M E D I A  A D V I S O R Y

January 24, 2017 – Richmond, Virginia Music Director Steven Smith will lead the Richmond Symphony for the fifth Altria Masterworks concert of the season on Saturday, February 4 at 8pm and Sunday, February 5 at 3pm at the Dominion Arts Center’s Carpenter Theatre. The performance includes pieces by Rossini, Beethoven and Dan Visconti, and features Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux.

The concert features the Virginia premiere of Dan Visconti’s Living Language, a contemporary piece written for guitarist Jason Vieaux. Visconti says “the concerto explores the idea of music as a kind of ‘living language,’ with a simple introductory idea on the guitar expanding and evolving in a series of conversations between soloist and orchestra that transcend style, time, and place.” Jason Vieaux won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. His solo recitals have been a feature at every major guitar series in North America and at many noteable guitar festivals in Asia, Australia, Europe, and Mexico.

The evening will begin with Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide. This dramatic opera explores the themes of love and tragedy as it tells the story of Assyrian Queen Semiramide. The Symphony will close with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major. Beethoven’s intentional misplacement of the accents in the rhythm and surprising turns in harmony make this piece lighthearted and humorous in nature.

Adult tickets for Altria Masterworks performances start at $10, college student tickets are $7, and child tickets are free for individuals 17 and under. Purchase tickets online at www.richmondsymphony.com or by calling 1.800.514.ETIX. A free pre-concert lecture with Music Director Steven Smith will begin before the concert at 7pm.

The Masterworks series sponsor is Altria. The media sponsor is Richmond Times-Dispatch.

About the Richmond Symphony
Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 260 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. www.richmondsymphony.com