Brevard Symphony Orchestra Performs Tonight at King Center for the Performing Arts

The Brevard Symphony Orchestra takes flight with two colorful Russian ballet scores when the Orchestra presents its second subscription concert of the season at the King Center for the Performing Arts tonight, November 22, 2014. This mesmerizing program will feature the beauty and poignancy of Pytor Illyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite and followed by the magical sounds of Igor Stravinsky's first masterpiece - The Firebird Suite. The first half of the concert will feature music from Romania, including Ion Ivanovici's familiar Waves of the Danube and two works for solo violin featuring Romanian violinist Daniel Szasz - Ciprian Porumbescu's Ballade and Georges Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody. This concert also marks the world premiere of Charlie Harmon's arrangement of Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody. Concert begins at 8:00pm. For tickets, call the King Center Box Office at (321) 242-2219 or purchase online at www.brevardsymphony.com.

Active as a concert soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist, Daniel Szasz has been the concertmaster of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra since 1997. A versatile musician, interested in performing both standard and less familiar repertoire, Mr. Szasz has been consistently praised for his "expressive, rich and warm sound" as well as for his "strong, confident, and assertive playing." His performances have been described as "breathtaking" and "exquisite" and have generated great enthusiasm among his audiences and in the press.

Born in Romania, in the Transylvanian city of Sibiu, Mr. Szasz began playing the violin at age six under the supervision of his father, a former principal trumpet player with the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra. At the age of eight he played his first solo recital, and at thirteen he performed his first concerto with a professional orchestra. His teachers in Romania included Mihai Wunderlich, Victoria Nicolae, and his mentor, violinist Andras Agoston. While a student at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj, at only nineteen, Mr. Szasz landed a position with one of the top orchestras in Romania, the Cluj State Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he toured Europe extensively, recorded, and performed as a soloist on many occasions. Following studies with Alberto Lysy at the prestigious International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland, Szasz moved to the U.S. and continued his violin studies with Vasile Beluska, Yair Kless, Gerald Jarvis, and Patrick Rafferty. He also studied chamber music with members of the Franz Schubert Quartet, Audubon Quartet, and Fine Arts Quartet.

Mr. Szasz has won numerous awards in national competitions in Romania as well as international competitions in Italy and the U.S., including the "Public Prize" at the prestigious Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition in Florence, Italy, playing with his wife, pianist Alina Voicu. Over the years, Mr. Szasz participated in several music festivals, including the Graz Music Festival in Austria; the Sopron Music Festival in Hungary; and the Blossom, Chautauqua, and New Hampshire Music Festivals in the U.S. In the summer of 2006, Mr. Szasz won the position of concertmaster for the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, an annual summer music festival orchestra in Lake Placid, New York. Mr. Szasz also serves as a guest concertmaster of CityMusic Cleveland, a chamber orchestra in Cleveland, Ohio. Some of Mr. Szasz's most notable collaborations over the years included solo appearances and chamber concerts with violinists Jaime Laredo, Andras Agoston; pianist Yakov Kasman; cellist Alban Gerhardt; mandolinist Chris Thile, and bandoneonist Raul Jaurena.

Mr. Szasz's 2014-2015 performances include solo engagements with the Cluj State Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania, the Lake Placid Sinfonietta in Lake Placid, New York, the Brevard Symphony in Melbourne, Florida, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in Masterworks and Concertmaster & Friends series, as well as other chamber music performances in Europe and the U.S.

Tickets range in price from $20 to $50 Adults, $10 College Students, $6 Children - Box office fees may apply.

Season tickets are still available. BSO season subscribers save 30-40% off individual concert tickets. To purchase, contact the BSO office at 321.242.2024 or online at www.brevardsymphony.com.

Teachers and active military receive 50% off in areas two and three for season tickets and single tickets. Must present valid I.D. to purchase.

Box office fees may apply to ticket purchases. Sorry, no refunds or exchanges.