CSO Presents CHORALE MASTERPIECE with Columbus Symphony Chorus and World-Renowned Guest Vocalists, 10/28-29

Conducted by CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov, this passionate and spectacular piece touches every emotion from stark terror to soothing beauty to an uplifting sense of spirituality. Although composed as a sacred work, its deep theatricality has led to it being frequently described as "Verdi's greatest opera." To adequately convey the breadth of his vision, Verdi called for The Combined forces of a full orchestra, chorus, and four solo vocalists. As such, the Columbus Symphony will be joined by the Columbus Symphony Chorus, soprano Michelle Johnson, mezzo-soprano Margaret Mezzacappa, tenor EVan Johnson, and bass Burak Bilgili.

The Columbus Symphony presents Choral Masterpiece at the Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.) on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29, at 8pm. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.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 in the theatre at 7pm for a 30-minute, pre-concert discussion about the works to be performed.

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 the Columbus Symphony Chorus

Now in its 56th season, the Columbus Symphony Chorus is comprised of 140 volunteer singers from central Ohio and performs major works from Bach through the 21st century. Under the leadership of conductor Ronald J. Jenkins for the past 32 years, the Chorus has grown both in the quality of its performances and in the diversity of its classical repertoire.

About guest soprano Michelle Johnson

Soprano Michelle Johnson has been praised for her "extraordinary breath control and flawless articulation. Her voice is velvety and pliant - a dulcet dream." A graduate of the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Johnson made her debut with Opera Company of Philadelphia in the 2011-12 season as the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut. In 2012, she made her debut with the Glimmerglass Music Festival as Aida, and with Opera in the Heights as Leonora in Il Trovatore. During the 2012-13 season, she made her debut with Opera Santa Barbara as Aida, and performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Boston Philharmonic.

About guest mezzo-soprano Margaret Mezzacappa

An Ohio native and recent graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, mezzo-soprano Margaret Mezzacappa has won numerous awards including Grand Prize in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Sara Tucker Study Grant, and the George London Award from the George London Foundation Vocal Competition. In the 2015-16 season, she performed Beethoven's Ninth with Sioux City Symphony, Mahler's Das Leid von Der Erde, and Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Columbus Symphony.

About guest tenor EVan Johnson

Evan LeRoy Johnson ?nished his second year as a graduate student at the Curtis Institute of Music where he studies with Marlena Malas and Mikael Eliasen. Previously, he studied at the University of Kentucky with Cynthia Lawrence. Evan was a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theater of Saint Louis and received the Barbara and Stanley Richman Memorial Award. Last summer, he returned as a Gerdine Young Artist singing Malcolm in Macbeth. Johnson has also been seen in Curtis Opera Theater's productions of Capriccio as Flamand, La bohème as Rodolfo, Iolanta as Godefroy de Vaudémont, Gianni Schicchi as Rinuccio, and other lead roles in productions with UK Opera Theater.

About guest bass Burak Bilgili

Turkish bass-baritone Burak Bilgili has performed in leading opera houses in the US and Europe. He has studied at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program, and at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia from which he graduated in 2004. He also studied in Italy with Bonaldo Giaotti and Katia Ricciarelli at the Accademia Lirica Internazionale "Katia Ricciarelli" in Parma. In 2003, he became Turkey's first ever representative at the BBC's "Cardiff Singer of the World" competition.

About composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813-1901)

Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was born to a provincial family of moderate means, and developed a musical education with the help of a local patron. He came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works significantly influenced him, becoming one of the pre-eminent opera composers in history. Verdi's Requiem is a Roman Catholic funeral mass composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist whom Verdi admired. The work's first performance was conducted by Verdi himself at the San Marco church in Milan on May 22, 1874, marking the first anniversary of Manzoni's death.

www.columbussymphony.com

CALENDAR LISTING

The Columbus Symphony presents CHORAL MASTERPIECE

Friday & Saturday, October 28 & 29, 8 pm

Ohio Theatre (39 E. State St.)

Conducted by CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov, this passionate and spectacular piece touches every emotion from stark terror to soothing beauty to an uplifting sense of spirituality. Although composed as a sacred work, its deep theatricality has led to it being frequently described as "Verdi's greatest opera." To adequately convey the breadth of his vision, Verdi called for The Combined forces of a full orchestra, chorus, and four solo vocalists. As such, the Columbus Symphony will be joined by the Columbus Symphony Chorus, soprano Michelle Johnson, mezzo-soprano Margaret Mezzacappa, tenor EVan Johnson, and bass Burak Bilgili. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 228-8600 or (800) 745-3000. www.columbussymphony.com

###

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The CSO also appreciates the support of the Greater Columbus Arts Council, supporting the city's artists and arts organizations since 1973, and the Kenneth L. Coe and Jack Barrow, J. Allen and Ruth Maxwell Pyne, Janet Leonard Reading, and James W. Overstreet funds of The Columbus Foundation, assisting donors and others in strengthening our community for the benefit of all its citizens.

About the Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1951, the Columbus Symphony is the only full-time, professional symphony in central Ohio. Through an array of innovative artistic, educational, and community outreach programming, the Columbus Symphony is reaching an expanding, more diverse audience each year. This season, the Columbus Symphony will share classical music with more than 200,000 people in central Ohio through concerts, radio broadcasts, and special programming. For more information, visit www.columbussymphony.com.