(The adorable Gilbert family: Sister Jennifer, concertmaster of the Orchestre National de Lyon; mom Yoko Takebe, a Philharmonic violinist; and Dad Michael, a retired Philharmonic violinist. Photo by Chris Lee from the NYPhil website.)
Alan Gilbert is head chaperone as he takes the NY Phils on an international tour called ~Asian Horizons~. Oh hay -- guess where they are? Less than one month after stepping in officially as the New York Philharmonic's 25th Music Director (actually, it was on September 16...OC was there) Gilbert has left the building, packed-up and leading his orchestra in a five-country jaunt that began last week and ends on the 24th.
In the shadow of a successful 2008 Asia tour, the NY Philharmonic revisits Tokyo (where his mother’s family is from), Seoul, Singapore, Hanoi (they've actually never been before) Abu Dhabi, and Al Ain, where they'll play a rotating program that includes Magnus Lindberg’s EXPO, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto (with young Korean violinst Ye-Eun Choi), Beethoven’s 7th, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 (with Emanuel Ax), and Brahms’s Violin Concerto (with Frank Peter Zimmermann). Alec Baldwin, will join the orchestra for their Hanoi concert as host.
Go to their website for loads more media, including orchestra members quietly sampling the delicious Asian cusine, and then a sake-chugging contest where they turn a tuba into a keg. Just kidding about that last part.
C YA! Don't pick up any hitchhikers! Below are a few shots of the Philharmonic President, Zarin Mehta and Gilbert at a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.