Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Performs with MANDY PATINKIN Tonight

Before he was an Emmy-winning TV star, Mandy Patinkin was already a Tony-winning Broadway legend. The acclaimed actor, singer and storyteller will appear on the Heinz Hall stage with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra tonight, April 5 at 8 p.m. in his most electrifying role - concert performer.

Known for his Broadway roles in "Evita" and "Sunday in the Park with George" and beloved for his characters from film and television, such as Inigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride" and Saul Berenson in "Homeland," the Tony and Emmy Award-winning performer joins your Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to present an unforgettable evening of popular song and Broadway classics.

The first part of the evening will feature the Pittsburgh Symphony, led by Assistant Conductor Fawzi Haimor, only. Patinkin will join the orchestra in the second half, under the direction of veteran Broadway conductor and arranger Eric Stern.

Tickets, ranging in price from $35 to $115, are on sale now and can be purchased from the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 orpittsburghsymphony.org.

In his 1980 Broadway debut, Mandy Patinkin won a Tony Award for his role as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita and was nominated in 1984 for his starring role as George in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George. In 1991, he returned to Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden and, in 1997, played a sold-out engagement of his one-man show, Mandy Patinkin in Concert, with all profits benefiting five charitable organizations. Patinkin's other solo concerts - Dress Casual, Celebrating Sondheim and Mamaloshen - have been presented both on- and off-Broadway. In 2009, he celebrated the 20th anniversary of performing his solo concerts with a two-week run of all of his concerts in rep at New York's Public Theater, the very space he began his concert career. Patinkin continued the celebration with a critically acclaimed two-week run of Mandy Patinkin in Concert in London's West End at the Duke of York's Theatre. His feature film credits include "Wish I Was Here" (upcoming), "The Wind Rises" (upcoming), "Everybody's Hero," "The Choking Man," "Pinero," "The Adventures of Elmo In Grouchland," "Lulu on the Bridge," "Men with Guns," "The Princess Bride," "Yentl" (1984 Golden Globe nomination), "The Music of Chance," "Daniel," "Ragtime," "Impromptu," "The Doctor," "Alien Nation," "Dick Tracy," "The House on Carroll Street," "True Colors," "Maxie" and "Squanto: Indian Warrior." Patinkin won a 1995 Emmy Award (as well as a Golden Globe nomination) for his performance in the CBS series Chicago Hope and starred in the CBS series Criminal Minds as FBI profiler Jason Gideon and in the Showtime Original Series Dead Like Me as the reaper Rube Sofer. Patinkin returned to TV in the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning Showtime Original Series Homeland as CIA Division Chief Saul Berenson. In 1989, Patinkin began his concert career at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. This coincided with the release of his first solo album, entitled Mandy Patinkin. Since then he has toured extensively, appearing to sold-out audiences across the United States, Canada, London and Australia, performing songs from writers including Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Randy Newman, Adam Guettel and Harry Chapin, among others. Patikin resides in New York City with his wife, actress and writer Kathryn Grody.

Fawzi Haimor is in his second season in the position of assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Prior to his Pittsburgh appointment, he was the assistant conductor of the Alabama Symphony for two seasons. In Pittsburgh, he conducts a variety of concerts including subscription, pops, education and outreach. Haimor also has worked with the Jacksonville Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Amman Symphony in the Middle East and, in Europe, Orquestra Sinfonico do Porto. He has also served as a cover conductor to esteemed conductors including Manfred Honeck, Leonard Slatkin, Gianandrea Noseda, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Yan Pascal Tortelier. In the current season, his guest engagements include the Erie Chamber Orchestra and a return to Alabama and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestras, as a guest artist. Passionate about the education of young musicians, Haimor was the first music director of the newly formed Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra where he was involved in the development of a brand new premier level youth orchestra for the state of Alabama. He was also the founder and first music director of the Davis Summer Symphony, an organization geared towards the education and outreach of classical music to residents of the Davis, California community. He has subsequently been invited to guest conduct youth ensembles across the United States. He is also a committed advocate of contemporary music and has performed works by composers such as Kevin Puts, Bela Fleck, Mohammed Fairouz and Avner Dorman. Born in Chicago in 1983, Haimor was raised in the Middle East and the San Francisco Bay Area. He began playing the violin at the age of 4 and completed his training at the Jacobs School of Music in Indiana University. He has earned bachelor's degrees in both music and neurobiology, physiology, and behavior, and a master's degree in conducting from the University of California-Davis before completing his second master's in instrumental conducting from Indiana University.

Eric Stern is a veteran Broadway conductor and arranger with more than 15 Broadway musicals and 30 albums to his credit. He has worked with a fascinating list of people including Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, Elaine Stritch, Tyne Daly, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jule Styne, Mickey Rooney, Marla Maples, Cy Coleman and countless others. Outside the theatre, Stern has built a reputation as a concert and broadcast conductor. He has led many of the country's major orchestras including The Boston Pops, The Chicago Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra. He conducted a long list of ground-breaking recordings for the Nonesuch label, including a string of albums with Dawn Upshaw, Mandy Patinkin and Audra MacDonald. His albums include the highly successful Leonard Bernstein's New York and three complete Gershwin musicals: Lady Be Good, Pardon My English and Oh, Kay! Stern has concertized and recorded with such varied artists as Thomas Hampson, Betty Buckley, Jessye Norman, Debra Voigt, Fred Hersh, Dianne Reeves and Richard Stoltzman. Stern has been a frequent guest conductor for the BBC's national Orchestra of Wales. He has established himself as an authentic interpreter of American concert music, specializing in the works of Bernstein, Gershwin and Copland. In Europe, he has conducted gala performances of Porgy and Bess and Bernstein's Mass as well as many programs of American film music.

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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