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Beethoven Provides Gala Sold-Out Evening for Austin Symphony

May 19, 2008
  • Who: Austin Symphony Orchestra
  • Contact: Don Hill, Director of Public Relations - 476-6064 x 213

For Immediate Release:

Austin, TX: The Austin Symphony Orchestra (ASO) experienced an increasingly common event for the final concert of its 97th classical season on May 16th & 17th: Two sold-out performances. Maestro Peter Bay and the ASO brought a close to its two-year survey of Beethoven Symphonies with performances of the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies at the recently completed Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts, the new permanent home of the ASO, the Austin Lyric Opera and Ballet Austin. Those fortunate to have tickets to the events were met by patron wannabes trying to buy tickets from anyone that would sell them outside the Long Center Box Office. Advertisements were also found on Craigslist.com placed by patrons desperate to attain seats for performances of Beethoven’s monumental work.

The Beethoven Celebration was a celebration of the composer’s work that provided a musical bridge from its former home at the University of Texas’ Bass Concert Hall to Austin’s Riverbend Centre to the new Long Center for the Performing Arts. The Long Center is the crown jewel of the Austin cultural community, providing a much-needed, acoustically-superior performance space that Austin performing organizations have dreamed of having and private donations have made a reality.

This performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony featured Mary Dunleavy, soprano; Dana Beth Miller, mezzo; Karl Dent, tenor; and Donnie Ray Albert, baritone. The work also featured the vocal forces of the 175-member Chorus Austin, under the direction of Kenneth Sheppard.