Yo-Yo Ma Joins PSO to Kick Off Season with 'Once Upon a Time' Gala Concert, 9/27

Music will fill the air, beanstalks will reach to the sky and attendees will live "happily ever after" when legendary, award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma joins Music Director Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to kick off the 2013-2014 season at a "Once Upon a Time" gala concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27 at Heinz Hall.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Ma will transport audience members to the magical lands of childhood when they perform Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, as well as Dvorak's Carnival Overture and other works inspired by fairy tales. The concert is bookended by a Gala party and Soiree, which will be held at Heinz Hall and the Fairmont Hotel respectively.

Tickets, ranging from $40 to $110 for the gala concert only, went on sale today and can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900, or by visiting www.pittsburghsymphony.org. Ticket prices are subject to change. There are a limited number of tickets for the concert available.

The Once Upon a Time Gala is chaired by the Tillotson Family-Carol Hefren Tillotson, Bob Gallagher and Sharon Tillotson Gallagher, Craig and Jill Tillotson, and Curt Fleming and Kim Tillotson Fleming-along with Honorary Chairs Ginny and Dick Simmons and the Walton Family. The gala, which includes a pre-concert cocktail hour, a silent auction, a post-concert formal dinner and a dessert reception with Maestro Honeck, is sold out.

The Once Upon a Time Soirée includes valet parking, pre-concert cocktail hour, preferred seating for the concert, and a post-concert celebration with symphony musicians at the Fairmont, including hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, live music and more. Tickets are $175 to $225 per person. The Once Upon a Time Soirée is chaired by Jensina A. Chutz, along with Honorary Chairs Margaret and Todd Izzo. The Soirée Silent Auction Chair is Erin Starzynski. Soiree tickets also are on sale now and going fast. Call the box office at 412-392-4900 or visit www.pittsburghsymphony.org to purchase soiree tickets.

All proceeds from the Gala concert and parties support the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Education and Community Engagement programs.

Arguably one of the most famous classical musicians, Yo-Yo Ma is a best-selling classical recording artist with a discography of more than 75 albums, including 15 Grammy Award-winners. He has been awarded the Avery Fisher Prize, Glenn Gould Prize, National Medal of Arts, the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors. In January 2009, at President Obama's invitation, Ma played in the quartet performance of John Williams' Air and Simple Gifts at the 56th Inaugural Ceremony. Ma plays two instruments, a 1733 Montagnana cello from Venice and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.

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. Following their successful European Tour in 2010, European Festival Tour 2011 and European Tour 2012, with a week-long residency at Musikverein in Vienna, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra triumphantly returns to Europe's major music festivals in August and September 2013 with stops at Lucerne, Grafenegg, Musikfest Berlin, Beethovenfest Bonn and several others. Honeck's successful work in Pittsburgh is captured on CD by the Japanese label Exton. So far, Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben have been released to critical acclaim. Their recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 4 won a 2012 International Classical Music Award (ICMA). 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.

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