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Salerno-Sonnenberg Returns to ASO Stage for Barber Centennial Celebration

December 23, 2009
  • Who: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with the Austin Symphony Orchestra
  • When: January 15 & 16, 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: Watkins Insurance Group and Raymond James & Associates
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 a Centennial Celebration of the works of Samuel Barber on January 15 & 16 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts. These performances will feature organist Stephen Hamilton and internationally-renowned violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. These concerts are proudly sponsored by Watkins Insurance Group and Raymond James & Associates.

Program – A Samuel Barber Centennial Celebration

Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a
Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
Toccata Festiva, Op. 36
Violin Concerto, Op. 14
Symphony No. 1, Op. 9

Widely known for his famous “Adagio for Strings,” Samuel Barber was born in West Chester, PA in 1910, and became one of the first students at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where he studied piano, conducting, singing and composition. Maestro Bay opens the evening with a performance of “Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance.” He continues with the “Adagio for Strings,” the slow movement of Barber’s String Quartet of 1936 arranged for string orchestra and made famous in the mainstream when included in the soundtrack of the 1986 Oliver Stone film, Platoon.

Maestro Bay then welcomes to the stage virtuoso concert organist Stephen Hamilton for a reading of Barber’s “Toccata Festiva.” Dr. Hamilton is Minister of Music at the historic Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal), in New York City, where he conducts the semi-professional Holy Trinity Choir and is Artistic Director of Music at Holy Trinity, the church’s subscription concert series. For the past thirty years, consistent critical acclaim has earned Dr. Hamilton a reputation as a thoroughly engaging and popular artist and has firmly established his reputation as a leading and much sought-after personality.

After a brief intermission, the ASO welcomes the return of internationally-renowned violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg to the Austin stage. This will be Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg’s first performance with the ASO since the opening of the Long Center for the Performing Arts. Electrifying performances, fearless interpretations and musical depth have established Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg as one of the leading violinists of our time. Her professional career began in 1981 when she won the Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition. In 1983 she was recognized with an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and in 1988 was Ovations Debut Recording Artist of the Year. Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg will be performing Barber’s magnificent Violin Concerto.

Maestro Bay and the ASO conclude the evening with Barber’s Symphony No. 1. The most ambitious of his orchestral works, the First Symphony was composed in 1935-36 while Barber while staying at the American Academy in Rome. It is composed in a single movement which welds together different sections unified by a common thematic passage.

This concert promises to be a highlight of the Austin Symphony season and noted celebration of one of America’s most important composers.

Tickets for A Samuel Barbar Centennial Celebration 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).