Hanson Launch Landmark Symphonic Tour And Album, String Theory
For Immediate Release
July 23, 2018
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PITTSBURGH, PA— Following a sold out 25th Anniversary World Tour and Greatest Hits release, Grammy nominated multi-platinum pop-rock trio HANSON is beginning their next 25 years with a musical project unmatched in their history, String Theory symphonic tour and album set to launch this summer and continue through Spring 2019.
String Theory brings together an exciting collaboration of song craftsmanship and symphonic majesty, framing the established trio’s music through a special collaboration with Academy award winning arranger David Campbell, spawning both a world tour featuring the band playing live with Symphony Orchestras, and a studio album.
HANSON’s most ambitious musical project to date features songs spanning the band’s career, including some of their best known material (“MmmBop”, “Where’s The Love”, “This Time Around” and more) alongside brand new or never-released-to-the-public songs (“Reaching For The Sky”, “Battle Cry”, “Breaktown”, “No Rest For The Weary” and more) which tell a story of aspiration, despair, fortitude and ultimately a return to optimism.
Fans can discover String Theory both as an album and as a concert, with North American dates starting Summer 2018 and running through Summer 2019, and music released in Fall 2018.
The Tour brings String Theory to the stage with many leading symphonies at some of the most iconic venues, among them the National Symphony Orchestra at the Filene Center at Wolftrap and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall, already announced earlier this year and on sale now. New dates include Los Angeles at The Greek Theatre, New York at the Beacon Theatre and Chicago at the Chicago Theatre, on sale July 27th. US and Canada dates continue throughout the Spring of 2019, with international dates to be announced later this month taking the tour to Europe, Australia, and more in Spring 2019.
The album features brand new and rearranged recordings with full symphonic orchestration, and will be available in digital and physical formats, with special content and packages available via the band’s official website www.Hanson.net. The band recordings were produced by HANSON and mixed by Grammy winning Producer and Engineer Jim Scott (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, Wilco, Sting). The symphonic composition was recorded in Prague, lead by arranger David Campbell. New HANSON recordings were engineered by Craig Alvin (Kacey Musgraves) with additional production and engineering credits including past collaborators of the band, Danny Kortchmar (Don Henley, Billy Joel, James Taylor), Joe Chicarelli (The Strokes, Frank Zappa, The White Stripes), Steve Churchyard (The Eagles, Train, Faith Hill, Taylor Swift), Greg Wells (Mika, Rufus Wainwright, Adele) and CJ Eiriksson (U2, Matchbox Twenty, Phish).
String Theory is the next frontier for HANSON, telling a story of aspiration and fortitude against the odds. The music resonates with authenticity, coming from a group whose signature is never to chase trends, but instead to stay focused on their melodic craftsmanship, establishing themselves as one of the few artists of their generation able to continually reinvent and reimagine their music, which has helped them to maintain an active global fanbase over 25 years after their founding.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
About the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
The 2018 GRAMMY Award-winning PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, known for its artistic excellence for more than 120 years, is credited with a rich history of the world's finest conductors and musicians, and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Past music directors have included Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), Andre Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996) and Mariss Jansons (1995-2004). This tradition of outstanding international music directors was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra has been at the forefront of championing new American works, and gave the first performance of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah" in 1944 and John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. Its "Pittsburgh Live!" series with Reference Recordings has resulted in back-to-back Grammy Nominations in 2015 and 2016. As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony broadcast on the airwaves coast-to-coast and in the late 1970s it made the ground breaking PBS series "Previn and the Pittsburgh." The orchestra has received increased national attention since 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International, produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900 — including international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America—the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras.
Renowned for his distinctive interpretations, Manfred Honeck has served as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since the 2008/09 season. The 2017/18 season marked 10 years of this acclaimed partnership, highlighted by special commissions to commemorate this decade of successful music-making. Consistently recognized for their performances, he and the orchestra are celebrated both in Pittsburgh and abroad, and regularly perform in major music capitals and festivals.
Manfred Honeck's successful work with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is extensively documented on recordings by the Reference Recordings label. All albums released by Reference Recordings — amongst them Strauss tone poems and suites, Bruckner's Symphony No. 4, Beethoven Symphonies No. 5 and 7, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 — have received numerous rave reviews and honors. Honeck and the orchestra received two Grammy nominations for Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 and the Symphonic Suite from Janáček's opera Jenůfa, conceptualized by the artist himself, as well as for Bruckner's Symphony No. 4. In January 2018, they were honored with the Grammy Award for "Best Orchestral Performance" for their recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Barber's Adagio for Strings.
As a guest conductor, Honeck has worked with the world's leading orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome, and the Vienna Philharmonic. In the United States, he has conducted the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony. He is also a regular guest at the Verbier Festival. His operatic guest appearances include Semperoper Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera of Copenhagen, the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg and the Salzburg Festival. He also has served as Artistic Director of the International Concerts Wolfegg in Germany for more than twenty years.
Born in Austria, Honeck received his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. Many years of experience as a member of the viola section in the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra have given his conducting a distinctive stamp. He began his career as assistant to Claudio Abbado, and as artistic leader of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra. He received the prestigious European Conductor's Award in 1993 at the Zurich Opera House, and has served as Music Director of the Norwegian National Opera, Principal Guest Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and most recently as Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
Manfred Honeck has received honorary doctorates from several North American universities. Most recently, he was awarded the honorary title of Professor by the Austrian Federal President. The expert jury of the International Classical Music Awards selected him as "Artist of the Year" 2018.
About the Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts
HEINZ HALL FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is owned and operated by Pittsburgh Symphony, Inc., a non-profit organization, and is the year-round home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The cornerstone of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, Heinz Hall hosts many events that do not feature its world-renowned Orchestra including Broadway shows, popular touring artists, comedians, speakers and much more. For a full calendar of upcoming non-symphony events at the hall, visit heinzhall.org.
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