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Principal Cellist Featured in Night of Literature in Music

February 22, 2010
  • Who: Douglas Harvey with the Austin Symphony Orchestra
  • When: March 12 & 13, 2010 - 8:00 p.m.
  • Where: Dell Hall, Long Center for the Performing Arts, 701 W. Riverside Dr.
  • Cost: $19 - $48
  • Contact: Don Hill, Director of Public Relations - 476-6064 x 213

For Immediate Release

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

The Austin Symphony continues to celebrate its 99th season on March 12 & 13 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in an evening of literary themes in music. These performances will feature ASO Principal Cellist Douglas Harvey playing Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote. These concerts are proudly sponsored by BBVA Compass Bank and Sematech.

Program

Dukas – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Tchaikovsky -Romeo and Juliet (Fantasy Overture)
R. Strauss – Don Quixote, Op. 35

Maestro Peter Bay opens the evening with “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas. By far the best known of Dukas’ compositions, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” was popularized by its inclusion in the Walt Disney animated film, Fantasia, with Mickey Mouse portraying the title character.

After a short pause, the Austin Symphony moves to the work of William Shakespeare and “Romeo and Juliet.” The orchestra performs the Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, illustrating the plight of the ill-fated lovers.

Following intermission, the ASO then welcomes its principal cellist Douglas Harvey to center stage. In 2002, Harvey, then in his early 20s, became the youngest person in the Austin Symphony’s nearly 100 year history to be named Principal Cellist. He won first place awards in the 2000 William C. Byrd International Competition, the Idyllwild International Young Artists Competition, and the Corpus Christi International Competition, as well as two first place solo Bach prizes awarded at the Corpus Christi and Kingsville International Competitions. His varied experience has taken him around the world, performing with such artists as David Byrne, Ray Benson and Justin Timberlake. Mr. Harvey will be featured in Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote. Don Quixote was written in 1897, based on the picaresque Miguel Cervantes novel, Don Quixote of La Mancha. The work tells the tale of a simple country gentleman whose head has been turned by reading too many romantic tales of chivalry and misguidedly sets out as a knight errant, dedicated to the righting of wrongs.

Tickets for Douglas Harvey 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).