CSO and Dubuque Symphony to Perform Together for Grand Opening of the University of Dubuque's $30 Million Performing Arts and Campus Center

The University of Dubuque has invited the Columbus Symphony and the Dubuque Symphony to perform a special concert together to celebrate the grand opening of the University's new state-of-the-art Performing Arts and Campus Center on Saturday, May 11, 2013. The collaboration was initiated by Joe and Linda Chlapaty, Dubuque graduates and Columbus residents who are major supporters of the 80,000 square foot, $30 million facility currently under construction.

"The Columbus Symphony is privileged and grateful to be the beneficiary of the amazing leadership and support of Joe and Linda Chlapaty," stated CSO Board President Martin Inglis. "We are honored to have been invited to perform at such a prestigious event for the University and to share the stage with the Dubuque Symphony."

Peter Stafford Wilson, associate conductor of the Columbus Symphony, and William Intriligator, music director and conductor of the Dubuque Symphony, will share the concert's conducting responsibilities.

"The musicians of the Columbus Symphony and I are delighted to be a part of this inaugural concert," commented Peter Stafford Wilson. "We are confident that this new center, unique in its design, will be home to many outstanding performing arts events for decades to come, and are honored to share the stage with the musicians of the Dubuque Symphony and Maestro Intriligator."

"We feel honored that the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra has been invited to perform at the unveiling of UD's Performing Arts and Campus Center," commented William Intriligator, music director and conductor of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. "I look forward to working with fellow conductor Peter Wilson to create an unforgettable symphony experience in which musicians from both Dubuque and Columbus perform side by side."

Additional details about the grand opening concert will be forthcoming in early spring 2013.

About the University of Dubuque Performing Arts Center
The new Performing Arts Center will be central to the Dubuque campus, providing a multitude of venues to serve students, faculty, staff, and the public. Student spaces include a café with an open-mic' stage, convenience store, ice cream parlor and lounge, mail/copy/print center, cyber café, and offices for faculty and student life.

Classrooms will be dispersed throughout, including a black box theater that can also be used as a lecture hall, a computer lab for music composition, a visual/fine arts classroom, a choral music classroom, an instrumental rehearsal room, and numerous practice and rehearsal rooms for performers of all disciplines and abilities.

Public spaces include a 1,000-seat main hall and lobby, a 200-seat black box theater and auditorium space, and an art gallery. The main hall is designed to serve as the premier performance hall for campus, local, regional, and national troupes in music, dance, public speaking, and drama, while also providing first-class instructional facilities for the theater and performing arts programs at UD.

www.ColumbusSymphony.com