Honeck, Yo-Yo Ma in PSO Concert

For Immediate Release
Aug. 12, 2013

MUSIC DIRECTOR MANFRED HONECK AND CELLIST YO-YO MA OPEN 2013-2014 PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SEASON WITH ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’ GALA

PITTSBURGH – Music will fill the air, beanstalks will reach to the sky and attendees will live “happily ever after” when legendary, award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma joins Music Director Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to kick off the 2013-2014 season at a “Once Upon a Time” gala concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27 at Heinz Hall.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Ma will transport audience members to the magical lands of childhood when they perform Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, as well as Dvorak’s Carnival Overture and other works inspired by fairy tales. The concert is bookended by a Gala party and Soiree, which will be held at Heinz Hall and the Fairmont Hotel respectively.

Tickets, ranging from $40 to $110 for the gala concert only, went on sale today and can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900, or by visiting www.pittsburghsymphony.org. Ticket prices are subject to change. There are a limited number of tickets for the concert available.

The Once Upon a Time Gala is chaired by the Tillotson Family—Carol Hefren Tillotson, Bob Gallagher and Sharon Tillotson Gallagher, Craig and Jill Tillotson, and Curt Fleming and Kim Tillotson Fleming—along with Honorary Chairs Ginny and Dick Simmons and the Walton Family. The gala, which includes a pre-concert cocktail hour, a silent auction, a post-concert formal dinner and a dessert reception with Maestro Honeck, is sold out.

The Once Upon a Time Soirée includes valet parking, pre-concert cocktail hour, preferred seating for the concert, and a post-concert celebration with symphony musicians at the Fairmont, including hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, live music and more. Tickets are $175 to $225 per person. The Once Upon a Time Soirée is chaired by Jensina A. Chutz, along with Honorary Chairs Margaret and Todd Izzo. The Soirée Silent Auction Chair is Erin Starzynski. Soiree tickets also are on sale now and going fast. Call the box office at 412-392-4900 or visit www.pittsburghsymphony.org to purchase soiree tickets.

All proceeds from the Gala concert and parties support the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Education and Community Engagement programs.

Arguably one of the most famous classical musicians, Yo-Yo Ma is a best-selling classical recording artist with a discography of more than 75 albums, including 15 Grammy Award-winners. He has been awarded the Avery Fisher Prize, Glenn Gould Prize, National Medal of Arts, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors. In January 2009, at President Obama’s invitation, Ma played in the quartet performance of John Williams’ Air and Simple Gifts at the 56th Inaugural Ceremony. Ma plays two instruments, a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.

Manfred Honeck was appointed the ninth Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January 2007, and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. After a first extension in 2009, his contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season. Following their successful European Tour in 2010, European Festival Tour 2011 and European Tour 2012, with a week-long residency at Musikverein in Vienna, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra triumphantly returns to Europe’s major music festivals in August and September 2013 with stops at Lucerne, Grafenegg, Musikfest Berlin, Beethovenfest Bonn and several others. Honeck's successful work in Pittsburgh is captured on CD by the Japanese label Exton. So far, Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben have been released to critical acclaim. Their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 won a 2012 International Classical Music Award (ICMA).  Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. An accomplished violinist and violist, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Editors Please Note:

Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

ONCE UPON A TIME
Heinz Hall
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MANFRED HONECK, conductor
YO-YO MA, cello

Antonin Dvorak                       Carnival Overture, Opus 92
Engelbert Humperdinck          “Dream Pantomime” from Hansel and Gretel
Sergei Prokofiev                      Suite No. 1 from Cinderella, Opus 107
1.      Quarrel
2.      Cinderella’s Waltz
3.      Midnight
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky          Suite from The Sleeping Beauty, Opus 66a
1.      Valse
2.      Panorama
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky          Andante Cantabile for Cello and String Orchestra
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky          Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Opus 33

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Contact: Louise Sciannameo, Associate Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsciannameo@pittsburghsymphony.org
Contact: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Presents Unspoken

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                               February 20, 2013

Contact: Meghan McNamara
Marketing Coordinator
412-454-9117
mmcnamara@pittsburghballet.org

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Presents Unspoken at the August Wilson Center
Mixed Repertory Program Features Three Great Masters March 8-17

(Pittsburgh, PA) – Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre returns to the intimate theater setting of the August Wilson Center for an eclectic mixed repertory program featuring master choreographers George Balanchine, Antony Tudor and Mark Morris in Unspoken, onstage for seven performances March 8-17, 2014.
Spanning works by 20th Century contemporaries George Balanchine and Antony Tudor to present-day dance force Mark Morris, the Unspoken program features Tudor’s evocative Jardin Aux Lilas (Lilac Garden), Balanchine’s classical Serenade and Morris’ joyful Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes.

Serenade
Choreography:  George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust
Staged by: Sandra Jennings
Music:  Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48
Composer: Peter I. Tchaikovsky
Original Costume Design: Karinska; Costumes built in the PBT Costume Shop

A signature of Balanchine repertoire, Serenade premiered in 1935, and holds the distinction as the first ballet that Balanchine choreographed in America. Serenade features 28 dancers in a work of pure musicality and emotional energy created for Tchaikovsky’s soaring Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48. Although Serenade is an abstract ballet based in the beauty of the movement and its musicality, the emotion of the music and interplay of the dancers suggest an underlying storyline. Balanchine originally choreographed Serenade to prepare his advanced ballet students for the stage in the early years of the School of American Ballet by translating the disciplined technique of ballet class to a sophisticated stage quality. It remained one of Balanchine’s favorite ballets throughout the years and has been transformed and staged for the world’s leading ballet companies and highly-trained professional dancers.

Jardin Aux Lilas (Lilac Garden)
Choreography: Antony Tudor
Staged by: Donald Mahler
Music: Ernest Chausson
Costume Design: Raymond Sovey after sketches by Hugh Stevenson
Scenery & Lighting Design: Tom Lingwood

Despite its brief 18-minutes, Jardin Aux Lilas (Lilac Garden) is a true story ballet, binding audiences to the bittersweet farewell of two lovers and the music of Ernest Chausson’s Poeme for violin and orchestra Opus 28. Free from mime and extraneous gestures, the story is held solely in the steps as Caroline, on the eve of her marriage to the man she does not love, parts from her lover at a garden reception.  Perfumed by lilac blossoms, the party encapsulates the repressed emotion of the characters amid the societal restraints of the Edwardian Era. At the time of its 1936 world premiere, Jardin Aux Lilas broke with balletic conventions by placing dancers in colloquial Edwardian dress and society rather than the more fanciful costumes and settings of the classical story ballets. Rooted in pure, classical style, Tudor distinguished his choreography with emotional exploration of realistic situations that challenged dancers to project the ballet’s meaning through clear intention in each step. The ballet is brimming with rich details and meaning, beginning with Caroline’s quiet intake of breath and ending with her exhalation in the last movement. According to repetition Donald Mahler, who set the piece on PBT dancers,  the essence of Tudor’s ballets is that “the people and motivations are real — there is an honesty in doing Tudor.”

Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes – Pittsburgh Premiere
Composer: Virgil Thomson
Music: Etudes for piano (Repeating Tremolo, Fingered Fifths, Double Glissando, Oscillating Arm, Pivoting on the Thumb, Alternating Octaves, Double Sevenths, Broken Arpeggios, Parallel Chords, Ragtime Bass, For the Weaker Fingers, and Tenor Lead)
Costume Design: Santo Loquasto
Lighting Design: Phil Sandstrom

Set to 13 piano etudes by American composer Virgil Thomson, Mark Morris’ Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyespresents a refreshing and inventive interpretation of classical ballet vocabulary. Described as “undeviating in his devotion to music,” Morris’ Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes is no exception, immersing dancers in a joyful exploration of Thomson’s playful score, which will be played live at the August Wilson Center by PBT Company Pianist Yoland Collin.  The title of the ballet is taken from Ben Jonson’s 1616 poem To Celia, which was set to music sometime after 1770 and remains a popular traditional English folk song. Thomson uses the tune in the piano etudeTenor Lead, which is the last etude in the ballet. Thomson is one of several composers associated with the development of the “American sound” in classical music, and his work has been described as marked by clarity, simplicity and humor, and rooted in American “hymnbook harmony.” Originally created for American Ballet Theatre in 1988, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes evokes a sense of ease and naturalness among dancers and moments of humor, tenderness and congeniality.

Tickets
Tickets for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Unspoken range in price from $25.75-68.75 and can be purchased online atwww.pbt.org or by calling 412-456-6666.

About the Choreographers
George Balanchine
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Mr. Balanchine (1904-1983), was undoubtedly the most brilliant choreographer of our generation. George Balanchine's gifts to ballet are legion. He stretched the dance and dancer beyond their established limits, and along the way created a vocabulary and an aesthetic that changed the way we look at dance. He emphasized increased turnout, batterie, port de bras and fast movement, as well as higher extensions and softer, lighter landings from jumps. In short, he got people dancing bigger and faster than ever before. The celebrated Balanchine style has influenced the technical training of ballet dancers and choreographers throughout the world. Mr. Balanchine created more than 400 dance works. His ballets are in the repertoires of the world's major ballet companies.

Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor (1908-1987), was one of the giants of twentieth century choreography. He began dancing professionally in 1927 when he joined Marie Rambert's company, where he choreographed and danced such works as The Planets and Lilac Garden. In 1940 he moved to New York City, joining American Ballet Theatre, for which he created many of his signature “psychological” ballets, including Pillar of Fire and Shadow of the Wind. In these works he sought to convey emotional conflict and aspects of character and motivation. In 1986, Tudor was a recipient of the Capezio Award, and in May 1986, with the Handel Medallion, New York City’s highest cultural honor. In December of the same year he was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.

Mark Morris
Mark Morris was born on August 29, 1956, in Seattle, Washington, where he studied with Verla Flowers and Perry Brunson. He formed the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980, and has since created more than 140 works for the company. From 1988-1991, he was Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the national opera house of Belgium. In 1990, he founded the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Much in demand as a ballet choreographer, Morris has created eighteen ballets since 1986 and his work is in the repertory of companies worldwide. He also works extensively in opera, directing and choreographing at the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, among others. Morris is currently serving as music director of the 2013 Ojai Music Festival.
Media Note: For interview or photo requests, please contact Meghan McNamara, marketing coordinator, at 412-454-9117 or mmcnamara@pittsburghballet.org.
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Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Remmereit, Shaham Return to Heinz Hall with Walker Work

For Immediate Release

Dec. 5, 2012

GUEST CONDUCTOR ARILD REMMEREIT, GRAMMY-WINNING VIOLINIST GIL SHAHAM RETURN TO HEINZ HALL; PSO PERFORMS COMMISSIONED WORK BY PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING COMPOSER GEORGE WALKER

Violinist Gil Shaham

 PITTSBURGH – Multiple Grammy Award-winner Gil Shaham returns to Heinz Hall to perform Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto in a weekend of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s BNY Mellon Grand Classics concerts led by guest conductor Arild Remmereit.

The concerts will begin at 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15 and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 16. Tickets, ranging from $20 to $93, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412.392.4900, or by visiting www.pittsburghsymphony.org.

The program also features Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Dreams” Symphony, and Pulitzer Prize-winner George Walker’s “Strands,” co-commissioned by the PSO and three other orchestras. In 1996, Walker became the first black composer to receive the coveted Pulitzer Prize in music for his work, Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra. His works have been performed by virtually every major orchestra in the U.S. and many in England and other countries. He has won numerous awards, including two Guggenheim Fellowships and two Rockefeller Fellowships.

Shaham last performed at Heinz Hall in January 2010. Nicknamed “the Turkish March,” Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto begins with a sweet melody and ends with hints of military-Turkish music. Tchaikovsky’s “Winter Dreams” is one of the Russian composer’s earliest and masterful works.
                                             
The PSO would like to recognize and thank BNY Mellon for their 2012-2013 title sponsorship of BNY Mellon Grand Classics. Fairmont Pittsburgh is the official hotel of the PSO. Delta Air Lines is the official airline of the PSO.

Arild Remmereit, Courtesy of RPO

Over a five-month period in 2005, conductor Arild Remmereit made five dramatic debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Munich Philharmonic, and Vienna Symphony, quickly establishing himself as a major talent on the international scene. The New York Times called his Pittsburgh debut “a breathtakingly dynamic reading of the Schumann [Symphony No. 4]… The only thing listeners seemed to want to talk about afterward was Mr. Remmereit.  ‘Sensational’ was the word heard most frequently.” Remmereit was immediately re-engaged in Pittsburgh, Vienna, Milan and Baltimore and has since conducted many other prominent orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony, where he appears frequently, England’s Hallé Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale in Florence, National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, Dallas Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, and Seoul Philharmonic. The 2012-13 season includes return engagements with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and NACO, which he conducts in subscription and on tour, and debuts with the Naples Philharmonic and Orchestre Symphonique de Québec.

One of the foremost violinists of our time, Gil Shaham’s combination of flawless technique with inimitable warmth and a generosity of spirit has solidified his legacy as an American master. In the 2012-13 season, Shaham continues his long-term exploration of “Violin Concertos of the 1930s,” a project beginning in 2010 and comprising performances at some of the most well-established concert venues with the world’s greatest orchestras. “Violin Concertos of the 1930s,” including the Barber, Berg, Stravinsky and Britten Violin Concertos, as well as the Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 and the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, will be performed with the Orchestras of Baltimore, Boston, New York, Chicago, Montreal, San Francisco and Kansas City and abroad with the Orchestre de Paris and the NHK Symphony.

George Walker

Born in June 1922 in Washington, D.C., of West Indian-American heritage, George Theophilus Walker’s first piano lessons began at age 5 under the supervision of his mother, Rosa King. Before graduating from Dunbar High School at age 14, Walker was presented in his first public recital at 14 at Howard University's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. In 1937, he was admitted as a scholarship student to Oberlin College, where he studied piano with David Moyer and organ with Arthur Poister. Graduating at 18 from Oberlin College with the highest honors in his Conservatory class, he was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music to study piano with Rudolf Serkin, chamber music with William Primrose and Gregor Piatigorsky, and composition with Rosario Scalero, teacher of Samuel Barber. He graduated from the Curtis Institute with Artist Diplomas in piano and composition in 1945, becoming the first black graduate of this renowned music school. Walker has published more than 90 works for orchestra, chamber orchestra, piano, strings, voice, organ, clarinet, guitar, brass, woodwinds, and chorus. His awards include the Harvey Gaul Prize, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo and Bennington Composer Conference Fellowships, two Guggenheim Fellowships, two Rockefeller Fellowships, a Fromm Foundation commission, two Koussevitsky Awards, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, a Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust Award, the Mason Gross Memorial Award, numerous grants from the Research Councils of Smith College, The University of Colorado, Rutgers University, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New Jersey Council on the Arts. Walker has received important commissions from many ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic (Cello Concerto), Cleveland Orchestra (Dialogus for Cello and Orchestra),  Boston Symphony (Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra), Eastman School of Music (An Eastman Overture) , Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Violin and Piano Sonata No. 2), David Ensemble (Five Fancies for Clarinet and Piano Four Hands), Affiliate Artists and Xerox (Guido's Hand), Pew Charitable Trust (Piano Sonata No. 4), The Boys Choir of Harlem (Cantata), The Cleveland Chamber Symphony (Orpheus), New Jersey Symphony (Pageant and Proclamation), Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust (Modus), New Jersey Chamber Music Society (Wind Set), Maryland International Piano Competition (Bauble), Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra (Tangents), New Jersey Youth Symphony (Icarus In Orbit), and Network for New Music (Abu).

Editors Please Note:
Friday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m.

Heinz Hall
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
ARILD REMMEREIT, conductor
GIL SHAHAM, violin

George Walker                          Sinfonia No. 4, “Strands”
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart                        Concerto No. 5 in A major for Violin and Orchestra, K. 219
I.                    Allegro aperto
II.                  Adagio
III.                Rondo: Tempo di menuetto
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky              Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Opus 13, “Winter Dreams”
I.                    Allegro tranquillo
II.                  Adagio cantabile man non tanto
III.                Scherzo: Allegro scherzando giocoso
IV.                Finale: Andante lugubre – Allegro moderato – Allegro maestoso

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Contact: James Barthen, Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4835 | email: jbarthen@pittsburghsymphony.org
Contact: Ramesh Santanam, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: rsantanam@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

PBT Pilots Audio Program to Enhance Sensory Experience

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dec. 7, 2012
Contact: Meghan McNamara
Marketing Coordinator
412-454-9117
mmcnamara@pittsburghballet.org
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Pilots Audio Description Program at Dec. 14, Performance of The Nutcracker

“Touch Tour” to Offer Sensory Experience Prior to Performance

PITTSBURGH, PA – Following the introduction of braille and large-print programs this season, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is piloting a new Audio Description Program at the 7 p.m. Dec. 14, performance of The Nutcracker to help patrons with vision impairments visualize the choreography, set design and costumes set to Tchaikovsky’s iconic score.

Beyond listening to live verbal descriptions during the production, patrons can get a full sensory experience by attending a pre-performance “Touch Tour” at 5:45 p.m. on Dec. 14, in the Benedum Center’s South Lounge. Assisted by a costumed dancer, attendees will have the opportunity to touch costume samples, such as the Sugarplum Fairy tutu’s stiff netting and intricate embellishment, a textured tactile map of the stage set layout and the poses of signature choreography, such as the carriage of the hands in the Snow Scene. Following the performance, PBT Education Director Alyssa Herzog Melby, who will audio describe the production, will host a feedback session with attendees to evaluate PBT’s first audio-described production.

“Although Pittsburgh already offers well-established audio description programs for opera and theatre, we believe this will be the first program in the Pittsburgh arts community that is specifically tailored to dance,” Melby said. “The thing about describing for dance which makes it so challenging--and rewarding--is that the describer can’t rely on dialogue or lyrics to help tell the story. The describer becomes a storyteller, painting a vivid mental picture for patrons of all the movement intricacies that are happening onstage.”

In preparation for the pilot program, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust co-hosted an Audio Description for Dance training workshop at the PBT Studios led by expert dance describer Ermyn King of the Washington, D.C. area.

The training – which included representatives from the Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Opera and City Theatre — was designed for describers with previous audio description training and experience. Using live dance demonstrations, the course covered best practices and dance description fundamentals, including Laban Movement Analysis, which uses concepts such as body, energy, space and time to characterize choreography. Many of the describers in attendance volunteer for other Pittsburgh arts organizations and now have the skills necessary to describe for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre productions and other dance events in the city.

The audio description will stream live through the Benedum Center’s assistive listening devices, which ushers are trained to offer and explain to patrons. The headsets for the audio-described performance are available on a first-come, first-served basis at a kiosk in the Benedum Center lower lobby in the right hallway. Upon arrival, patrons should see an usher for more assistance. Patrons will be asked for an ID in order to borrow
a headset.

THE NUTCRACKER Dec. 7-30, 2012 — Benedum Center
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre brings the magic of The Nutcracker home for the holidays with a Pittsburgh inspired production featuring more than 210 costumes, 190 performers and turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh set design. Based on the German tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann, PBT has performed The Nutcracker since the company’s founding in 1969. Beginning in 2002, PBT Artistic Director Terrence S. Orr created an entirely new production with an enhanced storyline, new choreography and a unique Pittsburgh theme.

Throughout The Nutcracker’s 20-performance run, Orr encourages creativity by creating a unique cast for each performance and challenging company members to dance as many as 12 different roles throughout December. Set to Tchaikovsky’s iconic score, PBT’s The Nutcracker stays true to many of the original elements of Hoffmann’s tale while lacing the production with early 20th century Pittsburgh imagery, such as a proscenium clock inspired by the famous Kaufmann’s Department Store clock and an artistic rendering of the stunning Mount Washington View as the backdrop to the famous Snow Scene.

Tickets
Tickets start at $25.75, and are available online at www.pbt.org, by calling 412-456-6666 or visiting The Box Office at Theater Square.
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Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Mothership, Tchaikovsky Featured in Concert

For Immediate Release
Nov. 20, 2012

MANFRED HONECK LEADS PSO IN PERFORMANCES OF MASON BATES’ IMAGINATIVE ‘MOTHERSHIP,’ TCHAIKOVSKY’S SYMPHONY NO. 4

PSO Principal Clarinet Michael Rusinek is featured soloist, performs Mozart’s Concerto in A major for Clarinet and Orchestra

Manfred Honeck

PITTSBURGH – Music Director Manfred Honeck introduces the music of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Composer of the Year Mason Bates and revisits classics from Tchaikovsky and Mozart in a weekend of BNY Mellon Grand Classics concerts this month.

The concerts will begin at 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 30, and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2. Tickets, ranging from $20 to $93, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412.392.4900, or at www.pittsburghsymphony.org.

Mason Bates (Photo: Mike Minehan)

The program begins with Bates’ Mothership, commissioned and premiered by the YouTube Symphony at the Sydney Opera House. Bates says this “fast-paced opener imagines the orchestra as the mothership that is ‘docked’ by several virtuosic soloists.”

PSO Principal Clarinet Michael Rusinek will be the featured soloist, performing Mozart’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra. He was last featured as a soloist in November 2010.

The program’s second half features Honeck leading the PSO in Tchaikovsky’s vibrant Symphony No. 4.

The PSO would like to recognize and thank BNY Mellon for their 2012-2013 title sponsorship of BNY Mellon Grand Classics. Fairmont Pittsburgh is the official hotel of the PSO. Delta Air Lines is the official airline of the PSO.

Manfred Honeck was appointed the ninth Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January 2007, and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. After a first extension in 2009, his contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season. Following their successful European Tour in 2010 and the European Festival Tour 2011 with appearances at the major music festivals, such as BBC Proms, Lucerne, Grafenegg, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein or Musikfest Berlin, Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will return to Europe in October-November 2012. This year’s tour took them to Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Luxembourg, and Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart in Germany. During a week-long residency at the Musikverein in Vienna, the orchestra performed four concerts. Honeck's successful work in Pittsburgh is captured on CD by the Japanese label Exton. So far, Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben have been released to critical acclaim. Their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 won a 2012 International Classical Music Award (ICMA). Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. An accomplished violinist and violist, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

The music of Mason Bates fuses innovative orchestral writing, imaginative narrative forms, the harmonies of jazz and the rhythms of techno. Frequently performed by orchestras large and small, his symphonic music has been the first to receive widespread acceptance for its expanded palette of electronic sounds, and it is championed by leading conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, and John Adams. He has become a visible advocate for bringing new music to new spaces, whether through institutional partnerships such as his residency with the Chicago Symphony, or through his classical/DJ project Mercury Soul, which has transformed spaces ranging from commercial clubs to Frank Gehry-designed concert halls into exciting, hybrid musical events drawing over a thousand people.

Michael Rusinek joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1998 as Principal Clarinet. Born in Toronto, Canada, his early studies were with Avrahm Galper at the Royal Conservatory of Music. He later attended The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Upon graduation, he was appointed by Mstislav Rostropovich to the post of Assistant Principal Clarinet with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. In addition to his position in the Pittsburgh Symphony, he has performed as guest Principal Clarinet with the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada, the St Louis Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Rusinek has performed as a soloist with many orchestras and as a recitalist across Canada, on CBC Radio, and throughout the United States and Israel, including appearances with the Czech Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Belgrade Philharmonic, Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra, National Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Symphony Orchestra of The Curtis Institute of Music.

Editors Please Note:
Friday, Nov. 30  at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 2 at 2:30 p.m.

Heinz Hall
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MANFRED HONECK, conductor
MICHAEL RUSINEK, clarinet

Mason Bates                              Mothership for Orchestra and Electronica

Wolfgang Amadé Mozart            Concerto in A major from Clarinet and Orchestra, K. 622
I.                    Allegro
II.                  Adagio
III.                Rondo: Allegro

Piotr Illyich Tchaikovsky                         Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36
I.                    Andante sostenuto
II.                  Andantino in modo di canzona
III.                Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato
IV.                Finale: Allegro con fucco

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Contact: James Barthen, Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4835 | email: jbarthen@pittsburghsymphony.org

Contact: Ramesh Santanam, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: rsantanam@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Celebrate Holiday Traditions with The Nutcracker

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                             Nov. 9, 2012

Contact: Meghan McNamara
Marketing Coordinator
412-454-9117
mmcnamara@pittsburghballet.org

IT’S TRADITION: PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE CELEBRATES THE SEASON WITH THE HOLIDAY CLASSIC THE NUTCRACKER


PBT Kicks Off Nutcracker Season with A Free Family Open House on Nov. 18

PITTSBURGH, PA –  Onstage Dec. 7-30, at the Benedum Center, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre brings the  magic of The Nutcrackerhome for the holidays with a Pittsburgh-inspired production featuring more than 210 costumes, 190 performers and turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh set design.

Recognized as one of the most popular ballets of all time, The Nutcracker is a timeless holiday classic
based on the German tale written by E.T.A. Hoffmann. PBT has performed The Nutcracker since the company’s founding in 1969. Beginning in 2002, PBT Artistic Director Terrence S. Orr created an entirely new production with an enhanced storyline, new choreography and a unique Pittsburgh theme.

“It’s a joy to bring this timeless story to Pittsburgh year after year: a story of a young girl’s coming of age, a story that’s full of enchantment, romance, adventure and the comforts of home,” Orr said. “Each year, we honor the tradition of The Nutcrackerwhile constantly advancing its sense of adventure with new surprises.”

Throughout The Nutcracker’s 20-performance run, Orr encourages creativity by challenging company members to dance and develop a range of character roles. Casting is unique for every performance; one dancer can perform as many as eight roles during one season of The Nutcracker. More than 150 students, ages 7 and up, also will join PBT company dancers on the Benedum Center stage performing a  variety of whimsical roles ranging from bumblebees and mice to flowers and toy soldiers.

Set to Tchaikovsky’s iconic score, PBT’s The Nutcracker  stays true to many of the original elements of Hoffmann’s tale while lacing the production with the rich traditions and culture of early 20th century Pittsburgh.

With the help of theatrical designer Zack Brown, the set design pays tribute to relics from Pittsburgh’s past. Act I is set in Shadyside at the Stahlbaum house, rendered after F.W. McKee’s mansion on Fifth Avenue. Although the Stahlbaum family of the Hoffmann tale hosts the party, a number of historic Pittsburgh families are on the guest list, including Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann, Mr. and Mrs. Heinz, and Mr. and Mrs. Grandview. Other Act I Pittsburgh imagery includes a Heinz delivery truck; a proscenium clock inspired by the famous Kaufmann’s Department Store clock; Kaufmann’s Christmas Stories for Boys and Girls; and an artistic rendering of the stunning Mount Washington View as the backdrop to the famous Snow Scene. The Pittsburgh theme continues into Act II by way of the Land of Enchantment Carousel, representing the elaborate carousels at several famous amusement parks in the Pittsburgh region.

Act II also features unique alterations to the original second act of The Nutcracker, as Terrence S. Orr
has added a variety of energetic characters to make the Land of Enchantment evoke the wonders of childhood. The second act is full of virtuoso performances including the exuberant Russian trepak, the exotic Arabian dance and culminating in the beautiful and elegant Grand Pas de Deux danced by the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier.

Tickets
Tickets start at $25.75, and are available online at www.pbt.org, by calling 412-456-6666 or visiting The Box Office at Theater Square.

A NUTCRACKER HOLIDAY PARTY — FREE FAMILY OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, November 18, 2012 from 12-3 p.m.
PBT Studios 2900 Liberty Ave.

Unleash the magic of the holidays with a festive, family-friendly open house at the PBT Studios. Dance The Nutcracker with PBT School instructors, view performances from the production, enjoy Nutcracker sweets and bring along your camera for a photo with characters from this beloved holiday tradition. Bring to life your own visions of Sugarplum Fairies, Nutcracker Princes, and other colorful characters with crafts courtesy of the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse. Special guest Radio Disney will kick off the event with holiday hits, prizes and games. In the spirit of the holidays, PBT encourages attendees to bring a food item to donate to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. All who donate will be entered into a drawing for a Nutcracker gift basket. This event is free and open to the public.
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Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Honeck Leads PSO on Tour in Florida in February

For Immediate Release
June 12, 2012

HONECK TO LEAD PSO ON FLORIDA TOUR IN FEBRUARY

Concerts in West Palm Beach, Miami, Sarasota, Gainesville; pianist Denis Matsuev joins PSO on tour, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

PITTSBURGH – Music Director Manfred Honeck will lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) in February on a tour of Florida.

The orchestra will perform Feb. 19 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Feb. 21 at Miami’s Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 23 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, and Feb. 24 at the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Arts, Gainesville.

Joining the PSO on this tour will be renowned pianist Denis Matsuev, who will perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Gramophone magazine described Matsuev as “a virtuoso in the grandest of Russian traditions who returns us to the great days of Emil Gilels. ... He literally possesses the sort of technique which begins where others end.”

Matsuev last appeared with the PSO in February 2011 at Heinz Hall, wowing audiences with his performance of Tchaikovksy’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

The tour program also will include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, and Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain.

A native of Austria, Manfred Honeck was appointed its ninth music director and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. He recently extended his contract through the 2019-2020 season. After performances at Carnegie Hall and a much-celebrated tour of European musical capitals in 2010, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra returned to Europe again in August and September 2011 for appearances at major music festivals, such as the Rheingau Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Grafenegg Festival, Musikfest Berlin, Beethovenfest Bonn, Lucerne Festival, BBC Proms, and concerts in Paris and Vilnius, Lithuania.

In October-November 2012, he will lead the PSO in another tour of Europe, including a four-concert residency at the prestigious Musikverein in Vienna. Honeck's successful work in Pittsburgh is captured on CD by the audiophile Japanese label Exton. So far, Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, and Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben have been released to critical acclaim.

From 2007 to 2011, Honeck was Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart where he conducted premieres including Berlioz's Les Troyens, Mozart's Idomeneo, Verdi's Aida, Richard Strauss' Rosenkavalier, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, and Wagner's Lohengrin and Parsifal, as well as numerous symphonic concerts. His operatic guest appearances include Semperoper Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera of Copenhagen, White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Salzburg Festival, and Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

Denis Matsuev has become a fast-rising star on the international concert stage since his triumphant victory at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1998, and is quickly establishing himself as one of the most sought-after pianists of his generation. He has collaborated with the world’s best known orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de Paris, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmonic, Vienna Symphoniker, Accademia Nationale di Santa-Cecilia, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the European Chamber Orchestra. He is continually engaged with legendary Russian orchestras including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mariinsky Orchestra. Matsuev’s worldwide festival appearances include Leipzig’s Mendelssohn and Schumann Festival in Germany, Chopin Festival in Poland, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Mito Festival, both in Italy, Les Choregies d’Orange in France, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Enescu Festival in Romania, and the Ravinia Festival in the United States.

Tour details:

MANFRED HONECK, conductor
DENIS MATSUEV, piano

Program: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

WEST PALM BEACH
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19

Tickets go on sale Oct. 6. Call 561.832.7469 or 1.800.572.8471, or visit www.kravis.org.
MIAMI
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 21

Tickets go on sale Sept. 8. Call 305.949.6722, or visit www.arshtcenter.org.
SARASOTA
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23

Tickets go on sale Sept. 8. Call 941.953.3368 or 1.800.826.9303, or visit www.vanwezel.org.
GAINESVILLE
Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
7:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 24

Tickets go on sale July 13. Call 352.392.2787, or visit http://performingarts.ufl.edu
Also:
There will be a private event hosted by PSO supporters on Friday, Feb. 22, in Naples, Fla.

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Contact: James Barthen, Vice President of Public Affairs
Phone: 412.392.4835 | email: jbarthen@pittsburghsymphony.org


Contact: Ramesh Santanam, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: rsantanam@pittsburghsymphony.org

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh