The CSO Collaborates with BalletMet to Present the RUSSIAN WINTER FESTIVAL 1/6- 1/7

In this first installment of the CSO's Russian Winter Festival, Music Director Rossen Milanov will conduct this exciting collaboration featuring the musicians of the CSO and principal dancers of BalletMet in unparalleled performances of Stravinsky's fascinating Pétrouchka and selections from Prokofiev's romantic Romeo and Juliet. BBC New Generation Artist Elena Urioste will also perform Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, providing a perfect complement to this not-to-be-missed evening of Russian music. The Russian Winter Festival will be enhanced by educational and interactive offerings throughout the week prior to the concerts.

The Columbus Symphony presents the Russian Winter Festival I at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Friday and Saturday, January 6 and 7, at 8pm. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, andwww.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000. The CAPA Ticket Center will also be open two hours prior to each performance.

The 2016-17 Masterworks Series is made possible through the generous support of season sponsor Anne Melvin.

Prelude - Patrons are invited to join Christopher Purdy at 7pm for a 30-minute, pre-concert discussion about the works to be performed.

Postlude - At the conclusion of the program, patrons are invited to join the musicians of the CSO in a Russian vodka tasting in the Galbreath Pavilion.

Supporting Events

Subject Matter - Tuesday, January 3, 5:30pm, Urban Arts Space (50 W. Town St.)

In this free lecture series designed to complement upcoming CSO programming, Dr. Karen Eliot, a professor in the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University, will examine the 1911 Pétrouchka- the myths behind its creation, its controversial performance elements, and the continued life of this now seldom-staged ballet.

Mozart to Matisse - Wednesday, January 4, 2pm, Columbus Museum of Art (480 E. Broad St.)

In collaboration with the Columbus Museum of Art, this afternoon lecture will examine depictions of costumed performers in art, such as clowns of the commedia dell'arte by Watteau and Picasso and the ballet dancers of Degas, complimented by a musical works performed by CSO musicians.

About CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov

Respected and admired by audiences and musicians alike, Rossen Milanov is currently the Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and recently completed his second season with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra to enthusiastic acclaim. He is also Music Director of the Princeton Symphony and Spain's Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA).

The 2016-17 CSO season builds upon many of the innovative ideas that were introduced in his first season-thematic festivals, enrichment programs, integrated experiences, and collaborations with other local cultural institutions. In Princeton, he is continuing the tradition of adventurous programming and collaborating with violinist Leila Josefowicz, clarinetist David Krakauer, and composers Saad Haddad and Zhou Tian. In Spain, he will conduct the Spanish premiere of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa with the Oviedo Opera and the gala concert of the "Princess of Asturias" awards with OSPA.

Milanov has collaborated with some of the world's preeminent artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Christian Tetzlaff, and André Watts. During his 11-year tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra, he conducted more than 200 performances as Associate Conductor and as Artistic Director of the Orchestra's summer home at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. In 2015, he completed a 15-year tenure as Music Director of the nationally recognized training orchestra Symphony in C in New Jersey. His passion for new music has resulted in numerous world premieres of works by composers such as Richard Danielpour, Nicolas Maw, and Gabriel Prokofiev among others.

Rossen Milanov studied conducting at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, where he received the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship.

About guest violinist Elena Urioste

Recently selected as a BBC New Generation Artist and featured on the cover of Symphony Magazine, Urioste has been hailed by critics and audiences alike for her lush tone, the nuanced lyricism of her playing, and her commanding stage presence. Since first appearing with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 13, she has made acclaimed debuts with major orchestras throughout the US, including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Chicago, National, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Richmond, and San Antonio Symphony Orchestras. Abroad, she has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Würzburg Philharmonic, Hungary's Orchestra Dohnányi Budafok and MAV Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfonica de la Universidad de Guanajuato.

About BalletMet

Renowned for its versatility and innovative repertory, BalletMet ranks among the nation's 20 largest professional ballet companies. Since its inception in 1978, BalletMet has made the commission and

performance of new works a core organizational priority, with more than 150 World Premieres and hundreds of Company Premieres performed throughout its history. BalletMet stages 60 to 70 performances annually at home and on tour.

BalletMet's Academy has also been recognized as an institution of local and national stature. It offers hundreds of classes to roughly 1,700 students of all ages each year. Students in our Intensive, Boys, and

Trainee Programs gain invaluable training and experience, including the opportunity to dance on stage alongside the company's professional dancers.

Committed to engaging the community, BalletMet developed a series of educational and outreach programs, including the Wiggle Jig, Moving Into Literacy, and urban dance and wellness classes, that reach more than 30,000 people annually, many from minority and underserved groups.

For more information, visit www.balletmet.org.

About composer Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Prokofiev was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous musical genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. Based on a synopsis created by Adrian Piotrovsky and Sergey Radlov, the ballet Romeo and Juliet was composed by Prokofiev in September 1935 to their scenario which followed the precepts of "drambalet" (dramatized ballet). Suites of the music were heard in Moscow and the US, but the full ballet premiered in the Mahen Theatre, Brno (Czech Republic) on December 30, 1938.

About composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93)

Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the late-Romantic period whose works are among the most popular in classical repertoire. He was the first Russian composer who made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the US. His Violin Concerto in D major was written in 1878, and is considered one of the most technically difficult works for violin. The first performance was given by Adolph Brodsky on December 4, 1881, in Vienna.

About Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century, Russian composer, pianist, and conductor Igor Stravinsky achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, and first performed in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes-The Firebird (1910), Pétrouchka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913). Pétrouchka was first performed by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on June 13, 1911, and was one of the most popular of the Ballets Russes productions.

www.columbussymphony.com

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