ABBA - The Music Features the Richmond Symphony Orchestra Tonight

Experience ABBA - The Music with renowned Swedish cover band Waterloo and the Richmond Symphony tonight, September 27, 2014 - 8pm at the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage. Don't miss your chance to hear ABBA's greatest hits like "Take a Chance on Me," "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen" in an evening of fantastic live music performed with the full sound of a symphony orchestra.

The RSO is also excited that this will be the first concert led by the Richmond Symphony's new Associate Conductor, Keitaro Harada.

"Dancing Queen," "S.O.S." and "Chiquitita" were some of the many ABBA songs my mom exposed to me while growing up in Tokyo and I have fond memories of copying the dance moves! This is a concert not be missed. You will have a blast hearing your favorite ABBA songs and will also get to experience my first concert in RVA as the new Associate Conductor of RSO. I am looking forward to meeting the audience and expect the RVA crowd to dress up in their favorite ABBA outfit!" says Keitaro Harada

In addition to Harada's opening night, the Richmond Symphony is also excited to have the School of Rock's House Band perform pre-concert in the lobby of the Carpenter Theatre prior to the show.

Tickets start at just $10 online at richmondsymphony.com or 1.800.514.ETIX (3849). Child prices are available. This concert is part of the Genworth Symphony Pops Series and is sponsored by Genworth Financial.

About the Richmond Symphony

Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 200 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 250,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About Waterloo

Waterloo is the very best cover band of Sweden and has taken in the very soul of ABBA. The group is hardly distinguishable from the originals, the girls hardly need any make-up to resemble and the voices are almost better than those of the originals. Waterloo has the right attitude to being a cover band, that is to be as close as possible to the originals, - and that's what Waterloo is. Their performance gives the audience the feeling that ABBA never stopped.

About Keitaro Harada

Keitaro Harada, conductor, is increasingly recognized at the highest levels for his artistic abilities. A student of Lorin Maazel at Castleton Festival and Fabio Luisi at Pacific Music Festival, recipient of the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellowship at Tanglewood Music Festival, Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, and The 2014 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. Harada's credentials are exemplary and, at the age of 29, his achievements are those of a seasoned conductor.

Harada begins his new appointment as Associate Conductor of Richmond Symphony and Music Director of Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra in Fall 2014. Harada also serves as Associate Conductor for Arizona Opera where he made his debut last season conducting Tosca. In 2011 he made his professional opera debut with North Carolina Opera for Britten's Turn of the Screw. At Tanglewood Music Festival 2010, Harada assisted Christoph von Dohna?nyi in the production of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and conducted the closing performance garnering this praise from Opera News: "Harada's command of the score was total, from the uncommonly beautiful legato and sweep of the opening orchestral phrases, hinting at the inspired, ecstatic melodies created by the character known as the Composer, to the carefully controlled climaxes of the final duet, in which Ariadne and Bacchus join in uncomprehending ecstasy."

In 2013, Harada was selected by the League of American Orchestras as one of only six conductors for the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, a prestigious showcase that occurs biennially in an effort to promote gifted, emerging conductors to orchestra industry leaders. In 2012, Harada was a semi-finalist at the 9th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors in Poland and also participated in the National Music Festival in Maryland. He made his conducting debut with Portland Symphony and led the Tucson Symphony's new series at the Fox Theatre that continues throughout 2014. In 2011, Harada was one of ten semi-finalists invited by Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony to participate in the First Chicago Symphony Orchestra Solti International Conducting Competition.

Harada has been the Principal Guest Conductor for Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra since 2009. He is a three-time winner of the International Conductors Workshop and Competition in Georgia, received an Honorable Mention in the International Academy of Advanced Conducting in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was a semi-finalist for the 2009 Eduardo Mata International Conducting Competition in Mexico City, Mexico. He has studied under Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, Oliver Knussen, Herbert Blomstedt, and Stefan Asbury.

With a personal passion for training the future generation of orchestral musicians, Harada serves as Music Director of the Phoenix Youth Symphony. During his four-season tenure, he has courageously expanded the Phoenix Youth Symphony's season, planned his first European tour with the ensemble for 2014, and added challenging repertoire including: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring; Also sprach Zarathustra; Short Ride in a Fast Machine; and Shostakovich Symphony No. 5.

A native of Tokyo, Japan, Harada graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy. He completed his formal training at University of Arizona with Thomas Cockrell and Charles Bontrager. Very early in his career, he was selected as a guest artist for National Public Radio's From the Top and is featured as a favorite guest alumnus on their PBS television documentary. Arizona Public Broadcasting produced a documentary on the bright career of Keitaro titled: "Music...Language Without Words" for the television series AZ Illustrated in 2013. Harada is represented by JEJ Artists.

Photo Courtesy of the Richmond Symphony

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