PRESS CONFERENCE ON NEW WORK TO BE PERFORMED TOMORROW AT UN DAY CONCERT

PRESS CONFERENCE ON NEW WORK TO BE PERFORMED TOMORROW AT UN DAY CONCERT

Plans for a special observance of United Nations Day tomorrow, 24 October, were announced at a Headquarters press conference today.  At 7 p.m. in the General Assembly Hall, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Maestro Pinchas Steinberg, will perform a world premiere composed by William Blank (born 1957).  The orchestra’s Director, Metin Arditi, announced this to correspondents at the news conference in which Switzerland’s Permanent Representative, Jenö C.A. Staehelin also participated.

The speakers were introduced by the Under-Secretary-General for Communication and Public Information, Shashi Tharoor.

Mr. Arditi said the piece, commissioned by the orchestra as a gift to the “wonderful Organization” of the United Nations, was called “Exode” [Exodus].  Asked why the composition was not called “Exile” (the same word both in English and French), the composer had answered that “exile” was a state, while “exode” was a movement, and music was a movement.  In a one-hour performance without intermission, the orchestra will also perform “Pictures at an Exhibition” from Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), orchestrated by Maurice Ravel.

Mr. Arditi said the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has had a tradition of performing at the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations on 24 October to show its attachment to the Organization.  As Switzerland was approaching membership to the United Nations, he had thought it would be a good occasion to ask his Government to apply to play at New York Headquarters.  However, contacts for the concert needed to start before the people of Switzerland would vote on membership.  Mr. Staehelin, who had been instrumental in organizing the concert, had said at the time that if the vote would be “Yes”, it would be an excellent occasion to go to New York, but if the vote would be “No”, it would be a venue for Switzerland to express its solidarity with and attachment to the Organization.

Mr. Staehelin told the correspondents his country was happy it could demonstrate its attachment to the United Nations by offering the concert to the Organization’s staff.  The concert was possible thanks to the generosity of the orchestra and was meant to demonstrate the strong links between Geneva and New York.  It was an expression of the attachment of his country to the United Nations, and also to celebrate today’s bestowment to the Organization by the European Parliament of the 2003 Sakharov Prize for “Freedom of Thought” to the Organization.

Introducing the speakers, Mr. Tharoor said Switzerland, “one of the oldest friends of the UN”, was also one of its newest Members.  Soon after its formal admission as the 190^th Member State, the Swiss Government had volunteered the services of its “premiere” orchestra for this year’s United Nations Day concert.  He said the orchestra’s director was a “renaissance man”, a successful businessman, and chairman of several important civil society organizations, as well as an “essayist of note”, who had published commentary’s on Machiavelli -– “of new relevance to the United Nations” –- and Friedrich Nietzsche.

He noted that the orchestra’s conductor, Maestro Pinchas Steinberg, had led a “gala” of prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandthaus Orchestra.  It was the best that Switzerland could offer musically.

[William Blank, composer of “Exode” was born in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1957.  He started piano and percussion at an early age and studied music at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique in Geneva, graduating in 1979.  His activity as a composer started in 1977 with “Hesse Lieder” for soprano and orchestra.  Around 20 of his works have been published and recorded, including “Omaggi” and “Canti d’Ungaretti”.  Taking up an invitation to head the class for composition and orchestration at the Lausanne conservatory, Mr. Blank devotes most of his time to teaching and composing.]

* *** *