(Tucson, AZ)─J.S. Bach International Violin Competition Gold Medalist Rachel Barton Pine returns to the Tucson Symphony for the first time since 2004 to perform Khachaturian’s popular concerto inspired by Armenian folk themes on Friday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 18 at 2:00 p.m. at Tucson Music Hall. Her performance will be followed by Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with pictures and gallery brought to life on the big screen by a Grammy and MTV award winning animation team. Marcelo Lehninger, now in his second season as Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, will conduct the program which opens with the overture to Kabalevsky’s comic opera, Colas Breugnon. Concert Comments, one hour prior to performances, are complimentary with tickets.
Over the course of a career that began with her debut at the age of 10 with the Chicago
Symphony, Rachel Barton Pine has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s most prestigious ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony; the Philadelphia Orchestra; the Royal Philharmonic, and the Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie. She has worked with such renowned conductors as Zubin Mehta, Erich Leinsdorf, Neeme Järvi and Marin Alsop. This season, Pine’s performances include concerts with the Sacramento Philharmonic, the Tel Aviv Soloists, the Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, the Eugene Symphony and Symphony Nova Scotia. In January, she released her recording of the Elgar and Bruch violin concertos with the BBC Symphony and conductor Andrew Litton.
Young Brazilian conductor Marcelo Lehninger, who won the League of American Orchestras’ Helen H. Thompson Award for Emerging Music Conductors when he was Music Director of the New West Symphony in Los Angeles, makes his TSO debut with this program. Lehninger has been Associate Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and in 2008 was chosen by Kurt Masur to be his assistant with a number of orchestras including the New York Philharmonic. As a guest conductor in the U.S., Lehninger has led the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Houston, Detroit, Baltimore, Seattle, Milwaukee, National, Jacksonville, New Jersey, Indianapolis, Omaha, Chautauqua, Hartford, and Fairfax Symphonies; the Florida and Louisville Orchestras; and the Rochester and Orlando Philharmonics.
Aram Khachaturian, who created the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score, is considered the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century. He is best known for the Sabre Dance from his ballet, Gayane. The violin concerto was composed for David Oistrakh. His recording of it made it a worldwide favorite.
Ravel’s orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition is a symphonic “top 10” and has crossed over to pop culture through its use as an Olympics theme and recordings by classic rock groups such as Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The TSO performance will be accompanied by animation produced by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger, Grammy and MTV award winners for their videos for A-Ha, Sting and Paula Abdul.
Completing the all-Russian program is the overture to Dmitri Kabalevsky’s opera, Colas Breugnon, about a fictional Burgundian optimist set in the French countryside during the 16th Century. The opera is best known for its rollicking overture.
The Classic Series is sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy Dyer Vanek.
Tickets for Pictures at an Exhibition are $30 to $86. They are available online at www.tucsonsymphony.org, at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Box Office, 2175 N. Sixth Avenue or by phone at 520.882.8585. TSO Box Office hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. unless otherwise indicated.
Programming, artists and prices are subject to change.
Contact: Terry Marshall, Public Relations Manager, 520.620.9158
