Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Presents A NIGHT IN RUSSIA Tonight

PITTSBURGH - Passion, fascination, intrigue and romance await you at Heinz Hall during BNY Mellon Grand Classics: A Night in Russia tonight, January 30 through February 1.

Guest conductor Krzysztof Urba?ski, music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, makes his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra during this subscription weekend. He leads a program that includes the Pittsburgh premiere of Prokofiev's Russian Overture, a solo by Concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley in a concerto by Khachaturian, and Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," a piece originally written for solo piano that is now one of the great orchestral works.

Each BNY Mellon Grand Classics concert is part of the Explore & Engage program, which includes pre-concert talks, exhibits, display boards and interactive activities that illuminate the music, composers and the time in which they were created. Conductor Christian Capocaccia will present a pre-concert talk one hour prior to each performance.

The concert on Saturday, January 31 is a "Behind the Notes" performance. This weekend, the Saturday concert will include the Khachaturian concerto with Bendix-Balgley in the first half and "Pictures at an Exhibition" in the second half, with WQED-FM's Jim Cunningham revealing the intricacies of Ravel's orchestration while pianist Rodrigo Ojeda and the orchestra demonstrate his insights.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets, ranging in price from $25.75 to $105.75, can be purchased by calling the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900 or visiting pittsburghsymphony.org. Subscribers who may wish to move to or from the "Behind the Notes" Saturday evening performance can do so by calling the box office or their personal service representative.

The Pittsburgh Symphony would like to recognize and thank BNY Mellon for its 2014-2015 title sponsorship of BNY Mellon Grand Classics. Fairmont Pittsburgh is the official hotel of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Delta Air Lines is the official airline of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

In 2014-2015, Krzysztof Urba?ski entered the fourth season of his highly acclaimed tenure as music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He also continues as chief conductor of Trondheim Symfoniorkester, who have additionally appointed him artistic leader in recognition of his major contribution to the orchestra. This season he takes the orchestra on tour to Poland for a second time, where they open the 10th International Chopin Music Festival. Urba?ski also holds the post of principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Last season, in recognition of the close relationship he has forged with them over the past few seasons, Urba?ski was appointed principal guest conductor of NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, a position he takes up from 2015-2016. Together with the orchestra, he will take part in the opening concerts of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. Urba?ski graduated from the Chopin Music Academy, Warsaw, in 2007 and was the unanimous First Prize Winner of the Prague Spring International Conducting Competition. From 2007 to 2009, he served as assistant conductor to the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, working under Music Director Antoni Wit with whom he also studied at University. He currently holds the position of adjunct professor of music (orchestral conducting) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Noah Bendix-Balgley has thrilled and moved audiences around the world with his performances. A Laureate of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, he also won 3rd prize and a special prize for creativity at the 2008 Long-Thibaud International Competition in Paris. Bendix-Balgley won the 1st prize at the 2011 Vibrarte International Music Competition in Paris and was awarded 1st Prize and a special prize for best Bach interpretation at the 14th International Violin Competition "Andrea Postacchini" in Fermo, Italy. Bendix-Balgley has appeared as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre National de Belgique, I Pomeriggi Musicale of Milan, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana (Italy), Orchestre Royal Chambre de Wallonie (Belgium), the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Asheville Symphony (USA). In 2011, Bendix-Balgley was appointed concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His Pittsburgh debut recital in January 2012 was named the "Best Classical Concert of 2012" by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bendix-Balgley's performance with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, featuring his own original cadenzas, was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. Bendix-Balgley has also performed his own version of The Star-Spangled Banner for solo violin in front of 39,000 fans at the Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day at PNC Park. Bendix-Balgley is a passionate and experienced chamber musician. He has performed on North American tour with the Miro String Quartet. From 2008 to 2011, he was the 1st violinist of the Munich-based Athlos String Quartet, which won a special prize at the 2009 Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Competition in Berlin, and performed throughout Europe. He has performed with artists including Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Gary Hoffman, Emanuel Ax, Ralph Kirshbaum, and percussionist Colin Currie. Mr. Bendix-Balgley has appeared at numerous festivals in Europe and North America, including the Verbier Festival, the Sarasota Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, and Chamber Music Connects the World in Kronberg, Germany. Born in Asheville, North Carolina in 1984, he began playing violin at age 4. At age 9, he played for Lord Yehudi Menuhin in Switzerland. Bendix-Balgley graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the Munich Hochschule. His principal teachers were Mauricio Fuks, Christoph Poppen and Ana Chumachenco. In his spare time, he enjoys playing klezmer music. He has played with world-renowned klezmer groups such as Brave Old World, and has taught klezmer violin at workshops in Europe and in the United States. In 2013, Bendix- Balgley joined the faculty of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music as an artist lecturer in chamber music.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, known for its artistic excellence for more than 117 years, is credited with a rich history of the world's finest conductors and musicians, and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Past music directors have included Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), Andre Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996) and Mariss Jansons (1995-2004). This tradition of outstanding international music directors was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra has been at the forefront of championing new American works, and gave the first performance of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah" in 1944. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony broadcast on the airwaves coast-to-coast and in the late 1970s it made the ground breaking PBS series Previn and the Pittsburgh. The orchestra has received increased national attention since 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International, produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900-including 36 international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America-the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras.

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts is owned and operated by Pittsburgh Symphony, Inc., a non-profit organization, and is the year-round home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The cornerstone of Pittsburgh's Cultural District, Heinz Hall also hosts many other events that do not feature its world-renowned orchestra, including Broadway shows, comedians, speakers and much more. For a full calendar of upcoming non-symphony events at the hall, visit heinzhall.org.

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