UK Orchestra Opens 97th Concert Season With 'Pines of Rome,' Tchaikovsky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 22, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra (UKSO), under the direction of John Nardolillo, will open its 97th season this weekend with "Opening Night: 'Pines of Rome' and Tchaikovsky's Fourth." The free public concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall.

Founded in 1918, the UKSO is regarded as one of the nation’s best college orchestras. The 100-member all-student orchestra, housed at UK School of Music, presents more than 50 concerts each year including classical, chamber and education concerts.

UKSO is made up of undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States, Asia, South America and Europe. The orchestra regularly performs with world-renowned concert artists including Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Chang, Gil Shaham, Mark O’Connor, Lynn Harrell, Marvin Hamlisch, Denyce Graves, Lang Lang, Ronan Tynan, Natasha Paremski, Joshua Bell and Arlo Guthrie. The orchestra performs in the Concert Hall at the Singletary Center for the Arts and on tour, including concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2007 and 2010, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2009.

The UKSO opening concert features two great symphonic masterpieces, the dramatic, Symphony No. 4 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and the colorful tone poem "The Pines of Rome" by Ottorino Respighi. In this performance of "The Pines of Rome," more than 50 extra brass players will join the orchestra for the finale, a musical depiction of the ancient Roman army’s triumphant return to Rome along the Appian Way.

To hear a preview of this concert and the season, listen to WUKY's "UK Perspectives" interview with Maestro Nardolillo at http://wuky.org/post/uk-symphony-orchestra-2015-16-preview.

Only weeks after their opening concert, UKSO will join the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre for Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers' "South Pacific" at the Lexington Opera House. Nardolillo, Michelle di Russo and Jan Pellant will conduct. The show will begin 7:30 p.m., Oct. 8-10, and 2 p.m., Oct. 10 and 11. To order tickets, call the Lexington Opera House at 859-233-3535 or order online at Ticketmaster.com.

The UKSO season continues with a Breeders' Cup concert featuring clarinetist Walter Seyfarth of the Berlin Philharmonic. The concert program will include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Overture to "The Magic Flute" and Clarinet Concerto, as well as Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 2. The free public concert will begin 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Singletary Center Concert Hall.

In December, ToniMarie Marchioni, assistant professor of oboe, and Dieter Hennings, assistant professor of guitar, will perform in concert with the UKSO. Alberto Ginastera's Dances from "Estancia," Richard Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks," Joaquin Rodrigo's  "Concierto de Aranjuez" and "Concierto madrigal," as well as Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" and Oboe Concerto will be featured. Michelle di Russo will assist with conducting the free public concert, which will be held 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Singletary Center Concert Hall.

The UK Women's Choir joins UKSO for an interstellar concert in the new year. "Star Wars, The Planets and Concerto Competition Winners" will include John Williams' "Star Wars" and Gustav Holst's "The Planets," as well as solo performances by concerto competition winners from the UK School of Music. The free public concert will be held 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, at the Singletary Center Concert Hall.

The UKSO will join UK Opera Theatre again in the spring for Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte," with Nardolillo conducting. The show will begin 7:30 p.m., Feb. 26-28, and 2 p.m., Feb. 27, at the Singletary Center Concert Hall. Tickets for this concert may be purchased through Singletary Center ticket office at 859-257-4929, visiting online at www.SCFATickets.com, or in person at the venue.

In March, UKSO will present "Brahms Violin Concerto with David Kim." The concert program will include Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto and Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations." David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, will be featured on violin. The free public concert will be held 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 25, at the Singletary Center Concert Hall.

The UK Choirs and violinist Nathan Cole will join UKSO to close the season with Ludwig Van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Igor Stravinsky's Violin Concerto. A Lexington native, Cole is the associate concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The free public concert will begin 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 22, at the Singletary Center Concert Hall. 

In conjunction with the UKSO season, the orchestra will present several masterclasses throughout the season with visiting artists. Musicians presenting masterclasses at UK are:

· Dwight Parry, principal oboist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and adjunct faculty member at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Northern Kentucky University, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, Niles Gallery, located in Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center;

· Walter Seyfarth, clarinetist with the Berlin Philharmonic, 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, Singletary Center Recital Hall;

· Alex Kerr, violinist, concertmaster of Dallas Symphony and principal guest concertmaster of Indianapolis Symphony, 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, Singletary Center Recital Hall;

· Stephen Rose, principal second violin of Cleveland Orchestra and head of the violin department at Cleveland Music Institute, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, Niles Gallery, in the Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center;

· David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24, Singletary Center Recital Hall; and

· Nathan Cole, violinist and associate concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, Singletary Center Concert Hall.

All masterclasses are free and open to the public.

The UK School of Music at UK College of Fine Arts has garnered national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, composition and music theory.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu