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The Rotary Foundation is teaming up with world-renowned violinist and polio survivor Itzhak Perlman and the New York Philharmonic to present the Concert to End Polio, a benefit performance supporting the PolioPlus Fund. The Concert to End Polio will be at 7:30 pm, Dec 2, in Avery Fisher Hall.
"The Concert to End Polio," presented by Rotary International, with the New York Philharmonic and violinist Itzhak Perlman, will feature Liszt's tone poem, Les Préludes; Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, with Mr. Perlman; Tchaikovsky's Capriccio italien; and the Theme from Schindler's List by John Williams and Kreisler's Tambourin Chinois, both with Mr. Perlman. The benefit concert, to be led by Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Daniel Boico, will take place at Avery Fisher Hall on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. in support of a global effort to eradicate this disabling childhood disease.
Polio eradication resonates strongly with Mr. Perlman, who contracted the disease at age four and overcame serious physical challenges to become one of the world's most celebrated musicians. In this one-night-only performance - his first with the New York Philharmonic in three years - Mr. Perlman will help Rotary in its effort to raise $200 million to match a $355 million challenge grant from the Bill & MeLinda Gates Foundation. Net proceeds from the concert will fund critical eradication activities in developing countries where polio still threatens children. Artists Daniel Boico, the newly appointed New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductor, will lead all of the Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts in the 2009-10 season. Mr. Boico made his New York Philharmonic debut on January 23, 2009, conducting an Inside the Music program. He has served as music director of the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, Illinois, and the Skokie Concert Choir, as well as conductor of the Elgin Youth Symphony Philharmonia and as an assistant conductor to Cliff Colnot of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He was visiting professor and director of orchestras at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, a cover conductor for the Milwaukee Symphony, and an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he worked closely with and was assistant to music director Daniel Barenboim, principal guest conductor Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, and other visiting artists. Born in Israel and raised in Paris and the United States, Daniel Boico studied with and assisted Russian professor Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. A prize winner at the Prokofiev and Pedrotti conducting competitions, Mr. Boico has led numerous orchestras, including the Moscow Philharmonic, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, Perm Opera and Ballet, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, La Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional in Mexico City. In August 2000 he made a world premiere recording of Nino Rota's cello concertos with cellist Dimitry Yablonsky and I Virtuosi Italiani for the Chandos label.
Rotary International, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. Since then, ending polio has been Rotary's top priority, and tremendous progress has been made. The wild poliovirus now remains endemic in only four countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Worldwide, the number of polio cases has been slashed by more than 99 percent, preventing five million cases of childhood paralysis and 250,000 deaths. However, the final one percent of cases is the most difficult and expensive to prevent, which is why support for Rotary's End Polio Now campaign is crucial to the initiative's success. Rotary is an international humanitarian service organization made up of more than 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas, with a total membership of 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. In addition to fighting polio, Rotary clubs carry out an array of humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange projects and activities that address the underlying causes of conflict, such as poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, and lack of clean water. For more information on the polio eradication effort and how to support it, visit rotary.org/endpolio.
Repertoire
Single tickets are $70-$200.A private reception with Mr. Perlman will follow the concert. A premium concert seat and admission to the reception will be offered at a package price of $500. Net ticket sale proceeds will go toward Rotary's End Polio Now campaign. Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875- 5656, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily. Tickets may also be purchased at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office or the AlIce Tully Hall Box Office at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 65th Street. The Box Office is open from 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m.
