The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Closes Summer Season with SYMPHONIC CELEBRATION and TRIPLE PLAY, 7/25 and 8/2

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra closes its summer season with two one-night-only classical concerts on July 25, "Symphonic Celebration," and August 2, "Triple Play."

Pittsburgh Symphony Resident Conductor Lawrence Loh and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra throw a musical party during "Symphonic Celebration," a concert featuring Dvorak's Carnival Overture, Brahm's Symphony No. 3 and a breathtaking performance of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 with Russian pianist Olga Kern.

On August 2, Chinese pianist Xiayin Wang and Italian guest conductor Christian Capocaccia present a concert with a unique format and a little musical something for everyone! This concert features several light classical favorites, virtuoso piano fireworks from Wang and music from the silver screen with two intermissions. "The Tales of Hoffmann," suites from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises," Ravel's Concerto in G major for piano and orchestra, and much more will be performed.

For both concerts, tickets are $25 and $50 and can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 or visitingpittsburghsymphony.org.

Resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, Lawrence Loh is one of the most exciting young talents on the classical music scene today. He was brought to national attention in February 2004, when he substituted last-minute for an ailing Charles Dutoit with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Conducting Stravinsky's "Petrouchka" and Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique," Loh received enthusiastic acclaim from orchestra players, audience members and critics, alike. Since his appointment as music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic in 2005, the orchestra has flourished artistically, defining its reputation as one of the finest regional orchestras in the country. His leadership has attracted such artists as André Watts, Anne Akiko Meyers, Jon Nakamatsu, Zuill Bailey and Sharon Isbin.

Olga Kern was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff and began studying piano at the age of five. In 2001, she became the first woman in more than 30 years to receive the Gold Medal at the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Kern is a laureate of 11 international competitions including her first place win at the first Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition at the age of 17 and has toured throughout her native Russia, Europe and the United States, as well as in Japan, South Africa and South Korea. Kern was the recipient of an honorary scholarship from the president of Russia in 1996 and is a member of Russia's International Academy of Arts. She studied with Sergei Dorensky at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Boris Petrushansky at the acclaimed Accademia Pianistica Incontri col Maestro in Imola, Italy. Kern's performance career has brought her to many of the world's most important venues, including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Symphony Hall in Osaka, Salzburger Festspielhaus, La Scala in Milan, Tonhalle in Zurich and the Châtelet in Paris. She has appeared as a soloist with the Kirov Orchestra, the Bolshoi Theater, the Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Russian National, China Symphony, Belgrade Philharmonic, La Scala Philharmonic, Torino Symphony and Cape Town Symphony Orchestras. Kern has collaborated with many prominent conductors in the world today, including Valery Gergiev, Leonard Slatkin, Manfred Honeck, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Termirkanov, Pinchas Zukerman and James Conlon.

Italian conductor Christian Capocaccia has distinguished himself as an artist of keen insight and musicianship. His ease on the podium and comfortable coaching style with singers has made him a favorite with orchestras, opera companies and vocalists. The 2013-2014 season continues a run of company debuts for Capocaccia, beginning with the Welsh National Opera. In his second season as music director of the Stamford Young Artists Philharmonic, Capocaccia continues to expand the scope of the organization and realize his vision of a summer festival featuring symphonic and operatic performances. He made his company debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony, assisting on several performances in December and February, including a recording of Bruckner 4th Symphony, with Manfred Honeck, and covering Schumann 2nd Symphony with Gianandrea Noseda. In April, he makes his debut with the Manhattan School of Music conducting the rarely performed Haydn opera, "Orlando Paladino." He concludes the season with another company debut, at the Cincinnati Opera, covering performances of "Madame Butterfly." As a guest conductor he appears both in the United States and in Europe in venues such as the New Auditorium "Parco della Musica" and the Teatro Farnese in Rome and the Lyric Opera House of Baltimore at the head of the Orchestra di Roma e del Lazio, The Moscow Ballet Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Città di Grosseto, Orchestra Città Aperta, International Chamber Ensemble, Orchestra da Camera delle Marche and Orchestra Sinfonica di Pesaro among others. Born in Rome, he began studying the violin at the age of 9. He attended the Santa Cecilia Music Conservatory. He earned his Diploma under Paolo Ciociola and completed his studies with world-renowned violinist Nina Beilina in New York. Subsequently he studied composition under Boris Porena and Luciano Pelosi, and conducting with Piero Bellugi and Donato Renzetti. A graduate of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington under David Effron he has participated in master classes with Herbert Blomstedt, Gustav Meier and Leonard Slatkin.

As recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestral soloist in such venues as New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Xiayin Wang has already achieved a high level of recognition for her commanding performances. In January 2014, Wang performed Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the National Gallery of Art Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Engaged as soloist in Gerard Schwarz's acclaimed All-Star Orchestra, Wang was featured as part of a nationally broadcast series of performances on syndicated PBS stations throughout the United States in fall 2013. Wang was the focus of a five-part concert series at the Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, where she was heard with such ensembles as the Escher Quartet, Fine Arts Quartet and the Washington Soloists Chamber Orchestra under the baton of conductor Vladimir Lande. Wang's latest recording, "American Piano Concertos," featuring the Barber, Copland and Gershwin piano concertos, which she performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, was released on the Chandos label late last year. Wang has been heard as guest soloist with the Santa Barbara Symphony, CA, and toured South America with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra. In 2011-2012, she made her London debut at Cadogan Hall in a program of Haydn, Liszt, Wild, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. Other concert and recital commitments have taken Wang throughout the United States to such venues and locations as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Jordan Hall in Boston, Tanglewood, the University of Miami, Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples Florida, the Caramoor Center in Katonah, NY, Saratoga Arts Festival, Coastal Carolina Arts Festival, the Meyer Concert Series at The Smithsonian in D.C. and the East Hawaii Cultural Center on the island of Hawaii. Xiayin Wang completed studies at the Shanghai Conservatory and garnered an enviable record of first prize awards and special honors for her performances throughout China, most notably in the Fu Zhou National Piano Competition, Hang Zhou Instrumental Competition, Zhe Jiang Competition and the National Piano Competition in Beijing. She began piano studies at the age of five, and subsequently came to New York in 1997 and, in 2000, was awarded the "Certificate of Achievement" by the Associated Music Teacher League of New York, winning an opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall. She also pursued studies at the Manhattan School of Music and won the school's Eisenberg Concerto Competition in 2002, as well as the Roy M. Rubinstein Award. Xiayin Wang holds Bachelor's, Master's and Professional Studies degrees from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Solomon Mikowsky and Nina Svetlanova.

For more than 116 years, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been known for its artistic excellence. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a rich history of the world's finest conductors and musicians. This tradition was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900, the Pittsburgh Symphony is critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras. They have made more than 35 international tours, and recently returned from their 2013 European Festivals Tour, where enthralled audiences filled the PSO's concerts in Grafenegg, Berlin, Bucharest, Paris, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Lucerne and Bonn.

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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