Pittsburgh Symphony to Conclude All-Beethoven Program with THE IMMORTAL, 6/5

PITTSBURGH - Revel in two of Beethoven's most notable and majestic works during the Pittsburgh Symphony's BNY Mellon Grand Classics: BeethovenFest: The Immortal June 5-7. It features the composer's violin concerto and Symphony No. 9, with its famous "Ode to Joy."

Pittsburgh Symphony Music Director Manfred Honeck will lead the orchestra among a host of guest artists. Violinist Christian Tetzlaff takes the spotlight as the featured soloist in Beethoven's violin concerto. The second half of the program highlights the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, soprano Simona Šaturová, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Nicholas Phan and bass Liang Li on the composer's Ninth Symphony, also known as "Choral."

Each BNY Mellon Grand Classics concert is part of the Explore & Engage program, which includes pre-concert talks, exhibits, display boards and interactive activities that illuminate the music, composers and the time in which they were created. A pre-concert talk, open to all ticket holders, led by Resident Conductor Lawrence Loh will occur on stage one hour before each concert.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets, ranging in price from $25.75 to $105.75, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 or visiting pittsburghsymphony.org/Immortal.

The Pittsburgh Symphony would like to recognize and thank BNY Mellon for its 2014-2015 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.

Manfred Honeck has served as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since the 2008-2009 season. After two extensions, his contract now runs until the end of the 2019-2020 season. To great acclaim, Honeck and his orchestra perform regularly for European audiences. Since 2010, annual tour performances have led them to numerous European music capitals and major music festivals, including Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Musikfest Berlin, Grafenegg Festival, Lucerne Festival and the BBC Proms. Several recordings, amongst them Mahler's Symphony No. 4, which won a 2012 International Classical Music Award, are available on Japanese label Exton. Honeck's successful work with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is now captured by Reference Recordings. The first SACD - of Strauss tone poems - was released in fall 2013 and received rave reviews. The second recording, of Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 8 and the Symphonic Suite from Jana?ek's opera Jenüfa, conceptualized by Honeck himself, followed in summer 2014 and received a Grammy Award nomination. Several additional recordings are completed, and Bruckner No. 4 was released in February 2015 to high critical praise. Born in Austria, Honeck received his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. Many years of experience as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and at the helm of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra have given his conducting a distinctive stamp. He began his career as assistant to Claudio Abbado in Vienna. Subsequently, he was engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was bestowed the prestigious European Conductor's Award in 1993. Other early stations of his career include Leipzig, where he was one of three main conductors of the MDR Symphony Orchestra and Oslo, where he assumed the post of music director at the Norwegian National Opera on short notice for a year and was engaged as principal guest conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra for several years. From 2000 to 2006, he was music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and, from 2008 to 2011, principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he has resumed for another three years at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season. As a guest conductor, Honeck has worked with leading international orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome and the Vienna Philharmonic. Orchestras he conducted in the United States include New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also is a regular guest at the Verbier Festival. In February 2013, he had his successful debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the direct result of which was a CD recording together with Anne-Sophie Mutter (works of Dvorak). The current season sees returns to Bamberg, Stuttgart, Rome and New York as well as to the Vienna Symphony (a CD of works by the Strauss family was released in summer 2013) and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He also will conduct Tonhalleorchester Zürich and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, amongst others. Honeck has received honorary doctorates from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., and, most recently, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He has been artistic director of the "International Concerts Wolfegg" in Germany for more than 15 years.

An artist known for his musical integrity, technical assurance and intelligent, compelling interpretations, Christian Tetzlaff is internationally recognized as one of the most important violinists performing today. From the outset of his career, Tetzlaff has performed and recorded a broad spectrum of the repertoire, ranging from Bach's unaccompanied sonatas and partitas to 19th century masterworks by Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms; and from 20th century concertos by Bartok, Berg and Shostakovich to world premieres of contemporary works. Also a dedicated chamber musician, he frequently collaborates with distinguished artists including Leif Ove Andsnes, Lars Vogt and Alexander Lonquich, and is the founder of the Tetzlaff Quartet, which he formed in 1994 with violinist Elisabeth Kufferath, violist Hanna Weinmeister and his sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff. Born in Hamburg in 1966, music occupied a central place in his family and his three siblings are all professional musicians. Tetzlaff began playing the violin and piano at age six, but pursued a regular academic education while continuing his musical studies. He did not begin intensive study of the violin until making his concert debut playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto at the age of 14 and attributes the establishment of his musical outlook to his teacher at the conservatory in Lübeck, Uwe-Martin Haiberg, who placed equal stress on interpretation and technique. Tetzlaff came to the United States during the 1985-1986 academic year to work with Walter Levine at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and also spent two summers at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Tetzlaff has been in demand as a soloist with most of the world's leading orchestras and conductors, establishing close artistic partnerships that are renewed season after season. Tetzlaff has performed with the orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Toronto, among many others in North America, as well as with the major European ensembles including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Highlights of Tetzlaff's 2013-2014 season in North America include appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis and National symphonies; recitals with Lars Vogt in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Montreal, Quebec City and at the Schubert Club in St. Paul; and two appearances in Carnegie Hall - with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and with the Tetzlaff Quartet, which also performs at Duke University, Dartmouth College, Spivey Hall in Atlanta and the Eastman School of Music. European highlights include return visits to the Vienna and Munich Philharmonics and tours with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and London's Philharmonia Orchestra under Andris Nelsons. Tetzlaff was a 2010-2011 Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist, an initiative in which musicians are invited to curate a personal concert series in Carnegie and Zankel Halls through collaborations with other musicians and ensembles. Tetzlaff's Perspectives included an appearance with the Boston Symphony during which he played concertos by Mozart, Bartok and the New York premiere of a new concerto by Harrison Birtwistle; a play/conduct performance with the Orchestra of St. Luke's; a performance with the Ensemble ACJW led by Sir Simon Rattle; a concert with the Tetzlaff Quartet; and a duo-recital with violinist Antje Weithaas. He also led a professional training workshop for young violinists and pianists, culminating in a young artist concert. Tetzlaff's highly regarded recordings reflect the breadth of his musical interests and include solo works, chamber music and concertos ranging from Haydn to Bartok. His recent recordings include Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the Tonhalle Orchestra and David Zinman for Arte Nova; the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin for the Musical Heritage and Haenssler labels; and Schumann's Three Piano Trios with Leif Ove Andsnes and Tanja Tetzlaff for EMI/Virgin. Tetzlaff's latest recordings include Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Vienna Philharmonic led by Boulez for Deutsche Grammophon; the Schumann and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos with Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and Paavo Järvi for Edel Classics; Jorg Widmann's Violin Concerto, written for Tetzlaff, with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding for Ondine; and Schönberg's String Quartet No. 1 and Sibelius's Quartet op. 56 with the Tetzlaff Quartet on the AVI label. Tetzlaff currently performs on a violin modeled after a Guarneri del Gesu made by the German violin maker, Peter Greiner. In honor of his artistic achievements, Musical America named Tetzlaff "Instrumentalist of the Year" in 2005.

Simona Šaturová was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. She was only five when she was given her first violin lesson. She studied singing at the Bratislava Conservatory and attended various master classes, most notably with the Romanian soprano singer Ileana Cortrubas. Since her last minute engagement as Ilia (Idomeneo) at the Théatre de la Monnaie in Brussels in 2010 she regularly returns to this theatre, most recently at the end of 2012 as Violetta Valéry. It is the place where she also starts the recent season as Servilia (La Clemenza di Tito) under Ludovic Morlot, followed in spring by Gilda (Rigoletto) in a new production by Robert Carsen under Carlo Rizzi. Since her highly acclaimed success as Konstanze (The Abduction from the Seraglio) she is also closely connected to the AaltoLTheatre in Essen and in this season performs as Violetta (La Traviata), Adina (L'elisir d'amore) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni). A guest performance with Myslive?ek`s L'Olimpiade for the first time leads her to the Theater an der Wien. Besides of numerous performances at the Prague National Theatre the soprano so far could also be heared on the stages of Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris, Opéra de Monte Carlo, Oper Frankfurt and in Athen`s Megaron Concert Hall. Her repertoire also includes the roles of Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Gilda (Rigoletto), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) or Adele (Die Fledermaus). Šaturová has also earned an international reputation as a concert and oratorio singer. She has appeared as a guest performer in New York, Dallas, Oslo, Detroit, Toronto, Granada, Istanbul, Japan, Israel and Venezuela, as well as at the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, the Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra Roma, the Vienna Spring Festival and the SchleswigLHolstein Music Festival. Conductors with whom the soprano singer has worked include Christoph Eschenbach, Philippe Herreweghe, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir Neville Marriner, Sylvain Cambreling, Helmuth Rilling, Ji?í B?lohlávek, Serge Baudo, Manfred Honeck, John Fiore, Kent Nagano, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Adam Fischer, Ivan Fischer and Christopher Hogwood. Saturová has an exceptional relationship to Mozart's music: "His music has always been with me. His Mass in C minor has been an especially important work for me. I have already sung it more than 50 times all over the world." In January 2009, she performed her favorite piece of music in the Sistine Chapel as a guest of Pope Benedict. In the recent season, she sings it with Hans Christoph Rademann in Stuttgart and also with the Collegium 1704 under Vaclav Luks in Prague and Dresden. Further engagements lead her to the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Essen and Cologne with Fauré`s Requiem under Leo Hussain, to the MDR Symphony Orchestra with Mahler's Second Symphony under Thomas Dausgaard and also to Rome with Antonín Dvo?ák's Stabat mater under Tomas Netopil. She also is featured on CD recordings for the Supraphon, hänssler classic and Classico labels and for Carus Verlag and Sony/BMG. In June 2009, the Orfeo label released her first solo recording with the NDR Radiophilharmonie under the title Haydn Arias. This CD was labeled "Editor's Choice" by Gramophone Magazine. In August 2007, the artist was awarded the Förderpreis der Walter und Charlotte HamelLStiftung (Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation prize) at the SchleswigLHolstein Music Festival.

A naturally gifted singer noted for her profound musicianship, meticulous work ethic and warm personality, Jennifer Johnson Cano is a 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant and George London Winner who joined The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera in 2008 and made her Met debut in 2009-2010. As First Prize winner of the 2009 Young Concert Artist International Auditions, she has given stunning recital debuts with her on- and off-stage partner Christopher Cano in New York at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, in Washington, D.C., at the Kennedy Center, in Boston at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center. Over the last two seasons, Cano has bowed at The Metropolitan Opera as Mercedes, Emilia, Wellgunde and Waltraute and debuted as Meg Page in Falstaff and Bersi in Andrea Chenier. Other operatic debuts include Marguerite in Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust in collaboration with the Tucson Symphony, The Sharp Eared Fox in Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen with the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst and Diana in La Calisto with Cincinnati Opera. Summer Festival appearances take place in Bridgehampton and La Jolla with world premiere performances of a chamber music work by Howard Shore and a concert with Duo Assad. Further 2014-2015 season plans include Hansel, Nicklausse and Mercedes with The Metropolitan Opera, Donna Elvira with Boston Lyric Opera, Mahler II with the Utah Symphony, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a return to the Baltimore Symphony with Marin Alsop for Leonard Bernstein's Jeremiah Symphony, which also will be recorded live for Naxos. In addition to her continued relationship with The Metropolitan Opera, Cano has appeared with such esteemed orchestras as the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, San Francisco Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke's. She toured with Musicians from Marlboro singing Respighi's Il Tramonto and Cuckson's Der gayst funem shture, which was recorded live and released by the Marlboro Recording Society. A live recording of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde was also released featuring conductor George Manahan, tenor Paul Groves and St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble. At the request of Carol Armstrong, Cano was particularly honored to have been invited to sing the Anderson/Weill September Song at the private funeral for American icon and astronaut Neil Armstrong. Cano is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and earned her bachelor's degree in Music from Webster University and her master's degree from Rice University.

American Nicholas Phan continues to distinguish himself as one of the most compelling young tenors appearing on the prestigious concert and opera stages of the world. Phan's many engagements in the 2014-2015 season include his return to the Houston Grand Opera for Sweeney Todd and concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Dallas Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Baroque and the Vancouver Symphony. He also appears in recital at Carnegie Hall and in Istanbul. Phan has appeared with many of the leading orchestras in the North America and Europe, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Les Violons du Roy, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra and the Lucerne Symphony. He also toured extensively throughout the major concert halls of Europe with Il Complesso Barocco; appeared with the Oregon Bach, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Marlboro, Edinburgh, Rheingau and Saint-Denis festivals; and appeared at the BBC Proms. Among the conductors he has worked with are Harry Bicket, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon, Alan Curtis, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Jane Glover, Manfred Honeck, Bernard Labadie, Nicholas McGegan, Zubin Mehta, John Nelson, Helmuth Rilling, David Robertson and Michael Tilson Thomas. An avid proponent of vocal chamber music, he has collaborated with many chamber musicians, including pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Jeremy Denk; guitarist Eliot Fisk; and horn players Jennifer Montone and Gail Williams. In recital, he has been presented by Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the University of Chicago. He also is a founder and the artistic director of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, an organization devoted to promoting the art song and vocal chamber music repertoire. Also considered one of the rising young stars of the opera world, Phan recently appeared with the Portland Opera as Fenton in Falstaff, the Atlanta Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and the Seattle Opera as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other opera performances have included his debuts at the Glyndebourne Opera and the Maggio Musicale in Florence, as well as appearances with Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Frankfurt Opera. His growing repertoire includes the title roles in Acis and Galatea and Candide, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Tamino inDie Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Lurcanio in Ariodante. Phan's most recent solo album, Still Fall the Rain (AVIE) was named one of the best classical recordings of 2012 by The New York Times. His debut solo album, Winter Words (AVIE) made the "Best of 2011" lists of The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, TimeOut NY, and the Toronto Star. His growing discography includes the Grammy-nominated recording of Stravinksy's Pulcinella with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO Resound) and the opera L'Olimpiade with the Venice Baroque Orchestra (Naïve). A graduate of the University of Michigan, Phan is the 2012 recipient of the Paul C. Boylan Distinguished Alumni Award. He also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and Ravinia's Steans Music Institute. He was the recipient of a 2006 Sullivan Foundation Award and 2004 Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation.

After his debut in Europe at Teatro San Carlo in Napoli as Fasolt/"Das Rheingold" in 1998, Liang Li has become a highly acclaimed opera and concert singer with performances at all important international companies and festivals. A Highlight of his 2012-13 season was his huge success as Zaccaria in a new production of Nabucco aside Placido Domingo at the Opera Festival Beijing (NCPA). The season included also e.g. performances of Parsifal/Gurnemanz at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Donald Runnicles), a new production of La Juive/Cardinal de Brogny at the Sächsische Staatsoper (Tomas Netopil), a new production of Nabucco/Zaccaria at the Staatstheater Suttgart, as well as various concerts, like Schumann "Faust Scenes" (Pater profundus, Böser Geist in Frankfurt under the baton of Sebastian Weigle). In the last season, Li had his highly acclaimed debut at Palau de les Arts under Zubin Mehta with two productions: Il Trovatore/Ferrando and Tristan and Isolde/Marke, his house-debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as König Marke/Tristan and Isolde, as well as his house-debut at the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden in the same role. Various concert-engagements brought him again to Pittsburgh Symphony with concerts of Verdi's "Requiem" to the Mozarteum Salzburg with Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" and to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Prague with Stabat Mater (Dvorak). Since 2006-07, Li has been a member of the ensemble at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where he sings all main roles of his Fach. His repertoire includes, a.o., Cardinal de Brogni/La Juive, Ramfis/Aida, Gremin/Eugen Onegin, Raimondo/Lucia di Lammermoor, Vodnik/Rusalka, Timur/Turandot, Sarastro/Die Zauberflöte, Commendatore/Don Giovanni, Oroveso/Norma, Fasolt and Fafner/Das Rheingold, Daland/Der Fliegende Holländer, König Marke/Tristan and Isolde and Gurnemanz/Parsifal. Guest engagements has been leading the artist as Arkel to the Wiener Festwochen and the Edinburgh Festival, as König Marke to Montpellier, as Bartolo/Le Nozze di Figaro and Colline/La Bohème to the New National Theatre in Tokyo, and as Sarastro to the Hallenstadion in Zurich. Future projects include concert performances as Hunding/Die Walküre (Ingo Metzmacher) with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Tokyo, a new production of Macbeth/Banco at the Aalto Theater in Essen (Tomas Netopil), concerts of Verdi-Requiem at that Palaus de les Arts in Valencia (Riccardo Chailly), his return to Pittsburgh Symphony with various concerts in New York's Carnegie Hall, a production of Don Giovanni/Commendatore at the Opéra de Paris, Bastille and a new production of Manon Lescaut/Geronte under Sir Simon Rattle at the Festival Baden-Baden and at the Berliner Philharmonie. Li was born in China and studied voice in Tianjin and in Peking. He won numerous prizes at International Voice Competitions, e.g. the International ARD Music Competition in Munich, "Neue Stimmen" of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the International Opera-Competition in Shizuoka in Japan.

At 105 years young, the Mendelssohn Choir is Pittsburgh's oldest continuing performing arts organization. The Mendelssohn Choir is passionate about choral music. By singing choral music at the highest level, the Choir combines the clarity of words with the mystical power of music so that the deepest and most universal of human expressions are magnified through a community of voices. As the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's "chorus of choice," the Mendelssohn Choir has performed under the baton of some of the world's foremost conductors including Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Tilson Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Charles Dutoit, André Previn, Sir Neville Marriner, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Helmuth Rilling, Ingo Metzmacher, Richard Hickox, Zdenek Mácal and Manfred Honeck. Performances of the Choir with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra are heard locally over WQED-FM (89.3) and distributed nationally by PRI. Under the direction of Betsy Burleigh, the Choir has become known for its mastery of the great choral classics. Most recently under her direction, the Mendelssohn Choir has performed Aaron Copland's In the Beginning and Mozart's Great Mass to sold-out audiences at East Liberty Presbyterian Church and Dr. Burleigh led the chorus in a critically acclaimed performance of Rachmaninoff's a cappella masterwork, the Vespers, at St. Paul's Cathedral. The Choir has numerous commissions and premieres to its credit, including works by Ned Rorem, Nancy Galbraith and Derek Bermel. A leader and collaborator in the regional arts community, the Mendelssohn's artistic partners have included the Pittsburgh Opera, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the River City Brass Band, the Children's Festival Chorus, and the Duquesne University Tamburitzans. The Mendelssohn Choir continues to garner critical accolades as it shares the joy of choral music with the more than 50,000 individuals who hear the Mendelssohn in performance each year. The more than 110 singers who comprise the Mendelssohn share a remarkable commitment to the art of making great choral music and collectively contribute more than 45,000 volunteer hours each year. Through its recordings and commissions of new choral works, the Mendelssohn Choir seeks to advance the choral art. The Choir's most recent recording released in fall 2011 is Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Children's Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh with Manfred Honeck conducting. As part of its commitment to educating the next generation of choral musicians, approximately 50 high school singers participate annually in the Junior Mendelssohn Program. Junior Mendelssohn alumni are to be found in concert halls and on opera stages throughout the world. The Junior Mendelssohn achieved national acclaim last year when it was honored nationally with a 2011 American Prize for best vocal performance by a high school chorus. The Mendelssohn Choir is a Steinway Artist.

First Prize Winner of the 2003 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation's Violin Competition and the 2000 Hannover International Violin Competition, Frank Huanghas established a major career as a violin virtuoso. At the age of 11, he performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in a nationally broadcast concert and has since performed with orchestras throughout the world, including the Cleveland Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Saint-Paul Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, NDR-Radio Philharmonic Orchestra of Hannover, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra and the Genoa Orchestra. He has performed on NPR'sPerformance Today, Good Morning America and CNN's American Morning with Paula Zahn. Huang's first commercial recording, comprised of Fantasies by Schubert, Ernst, Schoenberg and Waxman, was released on Naxos in fall 2003. He has had great success in competitions since the age of 15 with top prize awards in the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition and the Indianapolis International Violin Competition. He also received Gold Medal Awards in the Kingsville International Competition, the Irving M. Klein International Competition and the D'Angelo International Competition. Recent concerts include debuts in Wigmore Hall, (London) Salle Cortot, (Paris) Kennedy Center, (Washington) Herbst Theatre, (San Francisco) and also his second recital in Alice Tully Hall (New York), which featured the world premiere of Donald Martino's Sonata for Solo Violin. In addition to his solo career, Huang is deeply committed to chamber music. He has attended the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia's Steans Institute, The Seattle Chamber Music festival, and the Caramoor Festival, and frequently participates in Musicians from Marlboro tours. He was also selected by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to be a member of the prestigious Chamber Music II program. Before joining the Houston Symphony, Huang held the position of first violinist of the Grammy Award-winning Ying Quartet and was a faculty member at the Eastman School of Music. Huang was named concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, beginning in the 2015-2016 season. He began his tenure as concertmaster of the Houston Symphony in 2010, and is also on the faculty at Rice University and the University of Houston. He teaches during the summers at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Texas Music Festival and the Great Mountains Music Festival in South Korea. Huang performs in a trio with pianist Gilles Vonsattel and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, and also serves as the concertmaster and leader of the Sejong Soloists, a conductorless chamber orchestra based in New York.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, known for its artistic excellence for more than 119 years, is credited with a rich history of the world's finest conductors and musicians, and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Past music directors have included Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), Andre Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996) and Mariss Jansons (1995-2004). This tradition of outstanding international music directors was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra has been at the forefront of championing new American works, and gave the first performance of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah" in 1944 and John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony broadcast on the airwaves coast-to-coast and in the late 1970s it made the ground breaking PBS series Previn and the Pittsburgh. The orchestra has received increased national attention since 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International, produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900-including 36 international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America-the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras.

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts is owned and operated by Pittsburgh Symphony, Inc., a non-profit organization, and is the year-round home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The cornerstone of Pittsburgh's Cultural District, Heinz Hall also hosts many other events that do not feature its world-renowned orchestra, including Broadway shows, comedians, speakers and much more. For a full calendar of upcoming non-symphony events at the hall, visit heinzhall.org

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