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MAESTRO RICHMAN CONDUCTS KSO PREMIERE OF RICHARD STRAUSS’ FAMOUS ALPINE SYMPHONY

October 30, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2014

Contact: Rachel Dellinger
KSO Director of Communications
Direct: 865-521-2317 Cell: 865-660-3037
[email protected]

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In just two weeks, Maestro Lucas Richman will conduct the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in An Alpine Symphony, part of the Moxley Carmichael Masterworks Series.  This concert will take place on Thursday, November 13 and Friday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Tennessee Theatre.  These performances are sponsored by Circle of Friends. Tickets start at $15. View info and purchase tickets.

This program features dramatic and exhilarating music from some of the Romantic era’s greatest composers.  The 2014-2015 season is Maestro Richman’s final season as KSO Music Director, a 12-year tenure which will conclude in May. The program opens with the exciting and recognizable overture from La Forza del destino by the legendary opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi.  Soprano Emily Birsan joins the Orchestra for selections from Verdi’s tragic operas La traviata and Rigoletto, and Franz Schubert’s ‘The Shepherd on the Rock’. The second half of the program features one of the largest pieces written for Orchestra: Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony. A KSO premiere, this piece is performed as one continuous movement in 22 sections that vividly tell the story of a thrilling Alpine adventure.

“This strong program is sure to keep the audience on its toes,” said KSO Music Director Maestro Lucas Richman. “While, on the surface, Richard Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie, depicts a literal ascent up the Alpine mountain range, the work goes much deeper with its subtext of the philosophical and personal struggle against outside forces and one’s own sense of self.  This musical journey is an important one for all of us, on stage and off, to experience together.  Adding the element of voice with the brilliant American soprano, Emily Birsan, in music of Schubert and Verdi, personalizes that internal struggle with forces sometimes beyond our control.”

Emily Birsan

Emily Birsan

Soprano Emily Birsan recently finished her third year as a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Ms. Birsan was most recently heard on the main stage of the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Servilia in the critically acclaimed Sir David McVicar production La clemenza di Tito and the 1st Flower Maiden in a new production of Wagner’s Parsifal. In the 2013-2014 season, Ms. Birsan covered the roles of Adele in Die Fledermaus and Violetta in La traviata at the Lyric. Ms. Birsan earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton, Wisconsin and her Master of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Music in 2010.

Patrons can attend pre-concert chats at 6:30 p.m. in the concert hall before each performance. Guest performers will offer their personal perspective and audience members will have a chance for Q&A with the artist.

Tickets range from $15 – $85 and can be purchased online, in person, at the door or by calling 865-291-3310. Students K-12 are eligible to attend FREE with purchase of an adult ticket. Contact the KSO box office for more information or for group discounts.

About the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

The KSO has contributed to the cultural life in East Tennessee since 1935 as the oldest continually operating orchestra.  Under the leadership of Lucas Richman, the orchestra consists of 80 professional musicians and performs more than 250 programs throughout East Tennessee each season, including non-traditional places like hospitals, school classrooms, nursing homes, city parks and churches in addition to the concert hall. The KSO reaches more than 200,000 people throughout the region each year. More information about the KSO including the calendar of events can be found at www.knoxvillesymphony.com.