April 9 , 2011
Westover Church
Saturday - 8:00pm
Gershwin/Bernstein Extravaganza
J. Mark McVey, vocals
Christy Tarr-McVey, vocals
Dmitry Sitkovetsky , conductor
Join us we celebrate the music that has kept America singing and dancing for nearly a century from the extraordinary George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. A definite not-to-be-missed concert when Maestro Sitkovetsky hosts his first POPS concert ever in Greensboro.
Don't miss Broadway singers J. Mark McVey
and his wife Christy Tarr-McVey
on vocals!!
"Mark McVey is simply the best!!...His vocal sound is superb, and his
range is awesome.... Audiences adore him." --Marvin Hamlisch
Co-sponsors:
Bluebell Foundation
About the conductor
Dmitry Sitkovetsky is an artist whose creativity defies categorizing. He has built up an active and successful career as a violinist, conductor, arranger, chamber musician & festival director. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, he grew up in Moscow studying at the Moscow Conservatory and after his emigration in 1977, at the Juilliard School in New York. Sitkovetsky has performed as a soloist with a number of the world’s leading orchestras including the Berlin, New York and LA Philharmonic Orchestras, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Concertgebouw Orchestra, all of the major London orchestras, NHK, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras. He has performed at a number of high-profile festivals including Salzburg, Lucerne, Edinburgh, Verbier, Istanbul, Newport, and the IMG Tuscan Sun and Napa Valley Festivals.
Sitkovetsky has built a flourishing career as a conductor. In 1996, he was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Ulster Orchestra for five years, in 2001, was appointed Conductor Laureate, and from 2002-2005 held the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian State Orchestra. From 2006 – 2009, he was the Artist-in-Residence at the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon (Spain) a position that involved conducting, solo playing, touring, chamber music and master classes. In 2003, Sitkovetsky was appointed Music Director of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, a position he holds to this day. As a guest conductor, he has worked with leading orchestras including the London & Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, BBC, San Francisco, St. Louis, Seattle and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Santa Cecilia and the St Petersburg Philharmonic.
Sitkovetsky is also the founding director of the New European Strings Chamber Orchestra (NES CO), established in 1990, which is comprised of distinguished string players from Eastern & Western Europe. Since his successful transcription of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for string trio, he has transcribed more than 30 works mostly for string orchestra by Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Dohnanyi, Bartók, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Schnittke. He has been a member of ASCAP since 1985 and his transcriptions are published by Doblinger, Sikorski and Schirmer.
Between 1983 and 2002 Sitkovetsky was the Artistic Director of a number of music festivals including the Korsholm Music Festival in Finland (1983-1993 and 2002), Seattle International Music Festival (1992-1997), “The Silk Route of Music” Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan (1999) and worked with a diverse range of artists such as Argerich, Ashkenazy, Bashmet, Davidovich, Harrell, Kissin, Maisky, Ohlsson, Penderecki, Repin, Schnittke and Shchedrin. In May 2007, Sitkovetsky was the Artist-in-Residence at the Bodensee Festival in Germany where he performed a wide variety of activities: soloist, conductor, chamber musician, recitalist, masterclasses and conducted the NES Chamber Orchestra in residence.
He has an active and varied recording career with an extensive discography which includes all the major violin concerti, numerous chamber music works as well as orchestral recordings that he’s conducted. In July 2010, Hänssler Classic released a boxed set of the complete Mozart Violin Sonatas with Antonio Pappano and Konstantin Lifschitz. The same label, recently released Sitkovetsky’s string orchestra transcriptions of works by Shostakovich and Stravinsky with the NES CO as well as Piano Trios of Rodion Shchedrin and Peteris Vasks (Hänssler). His most recent concerto release is Dutilleux’s L'Arbre des Songes with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Mariss Janssons (Concertgebouw Live). Forthcoming releases include a new recording of the Goldberg Variations for String Trio to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the transcription.
Sitkovetsky’s increasing involvement in contemporary music shows a keen interest in performing new repertoire. He premiered the violin concerti written for him by John Casken (1995) and Krzystof Meyer (2000) and often performs works by Dutilleux, Penderecki, Schnittke, Pärt and Shchedrin who has written several works for Sitkovetsky both as violinist and conductor. In 2005, he performed two major works by John Corigliano - his Second Symphony and the Red Violin Suite in a play/conduct concert. Sitkovetsky’s latest premiere was The Gifts of the Magi written by Jakov Jakoulov after O’Henry’s famous story and narrated by Peter Coyote with the Greensboro Symphony. He also played a unique solo recital of contemporary music at the Verbier Festival in 2009 with a programme by Schedrin, Vasks, Auerbach and Ali-Zadeh.
Recent engagements include conducting the Komische Oper Berlin orchestra, Weimar Staatskapelle, Orchestre National de Lille, New Zealand, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Macau Symphony as well as the Tenerife Symphony. Concerto engagements include the Czech Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Galicia Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Cincinnati Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Hamburg Philharmonic and the Russian State Orchestra. Recitals include Seattle, Brussels, Seville, Cape Town, London (Wigmore Hall) and performances in the London Philharmonic’s Schnittke Festival. Play/directing engagements included return invitations to the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and Orchestre National de Lille, the Komische Oper Berlin orchestra as well as the St Petersburg Philharmonic.
Future engagement highlights throughout Europe, USA and Asia include concerto engagements with the Seattle Symphony (Inkinen), Concertgebouw (Janssons) and the Symphony Orchestra of India (Leaper) as well as play/directing the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Geidai Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of New Russia, Minnesota Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn and the San Francisco Symphony’s prestigious New Year’s Eve concert.
Since 1987 he has resided in London with his wife, Susan, and their daughter, Julia.
About the Artists:
J. Mark McVey made his Broadway debut as Jean Valjean in 'Les Miserables' after having won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor while on tour with the show. He was also the first American to perform the role in London's West End. Mark reprised the role of Jean Valjean in a special concert version of Les Miserables presented to a sold out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl. He has performed the role of Jean Val Jean more than 2,900 times. 
Mark made his Carnegie Hall Debut with Mr. Marvin Hamlisch in April '97, and has been a guest artist with numerous symphonies around the country and the world. Mark made his PBS Debut in 2003 with the Boston Pops and followed that performance with the PBS Christmas Special for the U.S. Military Troupes where he was featured with Marvin Hamlisch and The National Symphony Orchestra. Mark was also seen in the PBS Special ‘A Tale of Two Cities in Concert’
Best known for his theatre work, other Broadway Credits include the Captain Walker role in The Who's "Tommy" and Tommy Tunes' " The Best Little Whore House Goes Public". Further New York successes include the Off-Broadway revival of "Chess"; "Hey Love" the critically acclaimed review of Mary Rogers' music, conceived and directed by Richard Maltby, Jr.; "A Helluva Town" the Bernstein review at Rainbow & Stars where Mark enjoyed RAVE reviews, and "The Show Goes On", with Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. National Tours and Regional works include: Carousel, Chess, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Seven Brides and the Hal Prince/Livent Inc. production of "Show Boat".
Mark earned his first gold record for his participation on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's recording 'The Lost Christmas Eve'. Mark's Broadway CD, “Broadway and Beyond” has received much acclaim. His newest CD, “If You Really Knew Me” marked his crossover into the adult contemporary world. Check out his website at: http://www.jmarkmcvey.com/welcome.html
Christy Tarr-McVey made her Broadway debut as Mrs. Walker in "The Who's Tommy." and was part of the first national tour. Other Broadway credits include: "Annie - The 20th Anniversary Tour" with Nell Carter, and "Jekyll and Hyde" where she played the roles of Kate and Emma. Regional works include Ruby in "Dames at Sea"and Nellie in "South Pacific". She works regularly in the commercial business for companies such as Mattel, Allstate, MasterCard. Pfizer, Microsoft7, Magnavision Eye Wear, Comcast and Gateway Health.
"... rare is the singer whose voice projects the characteristics and personality of a song. Whether it is a sassy jazz tune, lyrical ballad or the passionate act one ending power duet, Christy Tarr-McVey does just that. She embraces a song, ingests it then let's it soar with impeccable phrasing and the purist of tone"
Greensboro Symphony POPS
