American Maestro Hobart Earle visits Georgia
On April 9-16, 2007, invited by the International Charity Foundation of the Patriarchate of Georgia and the Akaki Ramishvili Foundation “Tradition and Innovation,” prominent U.S. conductor Maestro Hobart Earle visited Georgia to conduct the gala closing concert of the second annual “From Easter to Ascension” festival. Maestro Earle’s visit was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi.
The festival was dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of His Holiness, Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Featuring visiting solo violinist Nato Gabunia and Dutch solo violinist Wouter Vossen, the closing concert was held at the Rustaveli Theatre on April 15. Maestro Earle conducted the Georgian National Orchestra, which played Gia Kancheli’s “The Twilight” performed in Georgia for the first time. Other pieces performed at the concert were Vivaldi’s "Four Seasons," Ravel’s “Gypsy” and Mozart’s Symphony #35. Among the full house that attended were the Patriarch of Georgia, representatives of the Patriarchate of Georgia, Government of Georgia, and international diplomatic corps. At the end of the concert Ambassador Tefft and the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy hosted a reception in honor of Maestro Earle.
Born in Venezuela of American parents, Hobart Earle is currently in his fifteenth season as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. During this time Mr. Earle has elevated the orchestra to a position of international prominence, unprecedented in the history of the organization. The Odessa Philharmonic is the first performing arts organization in Ukraine to have its funding status raised by the government of Ukraine from local to regional to national, since the independence of Ukraine in 1991.
Hobart Earle has conducted hundreds of concerts with the Odessa Philharmonic to wide acclaim in the major concert halls of the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine. Highlights of Maestro Earle’s career include performances in the Vienna’s Musikverein, Cologne’s Philharmonie, Bonn’s Beethovenhalle, London’s Barbican Hall, Madrid’s National Auditorium, Budapest’s Liszt Academy, the Moscow Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society. He has also played extensively in the United States, where he has appeared in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, San Francisco’s Davies Hall and the General Assembly of the United Nations. |
