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Grammy-Nominated Conspirare Joins ASO for Texas Premiere

October 23, 2009
  • Who: Conspirare with the Austin Symphony Orchestra
  • When: November 20 & 21, 2009
  • Where: Dell Hall, Long Center for the Performing Arts
  • Cost: $19-$48
  • Contact: Don Hill, Director of Public Relations - (512) 476-6064 x 213

For Immediate Release

Season Sponsor: JPMorgan Chase Foundation
Concert Sponsor: ConocoPhillips
Media Sponsors: Time Warner Cable/News 8 Austin, Austin American-Statesman and Majic 95.5 FM

Maestro Peter Bay and the ASO continue to celebrate their 99th season with performances of works by Mendelssohn and the Texas premiere of composer Cary Ratcliff’s “Ode to Common Things” on November 20 & 21 at the Long Center for Performing Arts. These performances spotlight the talants of Austin’s own Grammy-nominated choral group, Conspirare, and guest soloists Ava Pine, Dana Beth Miller and Bryan Griffin. These concerts are proudly sponsored by ConocoPhillips.

Program

Mendelssohn – Incidental Music to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Op. 21 & 61
Ratcliff – Ode to Common Things (Texas premiere)

Maestro Bay opens the evening with music by Felix Mendelssohn, incidental music written for William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Among his vast body of work, Mendelssohn’s music for the theatre includes full incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written for the new King of Prussia and first used at Potsdam in 1843, preceded by the Overture written in 1826. The music typically captures the enchanted fairy world of the play. The ASO will be joined by the women of Conspirare.

After a brief intermission, Conspirare and the ASO are joined by guest soloists Ava Pine, Dana Beth Miller and Bryan Griffin for the Texas premiere of “Ode to Common Things,” by American composer Cary Ratcliff. Commissioned for the 50th Anniversary of the Rochester (NY) Oratorio Society, “Ode” utilizes the poems of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, tributes to objects found in everyday life. A native of California, Cary Ratcliff studied composition at Eastman School of Music with Joseph Schwantner and Christopher Rouse and contemporary piano with David Burge. He is a keyboardist with the Rochester Philharmonic. His Viola Concerto won the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) Nissum Prize for Best New American Work. He has also created a decade of orchestral soundtracks for the Smithsonian’s Einstein Planetarium.

Tickets for Conspirare with the Austin Symphony range from $19 to $48. Student rush tickets are also available 20 minutes prior to performance for $5 cash and current student ID. Charge tickets online at http://www.austinsymphony.org where you will find seating maps, price options and a wealth of concert information. Tickets are also available at the Austin Symphony Box Office, 11th and Red River or call 476-6064 or 1-888-4-MAESTRO (toll-free).