North Carolina Symphony to Perform Beethoven & Mozart Program, 2/6-7

The North Carolina Symphony will perform a program titled Beethoven & Mozart on Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. in Meymandi Concert Hall in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. The concerts, led by Christoph König, will include Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3, featuring Alina Ibragimova, and Con brio, a work by Jörg Widmann that is a tribute to Beethoven's Seventh and Eighth Symphonies.

Christoph König's conducting is marked by an energetic and serious approach to musical collaboration and a commitment to thoughtful and stimulating programming. He currently holds positions as Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música (from January 2009) and Principal Conductor & Music Director of the Solistes Européens, Luxembourg (from September 2010). With Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Musica he has toured to Brazil and Europe including performances in Vienna, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Strasbourg, Valladolid and Madrid. With the Solistes Européens, Luxembourg he has performed at the Cologne Philharmonie and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Performing music from baroque to new commissions on both modern and period instruments, Alina Ibragimova has appeared with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orquestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Philharmonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Hallé, and all the BBC orchestras. Born in Russia in 1985 she studied at the Moscow Gnesin School before moving with her family to the UK in 1995 where she studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and Royal College of Music, and was a member of the Kronberg Academy Masters programme.

Ms. Ibragimova has been the recipient of awards including the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award 2010, Borletti-Buitoni Trust and a Classical BRIT, and was a member of the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme 2005-7. She records for Hyperion Records and performs on a c.1775 Anselmo Bellosio violin provided by Georg von Opel.

Tickets to the concert range from $18 to $65. Student tickets are $10. To purchase tickets, visit the North Carolina Symphony website at www.ncsymphony.org or call the Symphony Box Office at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724. Concert tickets at all performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time. Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.

In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions, and "Meet the Artists," which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events. On Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, Symphony Scholar-in-Residence William Robin will host a Meet the Artists session in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, Robin will give a pre-concert talk in Swalin Lobby at 7 p.m. A Symphony musician will be available to answer questions in the lower lobby at intermission both nights.

Partners for the 2014/15 Raleigh Classical Series are Clancy & Theys Construction, Duke Realty, Smith Anderson, Marriott, and 18 Seaboard.