Queens Symphony Orchestra presents "Lenny's Beginnings" October 25, 2008

Queens Symphony Orchestra presents:

"Lenny’s Beginnings"

(part of the Masterworks Concert Series "Bernstein & Friends")

Constantine Kitsopoulos, Music Director/Conductor
Kathryn Lang, Mezzo-Soprano

Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 7:30 pm
New! Pre-Concert Lecture Series at 6:30 pm
Queensborough Performing Arts Center
(56th Avenue & Springfield Blvd., Bayside)

QSO SEASON OPENER OFFERS WORKS THAT CATAPULTED BERSTEIN’S CAREER FROM OBSCURITY TO FAME!

Join Queens Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Constantine Kitsopoulos on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 7:30 pm for the first concert in our Masterworks Concert Series Bernstein & Friends, entitled Lenny’s Beginnings. This season opener will be held at our artistic home, QPAC (Queensborough Performing Arts Center) in Bayside. To remember Leonard Bernstein on what would have been his 90th birthday this season, QSO will present works that he conducted during his debut concert with the New York Philharmonic in 1943 and Boston Symphony in 1941: Overture to Die Meistersinger by Wagner; Theme, Variations & Finale by Rósza; Manfred Overture by Schumann. To finish the evening, QSO will present one of Bernstein’s career-launching compositions, his stunning Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah, featuring mezzo-soprano Kathryn Lang.

QSO also invites you to attend our new Pre-Concert Lecture Series at 6:30 pm. Maestro Kitsopoulos will have an informative talk about the evening’s program for 30 minutes prior to the event. Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet and ask questions of our guest artist, mezzo-soprano Kathryn Lang. Subscribers receive this series for free, but any ticket buyer may attend for only $5!

Maestro Constantine Kitsopoulos, in his third season as QSO Music Director, is only the third Music Director in the Queens Symphony’s 56-year history. Constantine Kitsopoulos has made a name for himself as a conductor whose musical experiences comfortably span the worlds of opera and symphony, where he conducts in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Royal Albert Hall, and musical theater, where he can be found leading orchestras on Broadway. Maestro Kitsopoulos is General Director of Chatham Opera and has conducted opera productions in this country and around the world. He has conducted symphony orchestras around the world including the San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Hartford, Milwaukee, Mobile, Princeton, Virginia, Santa Barbara, Annapolis, New Jersey and Madison Symphonies as well as the Hong Kong, Calgary, and Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestras. On Broadway Mo. Kitsopoulos was the Music Director and Conductor of the Tony-nominated play, Coram Boy, Tony Award winning Baz Lurhmann’s production of La Boheme, Frank Wildhorn’s Dracula, Les Miserables, and Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. Maestro Kitsopoulos studied conducting with Vincent La Selva. He recently finished a successful run as Music Director for the new Broadway musical A Catered Affair, starring Harvey Fierstein. QSO is delighted to have him at the baton. For additional information on our Music Director, please visit his website at www.kitsopoulos.com.

Mezzo Soprano Kathryn Lang is an Affiliate Artist at Drew University. Ms. Lang was a member of the Austin Lyric Young Artist Program where she performed such roles as Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking, Flora in La Traviata and Maddelena in Rigoletto. With San Francisco Opera, she participated in the Merola Opera Program and Western Opera Theater, where she performed the roles of Sattirino in La Calisto, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus. Additional credits include the world premiere of Gauchito & the Pony with QSO, Amahl and the Night Visitors with Chatham Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Hansel & Gretel, and La Cenerentola.

Now in its 56th season as the only professional orchestra in Queens, QSO continues its mission of bringing the best in classical, chamber, pops, and arts-in-education to the residents of this international borough. For further information about QSO and its programs, please visit www.queenssymphony.org.

Ticket prices: Adults $30 (orchestra) / $25 (balcony); Students/Seniors $20; Children (12 & under) $10; Groups of 10 or more: 20% off; Lecture Series $5 (free to subscribers). Concert tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the QSO office at 718-326-4455, ext. 20.

Official Website: http://www.queenssymphony.org