For Immediate Release:

Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
504.523.6530
trey.bornmann@lpomusic.com

The LPO Celebrates the Season with Copland’s Appalachian Spring
and welcomes back virtuoso violist Roberto Diaz for a rare performance of
Bartok’s Viola Concerto

NEW ORLEANS- APRIL 24, 2008- Aaron Copland’s lush tribute to America’s simple heritage – the gentle, always popular Appalachian Spring Suite - opens a stunning concert this Saturday, April 26 at 8 p.m. at Tulane University’s McAlister Auditorium under the baton of guest conductor Daniel Hege. Also included will be the rare opportunity to hear virtuoso guest artist Roberto Diaz as he performs Bela Bartok’s extraordinary Viola Concerto. The concert will conclude with Antonin Dvorak’s vibrant Symphony No. 8.

“ ‘Tis the gift to be simple; ‘tis the gift to be free” - the first line in one of America’s most recognized early songs – is the Shaker melody that Aaron Copland wove into his eloquent Appalachian Spring Suite. Scored originally for just 13 instruments, it was commissioned in 1944 by dancer and choreographer Martha Graham to be performed in the theatre of the Library of Congress. It was Graham herself who re-titled the “Ballet for Martha,” into Appalachian Spring. A few month’s after the ballet’s premiere, Copland re-set the original piece for full orchestra, and for nearly half a century it has become one of his most enduring and popular works.

Roberto Diaz, recently appointed President of Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, is a longtime New Orleans favorite guest artist. Winner of numerous awards including prizes at Naumburg and Munich international viola competitions, this exciting performer has also served as principal violist with the Minnesota, Philadelphia and Boston Symphonies. He will perform the lyrical, poignant yet energetic Bartok Viola Concerto.

Begun in 1943, a period when Bartok was hospitalized with leukemia, a disease that ultimately took his life in 1945, it was finished by Bartok’s longtime colleague Tibor Serly, himself an accomplished violist. The concerto, which consists of three distinct movements without interruption, was premiered in 1949 with Antal Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony featuring the commissioning violist, William Primrose.

Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8, the final work on this concert, was completed in just one month over the summer of 1889. Dvorak himself conducted its premiere in Prague just six months later. Replete with the composer’s trademark Bohemian melodies and rhythms, its genial spirit, grace, exuberance and idyllic moods have drawn comparisons with Beethoven’s Sixth and Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony, making it the perfect conclusion to this seasonal concert.

Tickets range in price from $25 - $65. Student tickets are just $10 with valid student ID. For more information or for tickets, call 504.523.6530 or visit www.lpomusic.com.

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