Lanzetta Conducts Beethoven On MidAmerica Season Opener At Carnegie Hall

MidAmerica Productions will welcome back its Principal Guest Conductor, Giuseppe Lanzetta, on Sunday, February 17th, on the occasion of the opening concert of MidAmerica's 36th concert season in New York. The performance will begin at 2 pm.

One of Maestro Lanzetta's favorite composers, Beethoven, has figured on four of his previous Carnegie Hall appearances with MidAmerica. Now, he will lead one of the German master's most iconic works - the Fifth Symphony - following in the footsteps of more than 100 illustrious predecessors who each put his (or her) stamp on this masterpiece in this equally iconic concert hall.

Peter Tiboris, General Director of MidAmerica Productions, says, "Giuseppe Lanzetta and I are not only close, personal friends, but colleagues and guest conductors in each other's venues. He is a marvelous musician and actively involved in music making and production at the highest level of Italy's music institutions. He is an excellent conductor."

The February 17 concert at Carnegie Hall will also feature guest conductor Bradley Vogel, who will lead Ola Gjeilo's Sunrise Mass with a choir of more than 100 voices drawn from three participating choruses from the state of Kansas, all of them (plus Maestro Vogel) making their Carnegie Hall debuts:

· WHS Crusader Choir, Wellington, KS (Jessica Coldwell, Director)

· Berean Singers, Elbing, KS (Sara Morris, Director)

· Tabor College Concert Choir, Hillsboro, KS (Bradley Vogel, Director)

Also on February 17, chorus members from five states will come together to perform Morten Lauridsen's modern-day classic, Lux Aeterna, under the baton of Tucker Biddlecombe, who will be making his Carnegie Hall debut. Members of these six ensembles will comprise the formidable chorus for Lux Aeterna:

· Blair Children's Chorus Young Men's Chorus, Nashville, TN (Mary Biddlecombe, Director)

· East Orange Campus High School Chamber Singers, East Orange, NJ (Libby Gopal, Director)

· Marlborough Chamber Choir, Los Angeles, CA (Angela Lin, Director)

· Central Bucks High School-West Choir, Doylestown, PA (Joseph Ohrt, Director)

· Watson Creek Choral Project, Furlong, PA (Joseph Ohrt, Director)

· Chiles High School Chorus, Tallahassee, FL (Corey Sullivan, Director)

Concerts in the Isaac Stern Auditorium/Ronald O. Perelman Stage are $150, $100, and $50. Tickets may be obtained by contacting CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue in New York, NY, or by going online to www.carnegiehall.org). For more information, contact molly.waymire@piptix.com