Carnegie Mellon's School of Music and PSO Present "Carnegie Mellon Night at the Symphony," Feb. 4

Event Is Part of Ongoing College of Fine Arts Centennial Celebration

Music Professor and PSO Concertmaster Andrés Cárdenes.

Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) invite Carnegie Mellon alumni, students, faculty and staff to enjoy "Carnegie Mellon Night at the Symphony" at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 4, at Heinz Hall. The evening will include performances of Edward Elgar's "Serenade for Strings" and Beethoven's Symphony No. 2. Concertmaster Andrés Cárdenes and Principal Cello Anne Martindale Williams will also take center stage to perform Johannes Brahms.

The concert will open with Pinchas Zukerman conducting the orchestra in the lyrical and touching "Serenade for Strings," one of Edward Elgar's early works. The piece, which was completed in May 1892, was derived from the now-lost "Three Pieces for String Orchestra" that Elgar composed in 1888 just after leaving his first professional position as music director at the Powick Lunatic Asylum. At the asylum he not only conducted the band made up of inmates and attendants, but also composed sheaves of quadrilles for their use, at five shillings each. Elgar retained a deep fondness for the "Serenade for Strings," referring to it often in later life as his favorite work. It was the last piece that he recorded just six months before his death.

Symphony No. 2 is considered Beethoven's first "great" symphony. It was composed in 1802 during a dark period in his life, in which he experienced a broken heart, poor health and the initial signs of the deafness that would become complete within 10 years. The Second Symphony is the one that most belies the difficult year of its birth; it is a work of joy, beauty, serenity and optimism.

Following the performance, PSO musicians and Carnegie Mellon guests will mingle and enjoy a post-concert dessert buffet hosted by Carnegie Mellon. Discounted tickets for alumni, students, faculty and staff can be purchased at the Carnegie Mellon University Center Information Desk. Tickets for the evening are $12 for the Gallery, $17 for Family Circle and $25 for Orchestra. Tickets must be purchased by 2 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3.

For more information about activities related to the College of Fine Arts centennial visit www.cmu.edu/cfa/centennial or contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.

Eric Sloss
January 31, 2006