Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WHO: Anton Nel with the Austin Symphony Orchestra
WHEN: December 1 & 2, 2006 - 8:00 p.m.
WHERE: Bass Concert Hall
TICKETS: $19-$42
CONTACT: Don Hill, Director of Public Relations - 476-6064 x 213

AUSTIN SYMPHONY PRESENTS CONCERAT FOR THE 'YOUNG AT HEART'

Season Sponsor: JPMorganChase
Concert Sponsor: Cisco Systems
Media Sponsors: Time Warner Cable/News 8 Austin, Austin American-Statesman and KVET 98.1 FM

"A pianist of exceptional sensitivity and stylistic discrimination." - The Los Angeles Times

Austin audiences will continue to experience the excellence of the Austin Symphony's 96th concert season on December 1 & 2 when Maestro Peter Bay and the ASO welcome pianist Anton Nel in a night for the "Young at Heart," featuring works by Britten, Dohnányi and Beethoven. Cisco Systems proudly sponsors this concert.

PROGRAM
Britten - Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34
Dohnányi - Variations on a Nursery Song, Op. 25
Beethoven - Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 36

Maestro Bay opens the evening with Benjamin Britten’s best known orchestral work, Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, more generally known under its popular title, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Often used on Young People’s Concerts by orchestras worldwide to introduce school age children to the instruments and sounds of a symphony orchestra, this non-narrated version highlights the individual sections of the ensemble in a “theme and variations” style work.

Maestro Bay then welcomes pianist Anton Nel to center stage. Mr. Nel’s remarkable and versatile career has taken him around the world since his auspicious debut at the age of 12. He has appeared with many of the world’s great orchestras, including Cleveland and San Francisco and is an annual participant in the music festivals of Aspen, Seattle and Vancouver. He achieved international prominence by winning the 1987 Naumberg Competition and presently serves as a professor of piano and chamber music at the University of Texas in Austin. Mr. Nel will perform Erno Dohnányi’s best known work, Variations on a Nursery Song, for piano and orchestra.

After a brief intermission, Maestro Bay concludes the evening with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, continuing the ASO’s two-year “tour” of all nine Beethoven symphonies in celebration of its eminent move to its new home, The Long Center for the Performing Arts.

Concertgoers can enjoy "Concert Conversations" with Bob Buckalew at 7:10 pm in the hall. These free discussions provide an in-depth look at the composers and works being performed, including commentary on the social climate in which they were composed.

Performances for Anton Nel with the Austin Symphony are December 1 & 2, 8:00 p.m. at Bass Concert Hall. Tickets range from $19 to $42. Student rush tickets are also available 20 minutes prior to performance for $5 cash and current student ID. Charge tickets online at www.austinsymphony.org where you will find interactive seating maps, price options and a wealth of concert information. Tickets are also available at the Austin Symphony Box Office, 11th & Red River or call 476-6064 or 1-888-4-MAESTRO (toll-free).