Pianist Lilya Zilberstein To Perform Grieg Piano Concerto With Santa Barbara Symphony, 4/15-16

Internationally renowned pianist Lilya Zilberstein will perform Edvard Grieg's dramatic and fiercely compelling Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Santa Barbara Symphony, under the baton of guest conductor Christian Arming, at the Granada Theatre on April 15 and 16. Also featuring Festina lente by contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, as well as Jean Sibelius' majestic Symphony No. 5, the concerts will take place at 8 pm on Saturday, April 15, and at 3 pm on Sunday, April 16. Tickets are now available.

"We realize we're stretching boundaries a bit in describing this as a Scandinavian program, as Estonia is usually regarded as a Baltic nation. That said, Arvo Pärt's beautifully ethereal Festina lente nicely complements the Grieg and Sibelius compositions, and we're confident audience members will thoroughly enjoy the combination," said Santa Barbara Symphony Executive Director Kevin A. Marvin. "Together these three works will make for powerful concert experiences, all the more so given our two wonderful guest artists, Lilya Zilberstein and Christian Arming, both of whom are very much in demand all over the globe."

Since earning top honors in the 1987 Busoni International Piano Competition, Lilya Zilberstein has established herself as one of the world's finest pianists. Much sought after as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, she has served as artist-in-residence with the Stuttgart Philharmonic, and in October 2015 became the first woman to chair the classical piano department at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In North America, Ms. Zilberstein has appeared with the symphonies of Chicago (at Ravinia), Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Montreal, Quebec, Oregon, and Saint Louis, as well as the Florida Orchestra and the Pacific Symphony. Worldwide engagements have included the Berlin Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Düsseldorf Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, London Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, and the Vienna Symphony, among others. An enthusiastic recitalist and recording artist, Ms. Zilberstein has collaborated in numerous recitals with pianist Martha Argerich, and toured extensively with Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov. Featured on the EMI recording Martha Argerich and Friends: Live from the Lugano Festival, her performance of Brahms' Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano with Mr. Vengerov garnered a Grammy nomination. She has recorded eight CDs for Deutsche Grammophon, including Rachmaninoff's Concerto Nos. 2 and 3 with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Grieg Concerto with Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony.

Austrian Christian Arming has enjoyed significant success conducting both symphonies and operas throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Since the 2011-12 season he has served as music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, prior to which he was music director of the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo. He previously served as chief conductor of the Janá?ek Philharmonic in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and music director of the Lucerne Theatre and Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Arming's conducting appearances have included the Czech Philharmonic, the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Radio Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, the Vienna Symphony, the Orchestra Verdi Milan, the Boston Symphony Orchestra,

Orquesta Sinfonica de Barcelona, the Staatsoper Hamburg, the Taiwan Philharmonic, and the National Polish Radio Orchestra, among many others. Since 2004 he has enjoyed a close collaboration with Frankfurt Opera, and he regularly conducts opera productions in Tokyo and elsewhere in Europe. His extensive discography includes recordings with the Janá?ek Philharmonic, the New Japan Philharmonic, and the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège.

The Santa Barbara Symphony's 2016-17 season will conclude May 13 and 14 with a celebration of Paris, including Mozart's Symphony No. 31, Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto (with guest artist Zuill Bailey), Liszt's Les préludes, and Gershwin's An American in Paris.

The Granada Theatre is located at 1214 State Street in Santa Barbara. Complete season program information is available online at www.thesymphony.org.

The Santa Barbara Symphony is led by the charismatic Nir Kabaretti, who was named the orchestra's music director in 2006 and its artistic director in 2008. Maestro Kabaretti has conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, to name just a few. His extensive operatic experience includes productions at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Teatro Real in Madrid, Switzerland's Opéra de Lausanne, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Winner of the 1993 Forum Junger Kunstler Conducting Competition in Vienna, he was named the music director of the Southwest Florida Symphony in 2014.

The concerts on April 15 and 16 are generously supported by Chris and David Chernof.

Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased at www.granadasb.org or by calling 805-899-2222. Group sales discounts of as much as 20 percent are available. Patrons ages 20-29 can purchase $20 tickets; students with valid ID can purchase $10 tickets. Seating in both cases is confined to selected sections of the Granada Theatre.

The Santa Barbara Symphony was founded in 1953 on the belief that a special city deserves a special orchestra. Consistently lauded for its unique ability to present brilliant concerts, engage the community, and deliver dynamic music education programs, the organization prizes both innovation and artistic excellence, and is widely recognized as one of the region's premier cultural institutions. Its award-winning Music Education Center serves more than 8,000 students throughout Santa Barbara County each year. Charismatic Israeli conductor Nir Kabaretti was appointed music director of the Santa Barbara Symphony in 2006. For additional information, visit www.thesymphony.org.

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