Utah Symphony's Valentine's Day Concert to Feature Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and More, 2/14-15

Flowers, hearts and marriage are showcased in the sounds of love and affection in the Utah Symphony's Valentine's Day performance on Feb. 14 - 15 at Abravanel Hall. Fall in love with Maestro Thierry Fischer as he leads guest Violinist Itamar Zorman through Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto in D Major." Composed in 1878, this concerto is one of the best known and is considered to be one of the most technically difficult.

After this special violin performance, dance through fields of flowers with Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" from the Nutcracker Suite and Gustav Mahler's "Bouquet of Flowers", and walk down the aisle with a performance of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro Overture" and Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Love isn't without a bit of drama. Midway through the performance the musicians will play a suite from Georges Bizet's "Carmen," the tragic tale of a soldier obsessed with a woman. This opera has become the greatest known and most beloved of Bizet's works. Passion also coincides with love, and the passion of the tango is shown in Astor Piazzolla's "Lebertango," a signature piece showcasing his creation of nuevo tango, which incorporates new elements, like new instruments and jazz beats, into the classical version of tango.

Finally, scattered throughout the performance are the sounds of love itself from John Cage's work "Amores", four movements composed for the prepared piano - a piano that has objects placed between its strings to create unique sounds. Cage wrote that he "thought anything that is small and intimate, and has some love in it, is beautiful." He further stated that "Amores" was "about my conviction that love is something that we can consider beautiful."

This combination of music will indeed be beautiful and give the listeners a chance to fall in love all over again this Valentine's Day.

The USUO Education Department is proud to present a Youth Guild Violin Masterclass taught by violinist Itamar Zorman on Saturday, February 15, 2014. The Youth Guild performers will play a variety of pieces including Beethoven's Sonata No. 2 and Vitali's Chaconne in G. This free event is open to the public and will take place at the Dumke Recital Hall (1375 Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City) at the University of Utah from 11 AM - 1 AM. For more information visit: http://usuoeducation.org/index.php/for-students/masterclasses

Single tickets for the performance start at $18 and can be purchased by phone at (801) 355-2787, in person at the Abravanel Hall ticket office (123 W. South Temple) or online by visiting www.utahsymphony.org. Season subscribers can purchase discounted tickets by contacting (801) 533-6683. Those desiring group discounts should call (801) 869-9046. All ticket prices are subject to change and availability, and will increase $5 when purchased on the day of the performance.

Recently awarded the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, violinist Itamar Zorman is the also the winner of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia. He subsequently performed the winners' concerts with Maestro Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra. He previously won the first prize, and the special prize for a performance of a Mozart Concerto, in the 2010 International Violin Competition of Freiburg. In April 2011, upon winning the Juilliard Berg Concerto Competition, he made his Avery Fisher Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra led by the late James DePreist. Mr. Zorman has performed as a soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, the Het Gelders Orkest in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Sinfonietta, the Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, and Orquesta Filharmonica de Cali among others.

As a recipient of scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, he was invited to become a member of the young musicians unit of the Jerusalem Music Center, the Ilona Feher Foundation and the Tokyo Foundation. Itamar Zorman has participated in numerous master classes around the world and has worked with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zuckerman, Shlomo Mintz, Ida Handel and Ivry Gitlis to name a few. He has also participated in festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival and School, the NAC Young Artist Program in Ottawa (Canada), Keshet Eilon (Israel), Voice of Music (Israel), Masters de Belesbat (France), The Heifetz International Music Institute (New Hampshire), and ISA Prague-Vienna-Budapest (Austria).

Born in Tel-Aviv, Israel, in 1985 to a family of musicians, Itamar Zorman graduated from the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel-Aviv in 2003, where he began his violin studies at the age of six with Saly Bockel, before continuing his studies with Professor David Chen and Nava Milo. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance as a student of Hagai Shaham. At the same time, he was the first violinist in the Israel Army's IDF String Quartet. He received his Master's of Music from The Juilliard School in 2009, where he studied with Robert Mann and Sylvia Rosenberg, and received an Artist Diploma from Manhattan School of Music in 2010, and an Artist Diploma from Julliard in 2012. Itamar Zorman is currently a student of Christian Tetzlaff at The Kronberg Academy. He plays on a Pietro Guarneri violin from 1745 from the private collection of Yehuda Zisapel.

Founded in 1940, the Utah Symphony is dedicated to providing Utah residents and visitors with great performances which engage, educate and enrich lives. Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, the orchestra's parent organization, reaches 450,000 residents in Utah and the Intermountain region, with educational outreach programs serving more than 155,000 students annually. The orchestra presents more than 70 performances each season in Abravanel Hall, participates in the Utah Opera's four annual productions at the Capitol Theatre, in addition to numerous community concerts throughout Utah and the annual outdoor summer series - the Deer Valley® Music Festival -in Park City, Utah. With its many subscription, education, and outreach concerts and tours the Utah Symphony is one of the most engaged full-time orchestras in the nation. For more information visit www.utahsymphony.org.