St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra Coming to Harris Center in January

Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom prides itself on presenting superb talent from all over the world to our audiences. Once again the opportunity has arisen to introduce talent from the far reaches of the globe with an outstanding classical music performance by the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra from Russia.

The St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra is touring the United States from January 5th until the 25th. Appearing at some of the country's best venues, the St. Petersburg musicians will play masterpieces of American and Russian symphonic music including Leonard Bernstein's Candide Overture, "Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov, and special guest pianist Andrei Gavrilov will be performing Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 3." On this tour, the ensemble will perform under the baton of Vladimir Lande.

St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra with Pianist Andrei Gavrilov will perform Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 7 pm. Tickets are priced at $35-$55; Premium $65; Students with ID $25. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

For more than 40 years, the former Leningrad State Orchestra has inspired praise for its artistry and excellence. The St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra was established in 1967 and until 1985 was known as the Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music. Renowned soloists and conductors including Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Sviatoslav Richter, and many others, have performed with the orchestra. In 1988, the orchestra began holding concerts in the Mirror Hall of the famous Princes Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace in the very heart of St Petersburg. Since 1990, the orchestra has been successfully touring in China, Japan, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Spain, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France and Belgium. Its repertoire is limitless thanks to a well-considered policy of performing music of every epoch, genre and style, with particular attention afforded to the music of living composers.

The orchestra was established in 1967 by Leningrad's outstanding conductors Nikolai Rabinovich, Karl Eliasberg, and Edward Grikurov. The well-considered repertoire policy of performing seldom-played opuses of different musical styles and periods, and eager attention to music of living composers also defined the orchestra's name: from the day of its origination and until 1985 it was called "Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music." The brightest moments for the ensemble of that period are related to the name of excellent Russian conductor Edward Serov who headed the orchestra for over 10 years. It was under his baton that the "Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music" traveled to hundreds of cities of the Soviet Union and many countries of the world with its concerts, recorded dozens of LPs for the Soviet Melodia label, participated in the most prestigious festivals, and firmly ranked as Leningrad's third after the two famous philharmonic orchestras.

In 1985, the minor symphony status of the orchestra grew to a full symphony scale. Considering the important role played by the ensemble in Leningrad's artistic life, it was given the rank of Leningrad State Orchestra. From that same year till 2004, talented and well-known Russian musician Ravil Martynov was the orchestra's chief conductor. From 2004 till 2007, the orchestra was headed by Martynov's pupil Vasily Petrenko, one of today's most promising young Russian conductors who made his first professional progress in the orchestra.

The orchestra's artistic director and chief conductor from 2007 till 2013 was Alexander Titov, a renowned St. Petersburg musician. The orchestra's repertoire is really limitless. They perform music of every epoch, genre, and style, with many premiere performances of opuses by today's composers.

Vladimir Lande, a prominent musician from the United States, has been Principal Guest Conductor of the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra since 2008. Under his baton, the orchestra has accomplished several impressive projects in St. Petersburg, a series of concert tours in the USA, Latin America and South Korea, and CD recordings for the world's leading labels.

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