DePREIST SCHEDULED TO CONDUCT SHOSTAKOVICH
FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL KIDNEY TRANSPLANT
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Portland, Ore. … Music Director James DePreist will perform Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 in an Oregon Symphony Classical concert featuring violinist Robert McDuffie Jan. 5 through 7 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The concert is DePreist's first scheduled appearance with the Symphony since undergoing kidney transplant surgery Dec. 3. The Bravo series of concerts is sponsored by ODS Health Plans. Media support is provided by The Oregonian.

McDuffie replaces violinist Pamela Frank, who cancelled due to an injury.

In addition to Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11, a work which depicts the 1905 uprising in St. Petersburg, Russia, the program will include Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 featuring McDuffie. Hailed by The New York Times as a "a vibrant virtuosity," McDuffie is a Grammy-nominated artist whose acclaimed recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber and Rozsa, as well as Viennese favorites. McDuffie has been profiled on NBC's "Today," "CBS Sunday Morning," PBS's "Charlie Rose," A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts" and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to pre-concert talks one hour before the concert, Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:

Saturday: The conductor of each series will discuss the program from the podium in "Symphony Interactive." Media support for "Symphony Interactive" is provided by KINKfm102.
Sunday: Audience members will be invited to stay for a 15-20 minute panel discussion with musicians and/or the conductor. Media support for "Sunday Night Post-Concert Discussion" is provided by KBPS.

Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 5 and 6, at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 7, at 8 p.m. Tickets range in price from $15 to $70 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.

Robert McDuffie

Violinist Robert McDuffie has been the grateful recipient of dedicated teaching, having studied with Henrik and Robert Schwarzenberger, Margaret Pardee, Jens Ellerman, Robert Mann, and Dorothy DeLay.

Mr. McDuffie has appeared as soloist with many of the major orchestras of the world, including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Chicago, San Francisco, Montreal, and Toronto Symphonies, the Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Minnesota Orchestras, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the North German Radio Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome and all of the major orchestras of Australia.

This season Mr. McDuffie appears in Europe with the Vienna Radio Orchestra, the Vlaams Radio Orkest in Brussels, the Noord Nederlands Orkest, as well as in Stuttgart and other cities with the American Sinfonietta. In Brazil he gives recitals in São Paulo and Porto Alegre. North American concerts include performances with the Houston, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Pacific Symphonies. This summer he makes his annual appearance at the Aspen Music Festival.

McDuffie is a Grammy nominated artist whose acclaimed recordings for Telarc include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber, and Rozsa, as well as Viennese favorites.

McDuffie has been profiled on NBC's "Today," "CBS Sunday Morning," PBS's "Charlie Rose," A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts," and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is a commentator for National Public Radio's Performance Today. He lives in New York with his wife and two children.