The Pittsburgh Symphony's BNY Mellon Grand Classics Series Presents GOOD FRIDAY SPELL with Conductor James Gaffigan and Pianist Gabriela Montero, 1/23-25

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra kicks off the New Year with a debut by rising American conductor James Gaffigan and the return of crowd favorite pianist Gabriela Montero on January 23 & 25 during BNY Mellon Grand Classics: Wagner's "Good Friday Spell" at Heinz Hall.

Gaffigan will lead the orchestra in poignant pieces from Wagner and Mendelssohn - "Good Friday Spell" from Parsifal and Symphony No. 5 in D. Major, "Reformation." Montero will dazzle in Ravel's jazzy Concerto in G major. The performance kicks off with the Pittsburgh premiere of Composer of the Year Mason Bates' bluesy "White Lies for Lomax," which originated as a solo piano work. Attendees are in for a special treat as Montero is known for her signature encore improvisations, based on audience suggestions!

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 conduct a pre-concert talk from stage one hour prior to each concert to discuss the music that will be heard that evening. On Friday, January 23, the Center for Young Musicians will present several ensembles performing in the Grand Lobby from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday 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.

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.

Hailed for the natural ease of his conducting and the compelling insight of his musicianship, James Gaffigan continues to attract international attention as one of the most outstanding American conductors working today. He is chief conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne. In addition to these titled positions, Gaffigan is in high demand working with leading orchestras and opera houses throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. In recent seasons, Gaffigan's guest engagements have included the Munich, London and Rotterdam Philharmonics; Dresden Staatskapelle; Deutsches Symphony Orchestra (Berlin); Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; RSO Berlin; BBC Symphony Orchestra; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Czech Philharmonic; Zurich Tonhalle; Bournemouth Symphony; Camerata Salzburg; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Leipzig and Stuttgart Radio Orchestras; Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony; Sydney Symphony; and the Qatar Philharmonic. In the States, he has worked with the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, San Francisco and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore and National Symphony Orchestras and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In the 2014-2015 season, he returns to the Vienna Symphony, Orchestre National de Paris, BBC Symphony and the orchestras of Cleveland, Vancouver and Los Angeles, among others. As an opera conductor, Gaffigan made his Vienna State Opera debut in 2011-2012 conducting "La Bohème" and was immediately invited back to conduct "Don Giovanni" the following season. Gaffigan continues his relationship with the Glyndebourne Festival - in 2012, he conducted a production of La Cenerentola and returned for performances of Falstaff in summer 2013. He made his professional opera debut at the Zurich Opera in 2005 conducting "La Bohème." In the States, he has conducted "Don Giovanni" and "The Marriage of Figaro" at both the Aspen Music Festival and the Houston Opera. In 2009, Gaffigan completed a three-year tenure as associate conductor of the San Francisco Symphony where he assisted Michael Tilson Thomas, led subscription concerts and was artistic director of the orchestra's Summer festival. Prior to that appointment, he was the assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra where he worked under Music Director Franz Welser-Möst from 2003 through 2006. Gaffigan's international career was launched when he was named a first prize winner at the 2004 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition.

Gabriela Montero's visionary interpretations have won her a quickly expanding audience and devoted following around the world. Her engagements include acclaimed performances with the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, WDR Sinfonieorchestre Koln, The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Vienna Radio Orchestra and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Recent collaborators include conductors Sir Roger Norrington, Claudio Abbado, Gustavo Dudamel, James Gaffigan, Lorin Maazel, Yannick Nezet-Seguin and Leonard Slatkin. In recital, she has appeared at the festivals of Salzburg, Istanbul, Ruhr, Ravinia and Tanglewood, as well as the Berlin Philharmonie, Koln Philharmonie, Munich Herkulessaal, Tonhalle Dusseldorf, Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Wigmore Hall in London, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Salle Pleyel in Paris, National Arts Centre Ottawa, Orchard Hall Tokyo and at the "Progetto Martha Argerich" Festival in Lugano where she is invited annually. In addition to her brilliant and nuanced classical interpretations, Montero's unique personal style comes from her improvisational gifts. Today, in both recital and after performing a concerto, Montero often invites her audience to participate by asking for a melody or concept on which to improvise in the classical idiom. It has long been a desire to take her improvisations to the next logical step of composition. Montero has enthusiastically embarked on this new phase of her career by composing a work entitled "ExPatria" for piano and orchestra. Her composition received its premiere performances in London and on tour in Germany with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Her new piano concerto, the "Latin Concerto," will be premiered in 2016. Born in Caracas Venezuela, Montero gave her first public performance at the age of five. At the age of eight, she made her concerto debut in Caracas and was granted a scholarship from the Venezuelan Government to study in the United States

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.