The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Presents ISLE OF THE DEAD, Featuring Violinist Nicola Benedetti, This Weekend

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will feature renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti in "Isle of the Dead," a BNY Mellon Grand Classics subscription weekend, October 31-November 2.

Benedetti is one of the most sought after violinists of her generation, with an array of performances including appearances with the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and Frankfurt Radio Symphony, to name a few. Benedetti will perform Szymanowski's Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Juraj Val?uha. The program is bookended with two pieces by Rachmaninoff -"Isle of the Dead" begins the program and Symphony No. 3 in A minor brings the concert to a close.

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 created.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 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.

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.

Nicola Benedetti is in much demand with major orchestras and conductors across the globe. Recent and future performances include engagements with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, WDR Cologne, Danish National Symphony, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Orchestre National D'Ile de France, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony of Washington, D.C, Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic, among others. Benedetti also will embark on tours with the Bergen Philharmonic (Germany), Camerata Salzburg and BBC Scottish Symphony (India). The 2014-2015 season will see Benedetti further her passion for music of the Italian Baroque and historical performance realized in collaborations with Andrea Marcon and WDR Cologne, Venice Baroque Orchestra and a European tour with La Cetra Barokorchester Basel. With her regular duo partner, pianist Alexei Grynyuk, Benedetti frequently performs in recital, making appearances in the world's leading concert halls. Most recently, she performed at the Dresden Musikfestipiele, the Sapienza in Romea and Maison Symphony in Montreal and prior to this has given recitals in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hong Kong, Paris, Sacile, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. Future recitals include performances at the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Aix en Provence and Trieste Italy. Benedetti is a devoted chamber musician and collaborates with cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk, who have been performing as a trio since 2008. They recently undertook an extensive tour of Scotland in March 2013 including performances at the Edinburgh Usher Hall and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Recent and future highlights include concerts at LSO St. Luke's, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Die Glocke Bremen, Hong Kong City Hall, two tours of South America, and at the Ravinia, Schloss Elmau, Istanbul and Cheltenham Festivals. Benedetti has formed associations with education establishments including schools, music colleges and local authorities. In 2010, she became Sistema Scotland's official musical "Big Sister" for the Big Noise project - a music initiative partnered with Venezuela's El Sistema (Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar). As a board member and teacher, Benedetti embraces her position of role model to encourage young people to take up music and work hard at it, and she continues to spread this message in school visits and master classes, not only in Scotland, but all around the world. In addition, Benedetti recently developed her own education and outreach initiative entitled The Benedetti Sessions. Piloted in March 2013 at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall, these sessions gave hundreds of aspiring young string players the opportunity to rehearse, undertake and observe master classes culminating in a performance alongside Benedetti. She will present The Benedetti Sessions at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2013 and Benedetti has plans to develop this exciting initiative on an international scale. Benedetti was appointed as a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours, in recognition of her international music career and work with musical charities throughout the U.K. In addition, Benedetti has received five honorary degrees to date. Born in Scotland of Italian heritage, Benedetti began violin lessons at the age of five with Brenda Smith. In 1997, she entered the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Natasha Boyarskaya. Upon leaving, she continued her studies with Maciej Rakowski and then Pavel Vernikov, and continues to work with multiple acclaimed teachers and performers. Benedetti plays the Gariel Stradivarius (1717), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.

Juraj Val?uha holds the post of chief conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Torino. Slovakian Val?uha studied composition, conducting and cymbalon at the Bratislava Conservatory. He spent two years in St. Petersburg and studied conducting with Ilya Musin. In 1998, he moved to Paris and studied with Janos Fürst. Val?uha was assistant music director of the Orchestre et Opéra National de Montpellier from 2003 to 2005. Contemporaneously he made his debut with the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France. In the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, he regularly conducted the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo as well as La Boheme in Paris and Bologna and Bartok´s Bluebeard/Poulenc´s La Voix Humaine at the Opéra de Lyon. In 2007-2008, he led the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the RAI Orchestra in Torino, the Philharmonia London, the DSO Berlin and the Oslo Philharmonic. He made his debut with the Munich Philharmonic as well as his U.S. debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 2008-2009, he made his debut with the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Swedish Radio Orchestra. He led the Orchestra Verdi in Milano, the RAI Orchestra Torino and the Philharmonia London. He conducted a tribute to Toscanini in Parma. He had his debut with the Bavarian State Opera Munich and the Deutsche Oper Berlin (both with Butterfly), and led the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice Venice in the first "Abu Dhabi Classics" season. During the summer he made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2009-2010, he opened the season of the Munich Philharmonic, and had his debut with the Staatskapelle Dresden. He appeared with the Philharmonia, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Swedish Radio and again with the Pittsburgh Symphony and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. At the Bavarian State Opera he conducted a new production of Donizetti´s Elisir d´amore, performances of Nozze di Figaro, as well as Turandot in Stuttgart. In 2010-2011, Valcuha conducted two different programmes with the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia Rome, the Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia London, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Florence, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He conducted a new production of La Boheme at Teatro La Fenice Venezia. With his RAI Orchestra, he appeared on tour in the "Abu Dhabi Classics" series with Yo-Yo Ma and Evgeni Bozhanov. In 2011-2012, he made his debuts with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and WDR Symphony Orchestra. He returned to Staatskapelle Dresden, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Philharmonia London, Orchestre de Paris, Munich Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony. Valcuha and his RAI Orchestra have performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, Freiburg, Musikverein Vienna and Bratislava. In 2012-2013, he had debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony and the Filarmonica della Scala Milan, and will return to the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., the Philharmonia London, Maggio Musicale Florence, Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris.

For more than 117 years, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been an essential part of Pittsburgh's cultural landscape. The Pittsburgh Symphony, known for its artistic excellence, 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. 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 Orchestra continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras. The Pittsburgh Symphony has made 40 international tours, including 20 European tours, eight trips to the Far East, and two to South America. Under the baton of Gilbert Levine, the PSO was the first American orchestra to perform at the Vatican in January 2004 for the late Pope John Paul II, as part of the Pontiff's Silver Jubilee celebration. The PSO has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. As early as 1936, the PSO broadcast coast-to-coast, receiving increased national attention in 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International (PRI). The PRI series is produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3 in Pittsburgh and is made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

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.

Photo Credit: Simon Fowler

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