Love Is In the Air

For Immediate Release
Jan. 30, 2014

PASSION RUNS HIGH AT SECOND SCOTTISH RITE CATHEDRAL PERFORMANCE BY PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

PITTSBURGH – “If music be the food of love, play on” — feed your passions this Valentine’s Day weekend at “Love Is in the Air” with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle, Pa., on Feb. 15, 2014 at 8 p.m.

This Valentine’s pops celebration will be the perfect night out. With romantic music from favorite movies and musicals, warm you heart as Assistant Conductor Fawzi Haimor leads the Symphony and vocalists Christiane Noll and Hugh Panaro in songs like "All I Ask of You" from “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Princess Leia’s Theme” from “Star Wars,” as well as music from ”West Side Story,” “The Godfather,” “Les Miserables” and more!

The performance is at 8 p.m. and tickets range in price from $16 to $59. Tickets for “Love Is in the Air” can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 800-743-8560 or by visiting pittsburghsymphony.org.  The performance is part of the symphony’s child/parent program — student tickets (18 and under) are free with the purchase of a parent or guardian ticket. Symphony staff will be at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on Monday, Feb. 3 from 3 to 6 p.m. Buy tickets in person at the cathedral that day and save 20 percent! The child/parent program will apply to those purchases as well.

The Scottish Rite Cathedral will offer a pre-concert Valentine’s Day buffet dinner on Saturday, Feb. 15 serving between 6 p.m. & 7 p.m. The cost is $22 per person and the reservation deadline is February 7.

Call 724-654-6683 (option 3 then option 2) or email info@cathedralnewcastle.com for reservations or more information.

The final concert in the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Scottish Rite Cathedral series is the “Mozart Extravaganza” on April 28, 2014. The concert will be conducted by Music Director Manfred Honeck and will feature Mozart’s Concerto No. 20 in D minor for Piano and Orchestra, Concerto No. 1 in D major for Horn and Orchestra and Symphony No. 41 in C major, “Jupiter.” Packages to “Love is in the Air” and “Mozart Extravaganza” can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 800-743-8560 or visiting pittsburghsymphony.org/SRC.

Assistant Conductor Fawzi Haimor

Fawzi Haimor is in his second season in the position of assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Prior to his Pittsburgh appointment, he was the assistant conductor of the Alabama Symphony for two seasons. In Pittsburgh, he conducts a variety of concerts including subscription, pops, education and outreach. Haimor also has worked with the Jacksonville Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Amman Symphony in the Middle East and, in Europe, Orquestra Sinfonico do Porto. He has also served as a cover conductor to esteemed conductors including Manfred Honeck, Leonard Slatkin, Gianandrea Noseda, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Yan Pascal Tortelier. In the current season, his guest engagements include the Erie Chamber Orchestra and a return to Alabama and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestras, as a guest artist. Passionate about the education of young musicians, Haimor was the first music director of the newly formed Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra where he was involved in the development of a brand new premier level youth orchestra for the state of Alabama. He was also the founder and first music director of the Davis Summer Symphony, an organization geared towards the education and outreach of classical music to residents of the Davis, California community. He has subsequently been invited to guest conduct youth ensembles across the United States. He is also a committed advocate of contemporary music and has performed works by composers such as Kevin Puts, Bela Fleck, Mohammed Fairouz and Avner Dorman. Born in Chicago in 1983, Haimor was raised in the Middle East and the San Francisco Bay Area. He began playing the violin at the age of 4 and completed his training at the Jacobs School of Music in Indiana University. He has earned bachelor’s degrees in both music and neurobiology, physiology, and behavior, and a master’s degree in conducting from the University of California-Davis before completing his second master’s in instrumental conducting from Indiana University.

Christiane Noll

Christiane Noll starred on Broadway in the Kennedy Center Revival of “Ragtime,” receiving Tony and Drama Desk award nominations and winning a Helen Hayes award for her portrayal of Mother. Broadway and national tour appearances include “Chaplin,” “Urinetown” (Ovation Award), “The Mambo Kings” (pre-Broadway), “It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues,” “Jekyll & Hyde,” “Grease,” “Miss Saigon” and “South Pacific” (Australia/Thailand). She is a frequent guest soloist with symphony orchestras around the world, including the National Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Jerusalem Symphony, Philadelphia Pops, Boston Pops and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, as well as international appearances with Sinfonica Brasileira in Rio, China Philharmonic with concert pianist Lang Lang and orchestras in Hong Kong, Czech Republic and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson, in his last pops performance with The New York Pops and more sang with Steven Reineke for Stephen Sondheim's 80th Birthday Celebration at Carnegie Hall. She made her Hollywood Bowl debut singing with Julie Andrews and her opera debut with Placido Domingo in “The Merry Widow.” She has made appearances with Town Hall’s Broadway By the Year, Lincoln Center American Songbook Series, at Feinstein's, Joe’s Pub, 54 Below and Birdland. Her solo recordings include “A Broadway Love Story,” “Live at the West Bank Café,” “The Ira Gershwin Album,” “My Personal Property” and “Gifts: Live at 54 Below.” For more information: ChristianeNoll.com.

Hugh Panaro

Hugh Panaro is currently starring as the Phantom in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway. He also has the distinction of having played both Raoul and the Phantom, a role he performed more than 1,000 times. Also on Broadway, Panaro has been seen as Gaylord Ravenal in the Harold Prince revival of “Show Boat,” Marius in “Les Miserables” and created the roles of Buddy Foster in “Side Show,” Julian Craster in Jule Styne’s final musical “The Red Shoes” and the title role of the seductive vampire in Elton John’s musical “Lestat.” Panaro made his West End debut as Gaylord Ravenal in “Show Boat” and went on to perform the title role in “Martin Guerre.” Some of Panaro’s Off-Broadway credits include “White Lies” at the Triad Theater, “Noa Noa” at Playwright’s Horizons, Heathcliff in “Wuthering Heights” at the John Housman Theatre, “Children of Eden” at the Actor’s Playhouse and the role of Robert in “Little Fish” at Second Stage Theatre. An active concert artist, Panaro has performed with numerous symphony orchestras including the Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Houston, Calgary, Utah and the London Sinfonietta among many others and had the privilege of performing in the world premiere of Penderecki’s “Te Deum” at Carnegie Hall. Panaro was a guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. His recordings include Jerome Kern Treasury, the original cast recording of “Side Show,” “Tap Your Troubles Away” (Herman), “The Centennial” (Weil) and “Life on the Wicked Stage” (Kern), among others. His first solo CD, recorded with Sony/BMG, was released in summer 2007. Panaro toured throughout Europe with the legendary Barbra Streisand. He performed the role of Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” in Philadelphia. A native of Philadelphia, Panaro graduated from Temple University and was awarded the Boyer College of Music Certificate of Honor for his impressive career in musical theatre.

Editors Please Note:

Thursday, Dec. 19, 8 p.m.

Scottish Rite Cathedral, New Castle, PA
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
LOVE IS IN THE AIR
FAWZI HAIMOR, conductor
CHRISTIANE NOLL, soprano
HUGH PANARO, tenor

Leonard Bernstein                       Overture to West Side Story
arr. Peress

Irving Berlin                              “Top Hat/ Steppin Out With My Baby” from Easter Parade

Cole Porter                                Begin the Beguine

Frederick Loewe                        "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady

George Gershwin                       “I Got Rhythm” from Girl Crazy

John Williams                            “Princess Leia Theme” from Star Wars
Meredith Willson                       "Till There Was You" from The Music Man

Jerome Kern                               “Make Believe” from Showboat

Pietro Mascagni                          Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana

Richard Adler and Jerry Ross        “There Once was a Man” from The Pajama Game

Claude-Michel Schoenberg          “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables

Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus   Mamma Mia Medley

Andrew Lloyd Webber                “Think of Me” from The Phantom of the Opera

Andrew Lloyd Webber                "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera

Andrew Lloyd Webber                "Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera

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Contact: Louise Sciannameo, 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
Twitter: @pghsymphony |Facebook: facebook.com/PittsburghSymphonyOrchestra

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

Scottish Rite Cathedral Hosts PSO Concerts

For Immediate Release
Feb. 14, 2013
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANNOUNCES
2013-2014 SEASON OF CONCERTS AT SCOTTISH RITE CATHEDRAL

Featuring Holiday Pops, Valentine’s Day-themed concert, PSO Music Director Manfred Honeck conducting works by Mozart

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) will mark its 13th season at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle with two concerts featuring popular music and one classical music concert of Mozart’s works led by Music Director Manfred Honeck.

Three-concert subscription prices for the 2013-2014 season range from $33 to $150. Student subscription packages are available for $24. Subscriptions can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall Box Office toll-free at 1.800.743.8560, or visiting the PSO at www.pittsburghsymphony.org/src.

The season opens with the popular Holiday Pops concert at 8 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 19. The audience will get to celebrate the season with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and an all-star cast of guest artists in a spectacular concert of popular carols and much-loved holiday music. The program will include Here Comes Santa Claus, A Holly Jolly Christmas, O Holy Night, Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and many more favorites, as well as an appearance by Santa. Hailed by The New York Times as one of “Broadway’s electric conductors,” renowned conductor Todd Ellison leads this festive concert. Ellison is currently music director and conductor of the new Broadway production of Annie.

Fawzi Haimor

In the second concert of the season, PSO Assistant Conductor Fawzi Haimor will lead the orchestra in a performance of love-themed songs to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The concert, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15, will feature John Williams’ “Princess Leia’s Theme” from Star Wars, Elton John’s “Can you Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King, as well as music from West Side Story and The Godfather. This concert will showcase Ryan Silverman and Tony Award-nominated Melissa Errico as guest vocalists. Called “one of the most valuable assets of the musical theater” by The New York Times, Errico’s career began as Cosette in Les Misérables, when she was only 18. Later, she starred as Eliza Doolittle in Howard Davies' daring and unusual revival of My Fair Lady on Broadway. Silverman played Raoul in the Broadway and Las Vegas productions of The Phantom of the Opera, and has performed with the Cincinnati Pops, New York Pops and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The PSO’s season at the Scottish Rite Cathedral concludes when Music Director Honeck conducts a concert of Mozart’s music at 8 p.m., Monday, April 28, featuring soloists Robert Levin on piano and PSO Principal Horn William Caballero. The program includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, better known as the “Jupiter Symphony,” and Concerto No. 4 for Horn and Orchestra.

Manfred Honeck

“The audiences in New Castle have always been so welcoming and appreciative, and I am excited about conducting this wonderful orchestra there again,” Honeck said.

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. His contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season. In October-November 2012, he and the PSO toured Europe, with performances in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Luxembourg, and Cologne, Frankfurt and Stuttgart in Germany. During a week-long residency at the Musikverein in Vienna, the PSO performed four concerts. Honeck's successful work with the PSO is captured on CD by the Japanese label Exton, with Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben being released to critical acclaim. Their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 won a 2012 International Classical Music Award (ICMA). Born in Austria, Honeck is an accomplished violinist and violist, and spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

Fawzi Haimor is the newly appointed Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 2012-2013 season. Prior to his Pittsburgh appointment, he was the Assistant Conductor of the Alabama Symphony for two seasons. In Alabama, he conducted subscription, pops, education, and outreach concerts. Additionally, Haimor worked with numerous orchestras, including the Amman Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Orquestra Sinfonico do Porto, and has collaborated with famous artists such as Bela Fleck, Bobby Horton, Diane Schuur, and Luciana Souza.  He has also served as a cover conductor to esteemed conductors including Justin Brown, Marvin Hamlisch, Grant Llewellyn, Michael Morgan, Robert Spano, Stefan Sanderling, and Michael Stern. Extremely passionate about the education of young musicians, Haimor was the first music director of the newly formed Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he was involved in the development of a brand new premier level youth orchestra for the state of Alabama.

The 2012-2013 Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) Season represents William Caballero’s 24th year as its Principal Horn. Before joining the PSO in May 1989, Caballero previously held Principal Horn positions with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera and Hartford Symphony. He held Third Horn positions with the Montreal Symphony, Montreal Opera, and acting Third Horn with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops. He has also performed as guest Principal Horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the St. Louis Symphony. Caballero is the Associate Teaching Professor of Horn at Carnegie Mellon University School of Music and chairs the Brass Department. Previously, he held teaching positions at Indiana University Bloomington, Rice University in Houston, Texas, and Duquesne University. He has been invited and presented master classes throughout the world, including Northwestern University, Colburn School of Music, New England Conservatory, University of Indiana Bloomington, Cleveland Institute of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, New World Symphony, and the Beijing and Shanghai Conservatories. This past summer, he joined the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival as performer and teacher. For the previous seven summers, Caballero was on the faculty at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. In January 2012, Caballero began collaborating with the Internet music teaching company, ArtistWorks.com, based in Napa, Calif. Caballero’s complete horn teaching curriculum is available on the ArtistWorks.com website for horn students worldwide. Caballero is also in demand as a chamber musician collaborating with musicians such as violinists Gil Shaham, Joseph Silverstein and Philip Setzer, and pianists André Previn, Christoph Eshenbach, Orli Shaham and Andre Watts.

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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

PSO New Castle Concert Highlights Matsuev, Honeck

For Immediate Release
Feb. 8, 2013

MUSIC DIRECTOR HONECK LEADS PSO IN NEW CASTLE CONCERT SHOWCASING RUSSIAN POWERHOUSE PIANIST MATSUEV

PITTSBURGH – Music Director Manfred Honeck will lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) next week in a concert at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle, showcasing Russian powerhouse pianist Denis Matsuev performing Rachmaninoff’s masterpiece, Piano Concerto No. 2.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Tickets, ranging from $16 to $59, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office toll-free at 1.800.743.8560, or by visiting the PSO online at www.pittsburghsymphony.org. Group tickets also are available. As part of an education program developed for the community, a special package for families with children up to high-school age is available. Children may get free tickets if accompanied by a parent. Both the free ticket and a discounted ticket for the parents are available by calling  412.392.4819. Also, pre-concert dinners at the Scottish Rite Cathedral begin at 6 p.m. before each concert. Call 724.654.6683 for reservations.

Manfred Honeck

There will be shuttle service in New Castle for the concert. The shuttle costs $1 for a round trip, and begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Downtown Parking Garage, before stopping at the Washington Center parking lot and Clen Moore Church.

The evening’s program features Mussorgsky's A Night on Bald Mountain, a well-known tone poem that tells the story of a witches' Sabbath near Kiev; the theme made more famous by being featured in Disney’s 1940 classic film, Fantasia. In addition to Matsuev playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, the concert also includes Tchaikovsky's exciting Symphony No. 5.

Denis Matsuev

Since his triumphant victory at the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1998, Denis Matsuev has quickly become one of the most sought-after pianists of his generation. Laureate of prestigious Shostakovich Prize in Music and State Prize of Russian Federation in Literature and Arts, he has appeared in hundreds of recitals at the most prestigious and legendary concert halls worldwide. He collaborates with the world's best known orchestras, and is continually re-engaged with the legendary Russian orchestras such as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra and Russian National Orchestra. He appears regularly with prominent conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Masur, Paavo Jarvi, Leonard Slatkin, Myung-Whun Chung, Antonio Pappano, Semyon Bychkov, Ivan Fischer and Adam Fisher, Gianandrea Noseda, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, James Conlon, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Pletnev, and Vladimir Fedoseyev.

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 returned to Europe in October-November 2012. The 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.
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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

Classical Mystery Tour Brought to Scottish Rite Cathedral

For Immediate Release
Oct. 19, 2012

RELIVE MAGIC OF THE BEATLES AS PSO BRINGS

‘CLASSICAL MYSTERY TOUR’ TO SCOTTISH RITE CATHEDRAL 

PSO’s new Assistant Conductor Fawzi Haimor conducts

NEW CASTLE, Pa. – The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) begins its 12th year of performances at the Scottish Rite Cathedral with the Classical Mystery Tour, a special tribute to the Beatles’ acclaimed album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Clen Moore Church, Scottish Rite Cathedral, New Castle

The concert, led by the PSO’s newly appointed Assistant Conductor Fawzi Haimor, will begin at 8 p.m., Monday, Nov. 19, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle.

Concert tickets, ranging from $16 to $59, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office toll-free at 1.800.743.8560, or by visiting the PSO online at www.pittsburghsymphony.org. Group tickets also are available. As part of an education program developed for the community, a special package for families with children up to high-school age is available. Children may get free tickets if accompanied by a parent. Both the free ticket and a discounted ticket for the parents are available by calling  412.392.4819. Also, pre-concert dinners at the Scottish Rite Cathedral begin at 6 p.m. before each concert. Call 724.654.6683 for reservations. Three-concert subscriptions, ranging from $33 to $150, as well as student subscription packages for $24, are also available.

There will be shuttle service in New Castle for all three PSO concerts. The shuttle costs $1 for a round trip, and begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Downtown Parking Garage, before stopping at the Washington Center parking lot and Clen Moore Church.

Described by the Los Angeles Times as providing “a high goose-bump quotient,” the Classical Mystery Tour concert features four musicians who look and sound just like The Beatles. A tribute to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the first rock album to ever win a Grammy for Album of the Year, this show is more than a rock concert. It presents more than two dozen Beatles tunes transcribed note-for-note and performed exactly as they were originally recorded.

Classical Mystery Tour features Jim Owen (John Lennon) on rhythm guitar, piano, and vocals; Tony Kishman (Paul McCartney) on bass guitar, piano, and vocals; John Brosnan (George Harrison) on lead guitar and vocals; and Chris Camilleri (Ringo Starr) on drums and vocals.

Fawzi Haimor

Fawzi Haimor is the newly appointed Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 2012-2013 season. Prior to his Pittsburgh appointment, he was the Assistant Conductor of the Alabama Symphony for two seasons. In Alabama, he conducted a variety of concerts including subscription, pops, education, and outreach.  Additionally, Mr. Haimor had the pleasure to work with numerous orchestras including the Amman Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Orquestra Sinfonico do Porto and has collaborated with famous artists such as Bela Fleck, Bobby Horton, Diane Schuur, and Luciana Souza.  He has also served as a cover conductor to esteemed conductors including Justin Brown, Marvin Hamlisch, Grant Llewellyn, Michael Morgan, Robert Spano, Stefan Sanderling, and Michael Stern.

A resident of London, John Brosnan is a songwriter and musician who grew up in Melbourne, Australia. He studied classical piano performance and theory at the Conservatorium of Music before switching to guitar, which has since become his main instrument. His first professional job came at 18, when he played in an orchestra that accompanied a musical theater production. He then spent the next decade playing in original bands and achieved some minor chart successes in Australia, UK, and the United States. Brosnan first began performing the role of George Harrison in 2000. Since then, he has toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, and Asia with various Beatles productions. In addition to performing with Classical Mystery Tour, he runs a music and film production company in the UK.

Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Chris Camilleri had a convenient drum teacher; his dad. He started listening to Beatles records at a young age and, for many years, played drums and sang along to the recordings. Gradually, Chris gravitated to progressive rock bands, but retained a fondness for The Beatles and eventually formed the internationally-renowned Beatles cover band Liverpool, which still reunites to perform at the Fests For Beatles Fans (formerly Beatlefest). Camilleri has played drums for a variety of touring artists, including Peter Noone (of Herman’s Hermits fame), Badfinger, Micky Dolenz, Joe Walsh, and other Beatles-era bands. He became a good friend and musical associate to Harry Nilsson (who was a contemporary and close friend to all the individual Beatles). In addition to The Beatles, his musical influences include Jethro Tull, Genesis, ELP, and David Bowie. When not playing music, Chris has an active commercial and voice-over career.

Singer-songwriter Tony Kishman was born in Tucson, Ariz., where he began his musical career in the early 1970s.  Although he had been playing guitar for a number of years, it was not until age 19 that Kishman started performing seriously. Kishman's early influences included Wishbone Ash, Bad Company and Peter Frampton.  Between 1973 and 1978, he played guitar in the group Cheap Trix, a cover band performing Top 40 as well as originals. Starting in 1979, Kishman played bass and guitar for six years as Paul McCartney in both the national and international tours ofBeatlemania.  He then went on to perform in Legends in Concert and produced shows that ran in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.  He joined the classic group Wishbone Ash for a tour of Europe and the recording of the group's 18th album.

Jim Owen was born and raised in Huntington Beach, Calif. He gained rich musical experience from his father, who played music from the classics for him on the piano and from his extensive library of recordings by the great classical artists. Owen began studying the piano at 6, and won honors in various piano performance competitions through his teenage years. He was 8 years old when he first heard The Beatles, and promptly decided to take up the study of the guitar. His first professional performance as a Beatle was at 16.  Then, at 18, he began touring internationally with various Beatles tribute productions, visiting Japan, Korea, China, Canada, Mexico, and much of South America. In 1996, Owen began working on his idea for a new show with orchestra. It has long been his dream to share with the public live performances of some of the greatest music ever written and recorded.Classical Mystery Tour was the result. Most recently, Owen became associate producer of the dance musical Shag With a Twist, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2005, and debuted in Las Vegas July, 2006.

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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