PRESS RELEASE

from the Orchestra of Southern Utah

           

For Immediate Release                                                                         Contact: Marlo Ihler

  867-8501

 

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to grace concert

 

The Orchestra of Southern Utah invites you to their upcoming performance,
“A Fall Concert: Beloved American Composers,” sponsored by Southern Utah Federal Credit Union and Utah Public Radio.  It will be on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005, at 7:30 PM at the Heritage Center Theatre, 105 N. 100 E., Cedar City. 

 

            This will be an evening full of beloved music by the popular American composers George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Samuel Barber.  “This music has flourished and attracted audiences for decades,” says Xun Sun, music director and conductor.  “It is moving, emotional, and entertaining.”

 

Music includes Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, a favorite of audiences everywhere, with soloist Hannah Sun as the guest pianist.  Hannah was recently awarded First Prize in the New York Piano Competition.  She is a student at the Manhattan School of Music where, at age sixteen, she attends on full scholarship.  She has also studied at the Australian National Academy of Music and performed as a soloist with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra.  Conductor Richard Auldon Clark said of Hannah, “[she] is already a tremendous artist... and will be a dynamic force in the music world."

 

            Other music on the program includes Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, a musical tribute to those who served in World War II and features OSU’s expanded brass section; Appalachian Spring Suite, a ballet commissioned by choreographer and dancer Martha Graham in 1944; and the rousing favorite “Hoe-Down” from another of Copland’s ballets, Rodeo.  Audience members will recognize this as the music used by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association for their U.S. television commercials.

 

            Also featured will be Barber’s mournful anthem Adagio for Strings, made famous in the films Platoon and The Elephant Man. 

 

            In an attempt to share music with patrons of all ages, audience members are encouraged to contact OSU’s Executive Director, Pete Akins, at 590-4266 if they would like to bring children ages three to six.  Normal policy at the Heritage Center states no children under six are admitted. 

 

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and children, and $30 for a group of six, and are available at the Heritage Center box office, 865-2882.  OSU season tickets are also available for $25 at the box office, and includes admission to this concert. 

 

Low-income Iron County senior citizens can get free tickets at the Cedar City Senior Citizen Center, 489 E. 200 S., made possible through a grant from Iron County United Way. 

 

For more information call 867-8501 or visit www.orchestraofsouthernutah.org.