Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

February 22, 2007 issue

Christof Perick To Conduct the Charlotte Symphony March 2

Appalachian State University welcomes the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra to Boone for a classical performance under the baton of world-renowned German conductor Christof Perick. The performance, presented by Appalachian State University’s 2006-07 Performing Arts Series, will be held at Farthing Auditorium at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 2.

Now celebrating its 75th anniversary, the Charlotte Symphony has grown into one of the premier musical institutions in the Southeast, giving 115 performances each season and reaching an annual attendance of 250,000 listeners. The largest and most active professional performing organization in the central Carolinas, the symphony has collaborated with the world’s leading soloists, including Andrés Segovia, Alicia de Larrocha, Luciano Pavarotti, Isaac Stern, André Watts and Yo-Yo Ma, among many others.

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is committed to an unprecedented long-range plan of artistic advancement, educational service and community relevancy. To this end, the symphony performs a Classics series and a Neighborhood Concert series that encompass a broad spectrum of symphonic and chamber orchestra masterworks respectively from the Baroque to the present day. Additionally, the symphony performs a Pops series that has, over the years, featured such leading artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett and James Taylor, an annual holiday performance and the Lollipops series that which introduces young listeners to orchestral music through one-hour, story-based concerts. The orchestra’s principal home is the Belk Theater of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

The orchestra’s Boone performance at Farthing Auditorium will include Mozart’s Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6.

Building on a 75-year tradition of excellence, the orchestra is led by the acclaimed German conductor Christof Perick, whose appointment as music director in 2001 garnered national attention, and was proclaimed by The New York Times as a “cultural jolt” for the Charlotte region. Both public and press have noted the orchestra’s increasing artistic accomplishment under Perick’s leadership, including a marked refinement of orchestral tone, ensemble precision and increased flexibility with all musical styles.

Now in his sixth season as music director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Perick has served as music director of the Nuremburg Philharmonic and State Opera in his home country of Germany. Perick has also served as principal guest conductor of the Dresden Semper Opera, one of Europe’s most renowned opera houses. In Europe, he has guest conducted many leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, and he regularly conducts the Orchestre National de France in Paris, the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Vienna and Berlin State Operas. Perick has also conducted many of the leading American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the orchestras of Boston, Indianapolis, San Francisco, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and the National Symphony, among others. In addition to his rigorous schedule of appearances, Maestro Perick is an advocate and mentor for young musicians, and has been very involved with music education and young artist development.

A cornerstone of the cultural community, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s dedication to excellence is self-evident. The Charlotte Observer has declared, “How fortunate we are to have this full-time orchestra of professional musicians and a conductor of international stature playing music at this rarefied level… Go, listen, hear for yourself… it’s a new era.”

Advance tickets for the Charlotte Symphony’s March 2 performance are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors, ASU faculty and staff, and $8 for all students. Ticket prices increase at the door. For tickets or information, call 828-262-4046 or click to www.pas.appstate.edu.