Richmond Symphony Closes Season with THE DAMNATION OF FAUST This Weekend

The Richmond Symphony closes their 2013-14 season with The Damnation of Faust, Berlioz's vivid and bold Masterpiece which asks the question, "Are we willing to sell our souls to get what we believe we desire?"

RSO Music Director and conductor Steven Smith describes the Damnation of Faust as being, "...so vivid with its dramatic characters, bold orchestration, and vibrant chorus that there is no need for sets or costumes. The music itself fills the stage."

Join Steven Smith, the Richmond Symphony, Richmond Symphony Chorus, Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and soloists Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano; Vale Rideout, tenor; and Jason Hardy, bass on Saturday, May 17 - 8pm and Sunday, May 18 - 3pm at the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage for an epic Richmond Symphony season finale!

Tickets start at just $10 online at richmondsymphony.com or 1.800.514.ETIX. $7 college student tickets are available at the Richmond CenterStage box office with a valid student ID. Altria Masterworks concerts are FREE for children 18 and under with a paid adult (ticket required).

Make it a night out! Pre-concert talks begin one hour before all Altria Masterworks concerts. With your ticket, enjoy 10% off at Bistro 27.

This concert is sponsored by Altria (series sponsor), Floricane (concert sponsor), and the Richmond Times Dispatch (print media sponsor).

About the Richmond Symphony

Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 200 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 250,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About the Richmond Symphony Chorus

James Erb organized the all-volunteer Richmond Symphony Chorus in 1971 for a December performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, under guest conductor Robert Shaw. For 36 years, Erb continued to direct and build the Chorus to reflect the Symphony's high standards. Erin Freeman assumed leadership of the Chorus at the start of its 2007-08 season.

The repertoire for its selected volunteer membership has included most of the standard repertoire for chorus and orchestra: Bach's St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion and Mass in B Minor, Haydn's Creation, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Choral Fantasy, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Requiem settings by Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and Faure?, Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony and all of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe?. Over the years they have also sung shorter choral-orchestral works by Handel, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner, Delius, Debussy, Barber, Britten, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams, Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen and Luigi Dallapiccola.

Its annual December rendering of Handel's Messiah has become a Richmond holiday tradition, along with a seasonal Genworth Financial Symphony Pops concert and programs of light music. The chorus has several times sung Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in concert and in choreographed versions with the Richmond Ballet.

Recent projects have included a performance and recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8 with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under the direction of JoAnn Falletta, a performance with the Richmond Symphony in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and a recreation of the chorus's inaugural performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.

About the Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus

The Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus is now in its twenty-fourth season, and its seventeenth under the direction of Chorus Master Robert Shoup. In addition to regular appearances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the chorus has performed outside Hampton Roads to remarkable acclaim. Under the baton of Mr. Shoup, the Chorus has traveled to sold-out houses as far afield as Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Salzburg and closer to home at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Chorus has appeared twice at the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado, was an integral part of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown Celebration, and in 2010 was the featured chorus of the critically-acclaimed Virginia Arts Festival performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass. In 2012, the Chorus was a key participant with the Virginia Arts Festival presentation of Mahler's 8th Symphony. Most recently, an acclaimed performance of Stravinsky's Les Noces was presented in Norfolk, in May of 2013.

About Elizabeth Bishop

American mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop has been praised by Opera News for her "gorgeous voice" and is in equal demand for both opera and concert performances across the country. With a "burgundy mezzo-soprano" the Washington Post describes as "a rich well of color and emotion," audiences and critics alike recognize her as one of this country's predominant singing actresses.

About Vale Rideout

American tenor Vale Rideout has garnered critical acclaim for his musical artistry and superb stagecraft throughout the United States and Europe. Possessed of both a beautiful instrument and an ability to consistently deliver passionate, energetic performances, he is equally in demand for leading tenor roles from the standard repertory to contemporary works.The Colorado native can be heard on live recordings of Rio de sangre (Albany Records, Grammy Award nomination) and, as Frank Shallard, in Elmer Gantry (on Naxos, received two Grammy awards, and voted No. 1 by Opera News "Best of the Year"), both produced by Florentine Opera. He is the tenor soloist in a live recording of Carmina Burana with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He can also be heard on the Newport Classics recording of The Ballad of Baby Doe, the world premiere recording of Kurt Weill's The Eternal Road and David Schiff's Gimpel the Fool (both on Naxos). He is featured on the upcoming recording of The Inspector by

John Musto and, singing the role of Robert MacNamara, in Steven Stucky's August 4th, 1964, with Jaap Van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, released on the DSO Live label and nominated for a 2013 Grammy Award.

About Jason Hardy

Of Jason Hardy's debut with New York City Opera in Acis and Galatea, Opera News remarked that the role of Polyphemus was "brilliantly played." In his return to New York City Opera, he gave a highly-acclaimed performance as Leporello in their new production of Don Giovanni.
The 2012-2013 season saw Jason reprise his Leporello in Don Giovanni with Portland Opera, Don Magnifico in Nashville Opera's La Cenerentola, the title role in Arizona Opera's Le Nozze di Figaro, Baron Kelbar in Un giorno di Regno with Glimmerglass Opera, and a concert appearance with Berkshire Choral Festival. In the 2011-12 season, Jason once again performed Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Michigan Opera Theater and sang the dual roles of Grandpa George/Mr. Beauregard in The Golden Ticket with the Atlanta Opera. Recently, he made his debut with Madison Opera as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, returned to the Atlanta Opera as Don Alfonso in Cosi? fan tutte, and sang Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Bar Harbor Music Festival.

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