American Symphony Orchestra Performs Luigi Nono's Opera INTOLLERANZA 1960 At Carnegie Hall

Leon Botstein will lead the American Symphony Orchestra in Luigi Nono's opera Intolleranza 1960, the final performance this season in the ASO's four-concert Vanguard series, on Thursday, March 1, 8 PM at Carnegie Hall. The program is part of the series' season-long theme examining the music composers have created under varied political leaderships.

In post-Fascist Italy, composer Luigi Nono attempted to reverse the darkness of Mussolini and rescue art from being the handmaiden of the state. His one-act opera Intolleranza 1960 speaks out against dictatorship. The story follows a migrant worker travelling home who gets caught up in a political protest, is tortured in prison, and escapes to fight for a world without war. Soloists on the program include recording artist and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music professor, tenor Daniel Weeks; and Marian Anderson Career Grant-winner, soprano Serena Benedetti.

Maestro Botstein provides the musical context for all concerts in this series through the presentation of lively, 30-minute Conductor's Notes Q&A sessions. These discussions, popular learning opportunities for concert-goers and music connoisseurs alike, begin one hour before each concert and are free for all ticket holders.

Tickets, priced at $25, $30, $40, and $55, are available at carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or visiting the box office at 57th St & 7th Ave.

The American Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski with a mission of making orchestral music accessible and affordable for everyone. Music Director Leon Botstein expanded that mission when he joined the ASO in 1992, creating thematic concerts that explore music from the perspective of the visual arts, literature, religion, and history, and reviving rarely-performed works audiences would otherwise seldom hear performed live.

The Orchestra has made several tours of Asia and Europe, and performed in countless benefits for organizations including the Jerusalem Foundation and PBS. Many of the world's most accomplished soloists have performed with the ASO, including Yo-Yo Ma, Deborah Voigt, and Sarah Chang. The Orchestra has released several recordings on the Telarc, New World, Bridge, Koch, and Vanguard labels, and numerous live performances are also available for digital download. In many cases, these are the only recordings of some of the rare works that have been rediscovered in ASO performances.

The ASO's online-only issue of Weber's Euryanthe, recorded at the 2014 Bard Music Festival, was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal as " musically rich, lyrical and expansive." Leon Botstein Leon Botstein has been music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra since 1992. He is also music director of The Orchestra Now, an innovative training orchestra composed of top musicians from around the world. He is co-artistic director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival, which take place at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, where he has been president since 1975. He is also conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director from 2003-11. This year he assumes artistic directorship of Campus Grafenegg and Grafenegg Academy in Austria. Mr. Botstein also has an active career as a guest conductor with orchestras around the globe and has made numerous recordings, as well as being a prolific author and music historian. He is the recipient of numerous honors for his contributions to the music industry.

For more information, please visit americansymphony.org.