Dreamweaver Marketing News, THE TEXAS TENORS RIDE INTO HEINZ HALL WITH PNC POPS APRIL 24-26

For Immediate Release
April 9, 2015

THE TEXAS TENORS RIDE INTO HEINZ HALL
WITH PNC POPS APRIL 24-26

PITTSBURGH – A one-of-a-kind classically trained country trio, The Texas Tenors join the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall for a weekend of PNC Pops performances on April 24-26. 

Following their star-making turn on America’s Got Talent, The Texas Tenors — John Hagen, Marcus Collins and JC Fisher — have evolved into the country’s favorite tenors with an eclectic repertoire consisting of Broadway hits, classical, gospel and country music.  Audiences will hear classics like “God Bless the USA,” “Amazing Grace,” “Unchained Melody” and “Nessun Dorma,” all performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and led by Resident Conductor Lawrence Loh.

The Texas Tenors will be signing merchandise in the Grand Lobby following each performance.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets, ranging in price from $24.75 to $99.75, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 or by visiting pittsburghsymphony.org. Learn more about the Texas Tenors at thetexastenors.com.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra would like to recognize and thank PNC for its 2014-2015 title sponsorship of PNC Pops. Fairmont Pittsburgh is the official hotel of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and music director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, Lawrence Loh is an engaging conductor of impressive range and talent. Beginning in the 2015-16 season, Loh will become the first music director of Symphoria, based in Syracuse N.Y., founded by former members of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.  As resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Loh works closely with Music Director Manfred Honeck and conducts a wide range of concerts including classical, educational and pops. He is active in the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Community Engagement and Partnership Concerts, extending the symphony’s reach into other communities. He made his debut on the main classical series conducting Handel’s Messiah in December 2008. Loh led the enormously popular Fiddlesticks Family Concert Series where he played the part of host and conductor. 

In addition to his duties on the podium, he is an audience favorite in the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Concert Preludes lecture series, edits radio broadcasts and makes many public appearances. His association with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra began as assistant conductor in 2005. He was promoted to associate conductor in 2006 and to resident conductor in 2007.  Since his appointment as music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic in 2005, the orchestra has made its mark as an ensemble of superb musicianship, performing electrifying performances year-round. Off the podium, Loh is very active in the region as an arts leader and music advocate, and is constantly in demand as a guest speaker and clinician.  Loh’s recent guest conducting engagements include the National Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Charleston Symphony Orchestra (SC), Greater Bridgeport Symphony and return engagements with the Dallas and El Paso Symphonies. 

Other recent guest conducting appearances include the Malaysian Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony and the San Angelo Symphony. He has conducted the symphony orchestras of Portland, Cedar Rapids, Colorado Springs, East Texas, Fort Collins, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Plano, Shreveport, Sioux City, Spokane and Tallahassee among others.  He has led Korea’s Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Yale Philharmonia, Omaha Area Youth Orchestra, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Dallas Chamber Orchestra. His summer appearances include the festivals of Bravo Vail Valley, Breckenridge, Las Vegas and Hot Springs, the Kinhaven Music School (Vt.), the Performing Arts Institute (Pa.) and the Carnegie Mellon Summer Strings Camp. 

Loh held the positions of assistant and associate conductor of the Dallas Symphony from 2001 to 2005. He led the Dallas Symphony in a variety of classical subscription and educational programs throughout each season. He was brought to national attention in February 2004 when he stepped in to conduct on short notice for an ailing Charles Dutoit, conducting Stravinsky's Petrouchka and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.  Prior to his Dallas appointment, Loh was appointed by Music Director Marin Alsop to be associate conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. From 1998 to 2001, he conducted more than 50 concerts annually, including classical subscription, pops and education performances, as well as family and outreach programs. While in Denver, he was also music director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra, the premiere youth orchestra in the Colorado Rocky Mountain Region. Additionally, Loh served as the interim director of Orchestras and Head of the Orchestral Conducting Program at Denver University’s Lamont School of Music in 2000-2001. 

In May 1998, Loh received his artist diploma in orchestral conducting from Yale University, also earning the Eleazar de Carvalho Prize, given to the most outstanding conductor in the Yale graduating class. During his years at Yale, he was selected to be the assistant conductor of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and apprentice conductor of the Hot Springs Music Festival. He received further training at the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival and School and has additional degrees from Indiana University and the University of Rochester. A dedicated teacher, Loh held the position of associate instructor in music theory at Indiana University and teaching assistant at Yale University in advanced hearing, conducting and orchestration. He was also the guest curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for “What Makes Music?” an interactive exhibit, offering the opportunity to explore the science of music and sound, as well as the role of music in culture.  Loh was born in southern California of Korean parentage and raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennifer have a son, Charlie, and a daughter, Hilary. 

John Hagen has been described as “astonishing, a superb tenor of deep musicality." He made his Lincoln Center debut in New York City in Teatro Grattacielo’s mounting of Mascagni’s “Gulglielmo Ratcliff.” Hagen created three tenor roles in the world premier of “The Lost Dauphane” for Pamiro Opera airing on PBS. He has performed a vast array of operatic roles ranging from Alfredo in “La Traviata” to the title role of Otello for Cleveland Opera on tour. Hagen is highly regarded for his performances of the Verdi Requiem and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, having performed these works with more than a dozen symphonies across the United States. He has received many awards throughout his career including finalist in the New Jersey Opera Association of Verismo Opera competition held at Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera Auditions Regional Finalist and winner of numerous other competitions. Hagen has taught voice and vocal pedagogy at Wartburg College and at his alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa.

Marcus Collins was born in a small town and began performing at the age of four. He first learned how to sing by emulating his favorite artists like Garth Brooks, George Michael and Freddie Mercury before training classically in college. Collins has performed throughout the world on cruise ships and numerous stage productions including a performance in Times Square with the Broadway cast of “Hairspray,” Off-Broadway’s “Altar Boyz” as Matthew and “Permission: A Rock Musical.” He also starred in multiple productions of “The Sound of Music” in the roles of Kurt, Rolf and Uncle Max. Beyond music, he has worked extensively as an actor with appearances in more than 100 episodes of network television and 25 films including “P.S. I Love You,” “Semi-Pro,” “Delirious,” “30 Rock,” “Sex and the City,” recurring roles on “One Life to Live” and “As the World Turns,” and a guest VJ on MTV's “TRL.” One of his favorite roles was appearing as Edward Carnby in the video game “Alone in the Dark” for Eden Games in 2008.

JC Fisher has entertained audiences around the world for the past 15 years. In high school, he had a passion for sports and also enjoyed singing in church. He discovered a deeper love for singing at Wichita State University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in music. Fisher performed various roles including Rodolfo in “La Boheme,” Tamino in “The Magic Flute,” Ernesto in “Don Pasquale,” Henrick in “A Little Night Music” and even Miss America's duet partner at the 1997 Miss Kansas Pageant. After college, Fisher traveled to Lucca, Italy where he sang in the Puccini festival under the direction of acclaimed Italian maestro Lorenzo Malfatti. He then created a home base in Katy, Texas before sailing the high seas aboard more than 75 cruise ships worldwide as a guest entertainer. This allowed Fisher to create a show featuring many different genres of music and world class arrangements, which eventually led to his idea of forming The Texas Tenors. After many years of traveling and concerts, his most memorable performance is still one from college where he found his future wife. Jennifer Vannatta, Miss Kansas 1998, married Fisher in 2004 and they have three children.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, known for its artistic excellence for more than 119 years, is credited with a rich history of the world’s finest conductors and musicians, and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Past music directors have included Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), Andre Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996) and Mariss Jansons (1995-2004).  This tradition of outstanding international music directors was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra has been at the forefront of championing new American works, and gave the first performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” in 1944 and John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” in 1986. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony broadcast on the airwaves coast-to-coast and in the late 1970s it made the ground breaking PBS series “Previn and the Pittsburgh.” The orchestra has received increased national attention since 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International, produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900 — including 36 international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America—the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest orchestras.

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts is owned and operated by Pittsburgh Symphony, Inc., a non-profit organization, and is the year-round home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The cornerstone of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, Heinz Hall also hosts many other events that do not feature its world-renowned orchestra, including Broadway shows, comedians, speakers and much more. For a full calendar of upcoming non-symphony events at the hall, visit heinzhall.org.

Editors Please Note:

Friday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m.

Heinz Hall

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

PNC POPS: THE TEXAS TENORS           

LAWRENCE LOH, conductor

JOHN HAGEN, vocals

MARCUS COLLINS, vocals

JC FISHER, vocals

TIM LEE, keyboard

LARRY HANSON, electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, keyboard

RYAN HURN, drums

MARCUS WILLETT, bass

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Contact: Louise Sciannameo, Vice President of Communications and External Relations
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsciannameo@pittsburghsymphony.org

Contact: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

Twitter: @pghsymphony |Facebook: facebook.com/PittsburghSymphonyOrchestra