Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Presents THE EARTH: AN HD ODYSSEY Today

A feast for the eyes and ears, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra pairs a majestic look at our planet with glorious music of John Adams and Richard Strauss during the BNY Mellon Grand Classics weekend, beginning today, June 10 and continuing June 12.

Costa Rican conductor Giancarlo Guerrero makes his Pittsburgh Symphony debut with a jam-packed program of cinematic music, including Aaron Copland's folksy El Salón México and Prokofiev's music from the Soviet comedy Lieutenant Kijé. A visually and aurally stunning second half features The Earth, a high-definition compilation of NASA footage, featuring erupting volcanoes, tropical islands and majestic glaciers. Adams' exhilarating Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Strauss' epic tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra seamlessly accompany the footage.

A pre-concert talk, open to all ticket holders and led by Assistant Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong and featuring Mike Hennessy, Carnegie Science Center Buhl Planetarium and digital media manager, will occur on stage one hour before each concert. "Spaceship Earth: The Future Frontier" will feature a conversational, informative tour of NASA's Earth science endeavors using live science demonstrations and real images from space, as well as an in-depth discussion of the music that will be heard during the evening's concert. Also, throughout the hall, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History will have touchable displays featuring some of the wonders found in our planet, such as fossils, volcanic rock and more.

Program notes for the weekend are available online at pittsburghsymphony.org/theEarth and on the PSO mobile app the day of the concert.

During the weekend, beginning one hour before each concert's start time, student musicians from Steinway Young Artists program will perform in the Grand Lobby of Heinz Hall. These performances are free to ticketholders.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. on Friday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets, ranging in price from $20 to $94, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 or visiting pittsburghsymphony.org/theEarth.

The Pittsburgh Symphony would like to recognize and thank BNY Mellon for its 2015-2016 title sponsorship of BNY Mellon Grand Classics. Fairmont Pittsburgh is the official hotel of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Delta Air Lines is the official airline of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Radio station WQED-FM 89.3 and WQEJ-FM89.7 is the official voice of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

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