PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: January 25, 2017

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

presents

The National Symphony Orchestra with Joshua Bell curated by Gourmet Symphony

featuring Chef Mike Isabella

Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 7 p.m. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

(Washington) – As part of a weeklong residency at the Kennedy Center, the internationally renowned violinist Joshua Bell and the National Symphony Orchestra join forces with the D.C.-based Gourmet Symphony to present a unique collaboration that showcases the musical and culinary arts in one evening’s program. The multi-course, culinary-inspired concert will feature Grammy Award®-winning violinist Joshua Bell as soloist, celebrity chef Mike Isabella as the menu creator, and the innovators from Gourmet Symphony as curators of the experience. The event will be held in the Atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 7 p.m. Tickets and sponsorships are currently on sale at kennedy-center.org.

Inspired by Joshua Bell’s professed love for food, the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra offer this alternative performance as part of his February residency entitled The Man with the Violin. To execute the concept, they have enlisted the help of Gourmet Symphony, a local organization that specializes in producing and presenting entertainment experiences that expertly pair food and drink with classical music selections. In doing so, Gourmet Symphony takes away many of the barriers that prevent contemporary patrons from enjoying traditional concerts, and encourages them to eat, drink, listen, and socialize in a multisensory, interactive format. Through this approach, symphonic performances also become a platform for boosted creativity, as well as to unite and equally highlight the talents of musicians and culinary artists.

Bell and Gourmet Symphony have carefully chosen six recognizable and accessible musical works that will be engaging to seasoned concertgoers and newcomers alike. Led by conductor John Devlin, the National Symphony Orchestra will perform the first movement of Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 4; the first movement

of Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 2; and the D.C. premiere of Eric Nathan’s Glimpse. The Orchestra will also support Bell’s solo appearances in Manuel Ponce’s Estrellita, Nigel Hess’s Ladies in Lavender, and Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane. These pieces served as the source of inspiration for the evening’s five courses and drink pairings.

As the concert unfolds, guests will enjoy a fine-dining menu complemented by custom cocktails and wine pours as envisioned by Top Chef All-Stars runner-up Mike Isabella. The D.C.-based chef and restaurateur—owner of Graffiato, Kapnos, and seven additional establishments in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia—collaborated with the Gourmet Symphony curators to create five gourmet dishes that reflect abstract concepts, hidden connections, or thematic ideas drawn from the musical works. Isabella and his team also crafted beverage pairings for each dish, which are designed to enhance the flavors, aromas, and consumption of the meal.

The February 8 culinary-inspired concert fully integrates the dinner and

performance experience as part of the same program. Guests will savor curated dishes and drinks as they sample the musical selections that inspired those bites. The background for the collaboration and the creative process behind each culinary pairing will be detailed in remarks by Bell, Chef Isabella, and the Gourmet Symphony curators. TICKET INFORMATION All-inclusive, general admission tickets are $300 per person. Tickets are available for purchase by visiting the Kennedy Center website at kennedy-center.org, in person at the Kennedy Center box office, or by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324. ABOUT JOSHUA BELL Grammy Award winner Joshua Bell, often referred to as “the poet of the violin” has received the prestigious accolades of a superstar classical musician. Bell commands the stage as a soloist, recording artist, and conductor performing on the world’s most prestigious stages, including 33 appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Hollywood Bowl, and London’s Royal Albert Hall. Named the Music Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in 2011, Bell is the first person to hold this post since Sir Neville Marriner formed the orchestra in 1958 He has collaborated with A-listers across all genres, including Josh Groban, Sting, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Placido Domingo, Gloria Estefan, and Alison Krauss. Bell received his first violin at age 4 and at 14 performed with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. At 17, he made his Carnegie Hall debut, and at 18, his first recording on the Decca Label. Bell has recorded numerous movie soundtracks, including the Oscar-winning score for The Red Violin. More than 40 of Bell’s albums have garnered Grammy, Mercury, Gramophone, and/or Echo Klassik awards.

Bell has a special association with Washington, D.C. In addition to performing numerous times with the National Symphony Orchestra and at the Kennedy Center, Bell agreed to perform incognito as a subway busker—part of Washington Post’s Gene Weingarten Pulitzer Prize-winning story about art and context. The article provoked an international firestorm of discussion. Bell has been honored by the New York Chapter of The Recording Academy and Education Through Music, received the Paul Newman Award, and was named “Instrumentalist of the Year, 2010” by Musical America. In addition, Bell received the Humanitarian Award from Seton Hall University the Academy of Achievement Award, and The Avery Fisher Prize. He was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, and Billboard Magazine named him the Classical Artist of the Year. Bell has been featured on programs ranging from Sesame Street to PBS Live From Lincoln telecasts; from The Today Show to The Tonight Show, and in many specials including the Grammy Awards Telecast and the HBO Emmy Award Winning YoungArts Masterclass series. Bell’s most recent recording is For The Love of Brahms with Steven Isserlis, Jeremy Denk, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. ABOUT MIKE ISABELLA Mike Isabella is a Washington, D.C.-based chef and restaurateur, recently honored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington as Restaurateur of the Year. In 2011, Isabella opened Graffiato to critical acclaim. He now has nine restaurants in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia with additional outposts in Nationals Park and Ronald Reagan National Airport. In 2017, Isabella will open three more full-service restaurants and a concept in Baltimore-Washington International Airport, along with a food emporium in Fairfax, Virginia. Isabella Eatery will be an unprecedented 10-concept dining experience spanning 41,000 square feet in Tysons Galleria, a luxury retail outlet in Northern Virginia. In 2012, Chef Isabella was named FOOD & WINE magazine’s The People’s Best New Chef Mid-Atlantic. Mike Isabella’s Crazy Good Italian is his first cookbook, also published in 2012. Outside the kitchen, Chef Isabella was a judge on “Man vs. Child: Chef Showdown” on FYI. Previously, he competed on Season Six of Top Chef, and Top Chef Duels, and he was the runner-up on Top Chef All-Stars. He is also a member of the American Chef Corps, a network of chefs from across the United States who serve as culinary diplomats and resources to the Department of State. ABOUT GOURMET SYMPHONY Gourmet Symphony was founded in 2014 with the mission to reimagine the classical music experience by presenting culinary-inspired concerts that unite Washington, D.C.’s cultural and artisanal communities. By curating innovative programs that explore the connections between classical music and locally sourced cuisine, Gourmet Symphony breaks the conceived boundaries of traditional concert formats and inspires interest in both the classical and culinary arts. Gourmet Symphony debuted at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in February 2015 with the support of a successful Kickstarter campaign and

has since presented events across the nation's capital, garnering critical acclaim for its pioneering approach to classical music programming. ABOUT JOHN DEVLIN John Devlin is an innovative conductor whose performances are hailed by The Washington Post as “refreshingly unfamiliar” events that deliver “a new audience for classical music,” and that have brought “the sold-out house to its feet, cheering.” This is John’s mission as a conductor—to deliver concerts that frame orchestral music in new and innovative ways. Devlin’s artistic leadership has inspired many forward-thinking concepts such as Gourmet Symphony, Go-Go Symphony, Seamless Symphony, Interactive Symphony and the New Retro Project. Each reflects Devlin’s mission of making classical music attainable and engaging for all audiences. These projects have earned high praise as performances that “stand out and are exciting, ambitious and, dare we say — funky?” Currently, Devlin is the Assistant Conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and a cover conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra, assisting Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. Devlin also serves as the Artistic Director and Conductor of Gourmet Symphony and the McLean Youth Orchestra. With these, and other orchestras, Devlin has conducted at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and at the Music Center at Strathmore. ABOUT THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The 2016–2017 season marks the NSO’s 86th, and its seventh and final led by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, also the Music Director of the Kennedy Center. In 2016, Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda was named the Orchestra’s seventh music director, beginning with the 2017–2018 season; he serves as Music Director Designate for the 2016–2017 season. Founded in 1931, the Orchestra has, throughout its history, been committed to artistic excellence and music education. In 1986, the National Symphony became an artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where it has performed a full season of subscription concerts since the Center opened in 1971. The National Symphony Orchestra regularly participates in events of national and international importance, including performances for state occasions, presidential inaugurations and official holiday celebrations. Its regularly televised holiday appearances for Capitol Concerts and local radio broadcasts on WETA make the NSO one of the most-heard orchestras in the country. The Orchestra itself numbers 96 musicians who perform approximately 150 concerts each year. These include classical subscription series, pops concerts, summer performances at Wolf Trap and on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, chamber music performances in the Terrace Theater and on the Millennium Stage, and an extensive educational program, with performances designed for ages three years and up, and audience engagement activities, as well. Additionally, the NSO’s community engagement projects are nationally recognized, including NSO In Your Neighborhood which comprises of a week of approximately 50 performances in schools, churches, community centers, and other neighborhood venues) and NSO Sound Health, which has taken the NSO to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Children’s Inn at NIH, Walter

Reed National Military Medical Center, Children’s National Medical Center, and Inova Health System. Career development opportunities include the NSO Youth Fellowship Program and its Summer Music Institute.

For more information about this event, please visit the Kennedy Center’s website.

 #NSOrch

For information about the event curators, please visit Gourmet Symphony’s website.

#anewtasteinmusic

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PRESS CONTACTS For the National Symphony Orchestra: Rachelle Roe (202) 416-8443 rbroe@kennedy-center.org For Gourmet Symphony: Camille Cintrón Devlin (787) 298-0717 ccintron@gourmetsymphony.org