October 2018. In October 2018, Santa Fe Opera announced the extension of Bicket's contract with the company, as music director, through the 2023 season. In addition to recording with The English Concert, Bicket has conducted commercial recordings with other ensembles for various labels, including Decca, Avie, and EMI. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in
1073-527: The development of the Frank Gehry -designed New World Center in Miami Beach, which opened in 2011, and currently maintains a relationship with the organization as Artistic Director Laureate. (The two had personal history, with Gehry sometimes having baby-sat for Tilson Thomas back when both were growing up in Los Angeles. ) In March 2022, Tilson Thomas announced that he is to stand down as Artistic Director of
1110-403: The first time that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, called glioblastoma multiforme . On January 9, 2022, Tilson Thomas returned to his hometown to conduct—for the first time since his cancer disclosure—the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Despite the small audience at Walt Disney Hall due to more than 43,000 newly-diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in L.A. County, Tilson Thomas
1147-419: The formal press release did not indicate a specific time length of Bicket's initial contract, SFO general director Charles MacKay stated an informal duration of 4–5 years. In November 2016, Santa Fe Opera announced the extension of Bicket's contract as chief conductor through 30 September 2020. In February 2018, Santa Fe Opera announced the elevation of Bicket's title from chief conductor to music director of
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1184-512: The harpsichord in 1983 at The Proms as an emergency deputy, his first-ever public performance on harpsichord. As a conductor, Bicket became known when he stood in as a replacement to conduct Peter Sellars' production of Handel 's opera Theodora with Dawn Upshaw , Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and David Daniels , at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1996. In 2003, Bicket made his Covent Garden debut conducting Handel 's Orlando with
1221-467: The international reputations of several artists. These include Avery Fisher Career Grant, Warner Music Prize and Grammy Award winner violinist Augustin Hadelich; Luiza Borac who won a BBC Music Magazine Award for her survey of Enescu's Piano Works; and Vivaldi authority Adrian Chandler who was the 2010 Gramophone Award winner in the Baroque Instrumental category. Since its inception, AVIE has had
1258-760: The orchestra began to issue recordings on its own SFS Media label. In April 2005, he conducted the Carnegie Hall premiere of The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater, partly as a tribute to his own grandparents. Other American orchestras have since performed this production, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic , Boston Symphony Orchestra , Philadelphia Orchestra , New York Philharmonic , New World Symphony and San Francisco Symphony . It has also been recorded for future broadcast on PBS . Tilson Thomas collaborated with YouTube in 2009 to help create
1295-415: The orchestra in January 1974 conducting Mahler's Symphony No. 9 . During his first season with the San Francisco Symphony, Tilson Thomas included a work by an American composer on nearly every one of his programs, including the first performances ever by the orchestra of music by Lou Harrison , and culminated with "An American Festival," a two-week focus on American music. In June 2000, Tilson Thomas and
1332-431: Was greeted warmly by the appreciative audience. He proceeded to lead an acclaimed concert of works by Gabriel Fauré, Tilson Thomas' own Meditations on Rilke —wistful reflections on life and death as the composer turned 75 in 2019—and to conclude, a stunning performance of Sergei Prokofiev's monumental 5th Symphony. Tilson Thomas has conducted a wide variety of music and is a particular champion of modern American works. He
1369-650: Was the Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival seven times. After winning the Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood in 1969, Tilson Thomas was named Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra . That same year, he made his conducting debut with the orchestra, replacing an unwell William Steinberg mid-concert and thereby coming into international recognition at the age of 24. He stayed with
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