World-Renowned Celloist Joshua Roman to Perform Original Work in the CSO's PEAKS OF BEAUTY AND DEVOTION

CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov and the musicians of the Columbus Symphony host the return of acclaimed cellist Joshua Roman in a performance of his own original, evocative cello concerto, Awakening. The program also includes Austrian Romantic composer Josef Brucker's Symphony No. 7, a powerful, spiritual experience encompassing majestic brass chorales, lyrical beauty, and shining climaxes.

The Columbus Symphony presents the Peaks of Beauty and Devotion at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7, at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased in-person at the CBUSArts Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.columbussymphony.com, or by phone at (614) 469-0939. The CBUSArts Ticket Center will also be open two hours prior to each performance.

Friday Coffee Dress - Friday, March 6, 10am, Ohio Theatre

Experience a working rehearsal prior to that evening's opening-night performance. Seating is general admission for this 2.5-hour, open rehearsal, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the fine tuning and preparation behind a Masterworks main stage performance. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in-person at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.columbussymphony.com, or by phone at (614) 469-0939 or (800) 982-2787. Admission includes coffee and light fare.

Prelude - Prior to the Friday and Saturday night performances, patrons are invited to join WOSU Classical 101's Christopher Purdy for a 30-minute discussion at 7pm.

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 (CSO), Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and newly appointed chief conductor of the Slovenian RTV Orchestra in Ljubljana.

Milanov has established himself as a conductor with considerable national and international presence. He recently completed a seven-year tenure as music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA) in Spain. Nationally, he has appeared with the Colorado, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Seattle, and Fort Worth symphonies, National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, Link-Up education projects with Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and with the Civic Orchestra in Chicago.

Internationally, he has collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra de la Suisse Romand, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Aalborg, Latvian, and Hungarian National Symphony Orchestras and the orchestras in Toronto, Vancouver, KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic (South Africa), Mexico, Colombia, Sao Paolo, Belo Horizonte, and New Zealand. In the Far East, he has appeared with NHK, Sapporo, Tokyo, and Singapore symphonies, Hyogo Performing Arts Center, and Malaysian and Hong Kong Philharmonics.

Milanov was recipient of an Arts Prize by The Columbus Foundation. Under his leadership, the Columbus Symphony has expanded its reach by connecting original programing with community-wide initiatives such as focusing on women composers, nature conservancy, presenting original festivals, and supporting and commissioning new music.

About guest cellist Joshua Roman

Joshua Roman has earned an international reputation for his wide-ranging repertoire, a commitment to communicating the essence of music in visionary ways, artistic leadership, and versatility. As well as being a celebrated performer, he is recognized as an accomplished composer and curator, and was named a TED Senior Fellow in 2015. In 2006 at the age of 22, Roman was appointed principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, becoming the youngest principal player in Seattle Symphony history. Roman has won prizes at competitions including the Klein, ASTA, Washington, Stulberg, NFMC, H-A Music Society, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, CIM, Cleveland Cello Society, and Buttram, and performed as a member of Cleveland Orchestra, soloing with a number of symphony and chamber orchestras including the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, the Wyoming Symphony, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and the Symphony of Southern New Jersey. His cello concerto, Awakening, follows the course of a relationship through its ups and downs to its ultimate collapse and the following moment of apotheosis. Premiered in 2015, this "substantial and compelling" work for cello and chamber orchestra with "gorgeous flowering of melody and harmony redolent of the silver screen" was highlighted in the Chicago Tribune and solidified Roman's trajectory as a composer.

About composer Josef Bruckner (1824-96)

Josef Bruckner was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies. Symphony No. 7 is one of his best-known symphonies. Written between 1881 and 1883, and revised in 1885, it is dedicated to Ludwig II of Bavaria. The premiere, given under Arthur Nikisch and the Gewandhaus Orchestra in the opera house at Leipzig on December 30, 1884, brought Bruckner the greatest success he had known in his life.

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