Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
February 4, 2005

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Performs with Guest Conductor Peter Oundjian, Wednesday, February 16, at 8 p.m.

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music welcomes guest conductor Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony. Oundjian will lead the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic in a concert at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland at 8 p.m. Wednesday, February 16.

Oundjian will also appear with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he will conduct their "Pictures at an Exhibition" program February 17-19.

"As part of Carnegie Mellon's special relationship with the Symphony, Peter Oundjian, the Symphony's distinguished guest, will also lead the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic," said Alan Fletcher, head of the Carnegie Mellon School of Music. "Renowned as the music director of the Toronto Symphony, director of the Caramoor Festival and former first violin of the Tokyo String Quartet, Maestro Oundjian has chosen a program featuring the masterfully romantic Brahms 'Fourth Symphony,' Barber's immensely moving 'Adagio for Strings' and a sparkling 'Haydn Symphony.'"

A world-renowned conductor and violinist, Oundjian studied violin at the Royal College of Music in London, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for Most Distinguished Student and the Stoutzker Prize for Excellence in Violin Playing, and at Juilliard in New York. He has studied with such distinguished musicians as Manoug Parikian, Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman and Dorothy DeLay. As the first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet for 14 years, Oundjian performed all over the world. He made his formal conducting debut at the Caramoor International Music Festival in 1995 with the orchestra of St. Luke's. Since then Oundjian has become one of the most dynamic conductors in the world. He has been artistic director of the Caramoor International Music Festival, music director of the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, principal guest conductor of the Colorado Symphony and is currently music director of the Toronto Symphony.

The Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic is a student ensemble composed of young musicians from all over the United States and 10 foreign countries. Audiences and critics at such prestigious institutions as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Boston Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York have enthusiastically received the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic. Recordings of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic appear on the Mode Records, New World Records, New Albion and Carnegie Mellon record labels.

Ticket prices range from $4-5. For ticketing information, please contact Amy Stabenow at 412-268-2383. For any other information, please contact at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.