Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Announce 2016-2017 BNY MELLON GRAND CLASSICS Season

Today, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announced the 2016-2017 BNY Mellon Grand Classics season, the orchestra's 121st year since its founding and its ninth season under the leadership of Music Director Manfred Honeck.

"The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and I look forward to another season filled with milestones and musical innovations," says Honeck. "I am excited to share music from many of the world's great cities and especially look forward to the return of Maestro Christoph von Dohnányi, as well as presenting new faces to our Pittsburgh audience. Each season with this world-class orchestra is such a joy!"

Honeck conducts 10 of the 20-week BNY Mellon Grand Classics subscription concerts, including the season opener with violin superstar Pinchas Zukerman; the third pairing of classical music and beautiful NASA-produced footage - Dvo?ák's New World Symphony accompanied by "Cosmos: An HD Odyssey"; the annual Thanksgiving weekend performances with popular waltzes and polkas; a semi-staged version of Haydn's The Creation; and the triumphant Pittsburgh return of violin sensation Midori.

Several artists will make their debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this season. Violinist Simone Porter (November 4 & 6); pianists Francesco Piemontesi (March 10 & 12) and Behzod Abduraimov (June 9 & 11); and cellist Maximilian Hornung (May 19 & 21) will perform on the 2016-2017 season.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra continues to highlight the exceptional principal musicians within its own ranks with solo performances by Edward Stephan (February 10 & 12), percussion, in MacMillan's Veni, Veni Emmanuel; Randolph Kelly (March 31 & April 2), viola, with Paganini's Sonata per la Grand Viola and Strauss' Don Quixote alongside cellist Maximilian Hornung (May 19 & 21); and Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida (November 11 & 13), who will perform Mozart's expressive and melodious Oboe Concerto.

"It has been thrilling to participate in crafting the 2016-2017 season, my first as the CEO of this magnificent orchestra," says Melia Tourangeau, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony. "This season showcases greatness - the unbelievable talent of the music director and musicians of this orchestra, virtuoso guests and a fantastic array of music from a variety of eras and styles. I can't wait."

The Pittsburgh Symphony welcomes back BNY Mellon as title sponsor for the BNY Mellon Grand Classics series. Fairmont Pittsburgh is the official hotel and Delta Air Lines is the official airline of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Season tickets are available in packages of six, seven, 14 and 20 concerts and range in price from $114 to $1,410. Tickets for individual concerts will go on sale in July. Concert times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Season ticket packages can be purchased in person at the Heinz Hall Box Office at 600 Penn Avenue, downtown Pittsburgh, by phone at 412-392-4900 or online at pittsburghsymphony.org.

Items of note in the 2016-2017 BNY Mellon Grand Classics Season:

Composer of the Year: Sir James MacMillan

For the 2016-2017 BNY Mellon Grand Classics season, the Pittsburgh Symphony has chosen Scottish-born Sir James MacMillan as its Composer of the Year.

MacMillan's music combines rhythmic excitement, raw emotional power and spiritual meditation, and will be featured throughout the season, including Veni, Veni Emmanuel, a percussion concerto that has been performed nearly 500 times; Britannia, written in 1994 as a celebration of the British orchestral tradition; and the colorful and intricate Symphony No. 4, a co-commission making its U.S. debut in at Heinz Hall.

Launched in the 2001-2002 season, the Composer of the Year program provides audiences with an unprecedented opportunity to encounter music of living composers and establish a relationship with the composers through the experience of hearing multiple works and learning about the works through pre-concert talks and chats with the composer. Past participants are Steven Stucky, Joan Tower, John Adams, Richard Danielpour, John Corigliano, Christopher Theofanidis, Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Rouse, Michael Hersch, Krzysztof Penderecki and Rodion Shchedrin; Pittsburgh composers David Stock, Leonardo Balada, Nancy Galbraith, Patrick Burke, Bomi Jang, Mathew Rosenblum, Reza Vali and Amy Williams; Mason Bates (2014-2015 and 2012-2013); and performer-composers Daniil Trifonov, Conrad Tao, Stewart Copeland and Cameron Carpenter. The 2016-2017 BNY Mellon Grand Classics Season marks the 16th year of the Composer of the Year program.

Vienna Festival

A Vienna Festival spread over two weekends - April 21-23 and April 28 and 30 - will celebrate the musical heritage of the city of Vienna. The first weekend, featuring Till Fellner, will focus on Vienna through 1827, the year Beethoven died, and showcase works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. The second weekend offers a special concert in celebration of Rudolf Buchbinder's 70th birthday, with the beloved pianist performing three concerti on Friday night. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will present Bruckner's epic Symphony No. 8 on Sunday to close the festival. Each performance of the Vienna Festival has a different program but all will be led by Music Director Manfred Honeck.

A Season of Celebration

This season, the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to celebrate 120 years of music making as well as the 200th anniversary of the City of Pittsburgh's incorporation. After each BNY Mellon Grand Classics concert, the orchestra will perform an encore. Each encore will be wonderful, celebratory music that seldom is presented on a regular program - and each will be a surprise to the audience!

Returning Conductors

Some of the finest names in the orchestra world will come to Pittsburgh this season to lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. One of the greatest living conductors, Christoph von Dohnányi, music director of the Cleveland Orchestra for nearly two decades, first appeared as a guest conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1983. He returns in April 2017 in a program featuring two symphonies, Schumann's Symphony No. 4 and Brahms' Symphony No. 2. Pittsburgh favorites Leonard Slatkin, Gianandrea Noseda and Yan Pascal Tortelier will take the podium on November 4 & 6, November 11 & 13 and March 17-19, 2017, respectively. Young Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber made his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony in October 2014 and will again lead the symphony in February 2017, in a distinctly American program filled with works by Copland, Gershwin and Bernstein. Juraj Val?uha, who most recently led the orchestra in February 2016, returns to Pittsburgh in March 2017 to lead the "Mozart in Prague" program. American-born David Zinman, a frequent guest with the world's leading orchestras last appeared at Heinz Hall in December 2004, and Finnish conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, last performed in Pittsburgh in October 1999, make their much-anticipated returns! Zinman leads Brahms' Symphony No. 3 in May 2017 and Saraste will lead Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Sibelius' Symphony No. 5 in January 2017.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Gala

As is tradition, the 2016-2017 season celebrates the new concert season with one of the best parties of the year - the Pittsburgh Symphony's annual gala concert and associated dinner and soiree events on Saturday, September 17, 2016. This year's theme is "Moonlight Masquerade" and will feature violinist Gil Shaham. The concert will be led by Music Director Manfred Honeck. Gala concert tickets will be made available for purchase to the public in late spring.

Explore and Engage Program

The Pittsburgh Symphony continues its commitment to providing patrons with a deeper, more meaningful connection to the symphony and its repertoire, composers and conductors. Collaborations with area arts organizations and companies will continue through the 2016-2017 season. Pre- and post-concert talks, lobby displays, videos and interactive installations, workshops and more will enrich the BNY Mellon Grand Classics experience.

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