California Symphony Announces 25th Anniversary Season Finale: Lara St. John and Beethoven's Ninth

California Symphony, Contra Costa County's only professional orchestra, announces "Lara St. John and Beethoven's Ninth," its final concert set of the 25^th anniversary season with performances at 7:30pm Saturday, May 5 and 4pm Sunday, May 6 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.

Guest conductor Donato Cabrera of the San Francisco Symphony will conduct this concert featuring internationally renowned violinist Lara St. John in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, and Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 9 with the California Symphony Festival Chorus, prepared by Vance George. The concert will begin with the world premiere of a work by D. J. Sparr, the Symphony's Young American Composer Resident.  Tickets ($20 - $69) are available at www.californiasymphony.org or by calling (925) 943-SHOW.

Said the Symphony's Executive Director Walter Collins, "This concert represents an unprecedented alignment of musical stars. The energy of Donato Cabrera combined with the passion of Lara St. John will bring our season to a triumphant close with the majestic beauty of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony." 

This season finale caps a selection of concerts chosen by the audience that highlight the company's strengths as a musical ensemble, lauded by critics and audiences for its inspired performances. The California Symphony has also been praised for nurturing the careers of promising new soloists and composers, as well as providing acclaimed traditional orchestral performances, and developing and performing programs that attract and engage new audiences. In April of 2012, the California Symphony will launch Sound Minds, its El Sistema-inspired music education program that combines intensive and frequent orchestral ensemble training with reading tutoring for 1^st and 2^nd graders. 

Donato Cabrera joined the San Francisco Symphony conducting staff in 2009, when he conducted the Orchestra with 24 hours' notice, in a program that included Mozart's Symphony No. 38 and Overture to Le nozze di Figaro, and Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  From 2005 to 2008, he was Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Opera, participating in the world premiere of John Adams's Doctor Atomic and conducting performances of Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, Tannhäuser, andThe Magic Flute.  Cabrera has also assisted in productions at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  In 2002, he was a Herbert von Karajan conducting fellow at the Salzburg Festival and has also served as an assistant conductor at the Ravinia, Spoleto (Italy), and Aspen Music Festivals, and the Music Academy of the West. 

Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has performed with orchestras on five continents and in recitals around the world. Her releaseBach: The Six Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo in 2007 was the best-selling double album of the year on iTunes and her recording featuring two World Premiere 21st century concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra had Gramophone saying "it's the sort of work that should get audiences running, not walking, back to concert halls."

Choral conductor Vance George is recognized internationally as one of the world's leading choral conductors. He has conducted throughout the U.S. as well as Europe, Australia and Asia. Most recently he conducted concerts in New York, Salzburg, Sydney, Minneapolis, Spokane, Indianapolis, and at the Berkshire Choral Festival and the Ventura Bach Festival.  Notable concerts with the forces of the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus include Bach's "Mass in B Minor" and Handel's "Messiah," plus a host of seasonal and pops concerts.

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