Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Greensboro Symphony, Lisa Crawford
336.335.5456, lcrawford@greensborosymphony.org
Contact:
Winston-Salem Symphony, Camille Jones
336.725.1035, x 214, cjones@wssymphony.org
Winston-Salem Symphony and Greensboro Symphony Announce
Joint Concert to Open 2008 – 2009 Season
Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC – The Winston-Salem and Greensboro symphonies announced plans today to present joint concerts, combining musicians of both orchestras, to open their respective 2008 – 2009 seasons. This is the first time that the two orchestras have collaborated to present joint concerts. Greensboro performances are scheduled for Thursday, September 18 and Saturday, September 20 at War Memorial Auditorium, 1921 W. Lee Street. Winston-Salem performances will be Sunday, September 21 and Tuesday, September 23 at the Stevens Center of the North Carolina School of the Arts, 405 W. Fourth Street.
In a unique twist, the program, fittingly titled Bob and Dima!, features the music directors of both symphonies in the double roles of conductor and guest soloist. Winston-Salem Symphony music director Robert Moody serves as guest vocalist, lending his resonant baritone to Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs, while Greensboro Symphony music director Dmitry Sitkovetsky conducts the orchestra. The pair trade places as Sitkovetsky, a world renowned violinist, solos in John Corigliano’s Chaconne from “The Red Violin,” while Moody leads the orchestra.
Concluding the program is Richard Strauss’ symphonic poem, Ein Heldenleben, op. 40 (A Hero’s Life). Combining the two orchestras provides the opportunity to perform this seldom-heard work from the orchestral repertoire. With instrumentation for some 110 musicians, Ein Heldenleben requires many more players than the typical 80 musicians usually seen on orchestra stages today. (Approximately 40% of the musicians in each of the orchestras are contracted members of both.) Maestro Moody will conduct this work in Greensboro; Maestro Sitkovetsky takes the baton in Winston-Salem, giving audiences in each city a fresh perspective on the music making.
According to Maestro Sitkovetsky, “Orchestral musicians and conductors rarely have the chance to perform works that require such large instrumentation. The cost of producing the concert and the number of good musicians required is prohibitive. Being able to play this work is just one of the benefits of our collaboration on this concert.”
Maestro Moody added, “Dima and I have been talking about doing a concert together since I arrived in Winston-Salem three years ago. We are excited to celebrate the fact that two nationally-recognized regional orchestras are located within 25 miles of each other here in the Triad. The level of the professional talent in both orchestras is just incredible, as is the strong level of support each orchestra receives from its respective community.”
World renowned violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky, who became the Greensboro Symphony’s music director in 2003, is the seventh conductor of the orchestra in its 69-year history. Robert Moody, the fourth music director of the Winston-Salem Symphony since its formation in 1947, joined the orchestra in 2005.
For more information about the Greensboro Symphony, visit www.greensborosymphony.org or call 336.335.5456.
For information about the Winston-Salem Symphony, visit www.wssymphony.org or call 336.725.1035.