This preview has been provided by the North Carolina Symphony.
Music Director Grant Llewellyn will lead the North Carolina Symphony and violinist Lara St. John in a 2012-2013 classical season orchestra highlight of selections from the Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Ástor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, along with works by Piotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, at performances in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and New Bern, Jan. 10-13, 2013.
The performances will take place on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m., at Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11-12, at 8 p.m. in downtown Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, and Sunday, Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m., at the New Bern Riverfront Center.
The program will feature Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons, “Summer” and “Autumn” from Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires; and Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons. Tchaikovsky’s “Francesca da Rimini” and “Capriccio italien” will also be performed.
Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has performed as a soloist extensively in North America, Europe, and Asia, including performances with orchestras in Cleveland, Seattle, Toronto, Boston, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Tokyo Symphony, China Philharmonic in Beijing, among many others. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion.”
In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks and “Meet the Artists,” which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events. For the Chapel Hill performance, Dr. Letitia Glozer of UNC will host a pre-concert talk in Gerrard Hall at 7 p.m. For the Raleigh performances, Dr. Tom Koch of N.C. State University will lead a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. in Swalin Lobby on Jan. 11, and there will be a “Meet the Artists” opportunity in Swalin Lobby, hosted by Catherine Brand of WUNC-FM at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 12. There will be “Ask A Musician” opportunities in the lobbies at intermission both evenings in Raleigh. For the New Bern performance a pre-concert talk by Philip Evancho of Craven Community College, will be given at 6:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Convention Center. There will be “Ask A Musician” in the lobby during intermission.
Tickets to the Chapel Hill Classical Series “Four Seasons” performance on Thursday, Jan. 10, range from $18 to $50. Tickets to the Raleigh Classical Series “Four Seasons” performances range from $18 to $64. Tickets to the New Bern Series “Four Seasons” performance range from $30 to $42. Student tickets are $10 at all three locations. Concert tickets at all performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time.
To purchase tickets, visit the North Carolina Symphony website at www.ncsymphony.org or call the Symphony Box Office at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh. Memorial Hall is located at 114 East Cameron Ave., on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The New Bern Riverfront Convention Center is located at 203 South Front Street, in New Bern.
Partners for the 2012/13 Chapel Hill Series include Carol Woods Retirement Community, Harrington Bank, The Businesses of Market Street, and Southern Village.
Partners for the 2012/13 Raleigh Classical Series include Clancy & Theys Construction; Duke Medicine: Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP; The Freelon Group; and Piedmont Investment Advisors, LLC.
Partners for the 2012/13 New Bern Series include series sponsor Coastal Radiology, and series partners CarolinaEast Health System, Northwest Creek Marina, and PotashCorp – Aurora.
This concert is made possible in part by The Arthur and Campbell Moss Solo Artist Fund.
Statewide partnership and support provided by Progress Energy.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932 and subsequently made an entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the North Carolina Symphony employs 657 professional musicians under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry. Every year, this orchestra performs over 175 concerts in more than 50 North Carolina counties, with some 60 of those concerts offered in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan area.
The Symphony boasts two spectacular home venues: Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh and Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C. The Symphony also travels 12,000 miles each year to present concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington; individual concerts in communities across the state; and one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
