PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY OFFERS COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS TO FEDERAL WORKERS
For Immediate Release
January 23, 2019
PITTSBURGH, PA—The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) announced this past weekend that it welcomes federal government employees to Heinz Hall with a pair of complimentary concert tickets, from now until 30 days after the government shutdown ends.
"Music and community wellness are deeply linked and deeply valued by the Pittsburgh Symphony, so we hope that this offer helps to bring some respite in a time of adversity," said Melia Tourangeau, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
"In recognition of our furloughed federal employees and their families, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra offers this small gesture of gratitude," said the Musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Concerts that are currently eligible over the next month are:
January 25-27 Dvořák's "New World"
Long Yu, conductor; Inon Barnatan, piano
January 26 PSO360: "Keyboard Masters" with Inon Barnatan
February 8-10 Beethoven by Blomstedt
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
February 9 Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds; Andrés Franco, conductor
February 15-17 Romeo & Juliet, Plus Emanuel Ax
Manfred Honeck, conductor; Emanuel Ax, piano
Offer details: Tickets must be picked up in person at the box office at Heinz Hall, 600 Penn Ave. in downtown Pittsburgh; a government-issued federal ID must be shown to obtain tickets; each federal worker is eligible for one pair of tickets to a concert through 30 days after the government shutdown ends; offer based on availability; offer not available for previously purchased tickets. Questions may be directed to the box office at 412.392.4900. Box office hours vary based on concert schedule, but typically 9AM-8PM Mon-Fri, and Sat-Sun noon until a half hour after concert time.
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Over the last quarter century, MANFRED HONECK has firmly established himself as one of the world's leading conductors, renowned for his distinctive interpretations and arrangements of a wide-range of repertoire. For more than a decade, Honeck has served as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, continuing a great legacy of music-making that is celebrated at home, abroad and on recordings, including the 2018 Grammy Award for Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Barber's Adagio for Strings. Since 2008, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra have served as cultural ambassadors for the city as one of the most frequently toured American orchestras. In addition to performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the orchestra regularly performs in major European music capitals and at leading festivals such as the Beethovenfest Bonn, BBC Proms, Musikfest Berlin, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Grafenegg Festival and the Salzburg Festival, and continues a close relationship with the Musikverein in Vienna. The PSO and Honeck return to Lincoln Center in May 2019 and their next European tour takes place in fall 2019. Under Honeck's leadership of the Pittsburgh Symphony, he instituted a new initiative to preserve the orchestra's celebrated sound, resulting in more than a dozen recordings on the Reference and Exton labels. Together, Honeck and the PSO have recorded symphonies by Beethoven, Bruckner, Dvořák, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky, as well as Strauss tone poems. They have received critical acclaim and honors from around the world, including the "Best Orchestral Performance" Grammy Award in 2018, along with two other Grammy nominations. Honeck has conceived of and conducted several large-scale or operatic works as semi-staged productions for the concert hall, including Handel's Messiah, Haydn's The Creation, and later this season in Pittsburgh he will lead performances of Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust. Beyond the podium, he has conceptualized and arranged a number of staged works into symphonic "Fantasies" or "Suites," among them Janáček's Jenůfa (Grammy nominated), Strauss's Elektra, Dvořák's Rusalka, and Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty, which he frequently programs on concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, at home and on tour, as well as with orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. As a guest conductor, Honeck is a regular guest with all of the major American orchestras, including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. He continues to appear in the world's leading concert halls and festivals, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome, Vienna Philharmonic, and the Verbier Festival. He served as Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart from 2007 to 2011, and has led operatic performances at Komische Oper Berlin, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera of Copenhagen, Salzburg Festival, Semperoper Dresden and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. Born in Austria, Honeck received his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. He was a member of the viola section of the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestra for eight years. Transitioning to conducting, he began his career as an 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, and most recently as Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Honeck also has served as Artistic Director of the International Concerts Wolfegg in Germany for more than twenty years.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. An international jury of critics selected him as the International Classical Music Awards "Artist of the Year" 2018.
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.
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.
Media Contacts
Julie Goetz | Director of Communications
jgoetz@pittsburghsymphony.org | 412.392.4866