July 29, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE MONDAY
FOR OREGON SYMPHONY’S 2010/11 CONCERTS
Just Added to the Lineup: 'Countdown to Carnegie' Benefit Concert
Featuring Thomas Lauderdale, Storm Large, Darcelle and More
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – Single tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 2, for all of the Classical, Pops and Kids series concerts in the Oregon Symphony’s 2010/11 season, including performances by many of the brightest stars in the musical firmament, from first-rank virtuosos like violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Emanuel Ax to up-and-comers like pianist Yuja Wang, who many are predicting will be music’s Next Big Thing.
Until now, only subscribers have had access to tickets for next season’s subscription-series concerts, though tickets for non-series “special” concerts are already on sale. Buyers have already snapped up $3.3 million worth of tickets for 2010/11 performances, and one concert – the Dec. 5 performance with cellist Yo-Yo Ma – is already sold out.
Among the concerts expected to sell briskly are the opening Classical concerts of the season, Oct. 2-4, at which one of the genuine rock stars of the classical world – two-time Grammy-winner and Gramophone Magazine Artist of the Year Hilary Hahn – makes her long-awaiting Portland debut, performing the much-loved Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.
Other hot tickets:
- Classical series concerts featuring rare Oregon Symphony performances of Handel’s Messiah (Dec. 18 and 19); pianist Emanuel Ax playing the masterful Brahms Second Piano Concerto (Jan. 15-17); the Oregon Symphony debut of rising-star Chinese pianist Yuja Wang, who’ll perform the fiendishly difficult Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto (Feb. 5-7); and the concerts at which Pink Martini front man Thomas Lauderdale gets to show off his classical chops as soloist in the always-popular Grieg Piano Concerto (Feb. 26-28).
- The four-concert Pops series led by Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, with performances focusing on the popular music of Harlem’s Cotton Club in October, the Great White Way in January, the Fab Four in April and a night in Havana to end the season.
- One-night-only “specials” with one-of-a-kind performers like violinist Joshua Bell (Sept. 16), Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (Dec. 6); comedy icon Joan Rivers (Jan. 8), superstar pianist Lang Lang in recital (Jan. 20) and Portland’s own rock diva Storm Large (Mar. 4).
In addition, audience members can now buy tickets for the latest addition to the Oregon Symphony’s 2010/11 concert calendar: A special Sept. 18 benefit concert called “Countdown to Carnegie” that will raise money for the orchestra’s May 2011 Carnegie Hall debut in New York. Music Director Carlos Kalmar will be on the podium to lead an eclectic only-in-Portland program that features performances by Thomas Lauderdale, Storm Large, drag legend Darcelle and other surprise guests. Tickets start at $20, and $10 from every ticket sold will help pay for the orchestra’s Carnegie Hall trip.
The Oregon Symphony’s Carnegie Hall appearance on May 12, 2011, as one of seven orchestras from across North America invited to participate in New York’s first Spring for Music Festival, will be its first performance in its history at music’s most prestigious venue. Other orchestras joining the Oregon Symphony at the festival include the Orpheus and St. Paul chamber orchestras as well as the Albany, Dallas, Montreal and Toledo symphonies.
In addition to selecting their own seats and buying tickets online on the orchestra’s web site, OrSymphony.org, concertgoers will have the option of buying the old-fashioned ways: by calling the Oregon Symphony ticket office (503-228-1353 or toll-free at 800-228-7343) or by visiting the orchestra’s ticket office in person at 923 SW Washington St. in downtown Portland. The orchestra’s box office in the lobby of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall is also open two hours before every performance.
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CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org