The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Presents FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, Led by Manfred Honeck with Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, 9/13

You won't believe your eyes - or your ears - at "For Your Eyes Only," the gala opening of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's 2014-2015 season on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. in Heinz Hall, featuring Grammy-winning violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter led by Music Director Manfred Honeck.

A sumptuous and mysterious evening that promises a feast for all the senses, the Gala concert features a variety of short, evocative tone poems and opera pieces. Mutter closes the evening with a performance of one of the most popular works for violin, Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor.

The concert is preceded by a cocktail party at the Duquesne Club, followed by a Gala dinner at Heinz Hall and the annual Soirée at the Fairmont Hotel.

The "For Your Eyes Only" Gala is chaired by Steve and Brenda Schlotterbeck - along with Honorary Chairs Dick and Ginny Simmons and the Tillotson Family (Carol Hefren Tillotson; Bob Gallagher & Sharon Tillotson Gallagher; Craig & Jill Tillotson; and Curt Fleming & Kim Tillotson Fleming). The Gala Silent Auction Chairs are David and Mari Jo Scholosser. The gala evening includes a pre-concert cocktail hour at the Duquesne Club, valet parking, premium-level seating for the concert, a silent auction, a post-concert formal dinner catered by the Duquesne Club and a dessert reception with Maestro Honeck.

The "For Your Eyes Only" Soirée includes valet parking, pre-concert cocktail hour, preferred seating for the concert and a post-concert celebration with symphony musicians at the Fairmont, with hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, a silent auction and more surprises. The "For Your Eyes Only" Soirée is chaired by Mike & Angela DeVanney, Michael J. Herald, Nicholas Varischetti and Carrie Wolf, along with Honorary Chair Jensina A. Chutz. The Soirée Silent Auction Chair is Mary McKinney and the Musician Chairs are Susanne Park and John Moore.

Gala packages and soirée tickets can be purchased by contacting Chelsea Cain, manager of events, at 412-392-4830 andcccain@pittsburghsymphony.org. All proceeds from the Gala concert and associated parties support the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Education and Community Engagement programs.

Tickets, ranging in price from $35 to $150 for the gala concert only, are on sale now and can be purchased through the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 or pittsburghsymphony.org. Ticket prices are subject to change.

For more than 35 years, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has sustained a career of exceptional musicianship combined with an unwavering commitment to the future of classical music. Since her international debut at the Lucerne Festival in 1976, Mutter has appeared in all of the major concert halls of Europe, North and South America, and Asia. In addition to performing and recording established masterpieces of the violin repertoire, Mutter, an avid champion of 20th- and 21st-century violin repertoire in both orchestral and chamber music settings, has had works composed for her by Sebastian Currier, Henri Dutilleux, Sofia Gubaidulina, Witold Lutoslawski, Norbert Moret, Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir André Previn and Wolfgang Rihm. She recently performed the world premiere of Sebastian Currier's "Ringtone Variations," a work commissioned by the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, providing the prelude for an Asian tour with Mutter's Virtuosi-an ensemble consisting of current and former scholarship students of the ASM Foundation. Mutter was awarded the Atlantic Council's 2012 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award for her encouragement of young music talent through the ASM Foundation and was inducted as a 2013 Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The violinist released her debut recording of Dvorak's violin concerto in November 2013 on the Deutsche Grammophon label with Manfred Honeck leading the Berlin Philharmonic. On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Mutter's stage debut, Deutsche Grammophon released a comprehensive box set with all of her DG recordings, extensive documentation and previously unpublished rarities.

Manfred Honeck was appointed the ninth music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in January 2007, and began his tenure at the start of the 2008-2009 season. After a first extension in 2009, his contract was extended for the second time in February 2012, now through the 2019-2020 season. Honeck was born in Austria and studied music at the Academy of Music in Vienna. An accomplished violinist and violist, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. He began his career as conductor of Vienna's Jeunesse Orchestra, which he co-founded, and as assistant to Claudio Abbado at the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in Vienna. Honeck received honorary doctorates from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. in 2010 and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 2014. Apart from his numerous tasks as conductor, he has been artistic director of the "International Concerts Wolfegg" in Germany for more than 15 years. Honeck served as principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2011, a position he resumed for another three years at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season. As a guest conductor, Honeck has worked with major orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic and in the United States with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington and Boston Symphony Orchestra. 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 was highly praised by critics. A second SACD, Dvo?ák/Janá?ek, was released on July 8, 2014 and has already received stellar reviews. Several additional recordings have been completed and it is expected that two releases will be issued per year.

Photo Credit: Felix Broede

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