CSO to Celebrate Great Russian Composers in January

The CSO's Russian Winter Festival, to be held January 8 and 9 at the Ohio Theatre, features two different Russian-themed programs over the two-day event, offering a broad taste of the finest works of the great Russian composers. Additionally, the CSO has partnered with The Ohio State University and the Columbus Museum of Art to enhance the Russian Winter Festival with Russian-focused offerings designed to immerse concert-goers across multiple disciplines.

MASTERWORKS 6a - MUSSORGSKY: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

Friday, January 8, 8pm

Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Program:

Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture

Tchaikovsky: Suite from Swan Lake

Stravinsky: Circus Polka

Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition

The first program of this two-part celebration offers the crème de la crème of Russia's countless treasures including the elegant melodies of Tchaikovsky's most beloved ballet, the riveting celebrations of Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture, and the vivid gallery of sketches that make up Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

MASTERWORKS 6b - RACHMANINOFF: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3

Saturday, January 9, 8pm

Ohio Theatre

Rossen Milanov, conductor

Natasha Paremski, piano

Program:

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concert No. 3 in D Minor

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor

The second program of the Russian Winter Festival boasts two monumental scores-Rachmaninoff's virtuosic and expansive Piano Concerto No. 3 (featured in the Oscar-winning movie Shine), and Shostakovich's mighty Fifth Symphony, the bold piece in which he defied the brutal Soviet government at the risk of his life.

Tickets for the Russian Winter Festival 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. Young people between the ages of 13-25 may purchase $5 All Access tickets while available. For more information, visit www.GoFor5.com.

The 2015-16 Masterworks Series is made possible through the generous support of season sponsor Anne Melvin.

ADDITIONAL COMPLEMENTS TO THE RUSSIAN WINTER FESTIVAL

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.

Postlude - After the Friday performance only, patrons are invited to join the musicians of the CSO in the Ohio Theatre's Galbreath Pavilion for a post-concert vodka tasting.

Subject Matter - As part of the Russian Winter Festival, The Ohio State University will host a free lecture, "Russia and the Emergence of Its Cultural Elite in the Late 19th Century," on Tuesday, January 5, at 4:30pm. Given by Helena Goscilo, OSU Professor of Slavic and Eastern European Languages and Literatures, the lecture will be held at OSU's Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise (1813 N. High St.).

Mozart to Matisse - In a new partnership with the Columbus Museum of Art, a series of afternoon lectures will pair chamber music performances by CSO musicians with art works from the CMA art collection. Focusing on specific periods which coincide with upcoming CSO repertoire, the Mozart to Matisse presentation for the Russian Winter Festival will be "Chagall and the Great Russian Composers." The program will explore the artwork of Russian modernist artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985), and compare its common themes and aesthetic influences with the music of the great Russian composers. Wednesday, January 6, 2pm, Cardinal Health Auditorium of the Columbus Museum of Art (480 E. Broad St.).

About CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov

Respected and admired by audiences and musicians alike, Rossen Milanov is the new Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and begins his tenure with transformative and creative ideas for new programming and expanding the orchestra's reach to new audiences.

Recently completing his first season with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra to enthusiastic acclaim, Milanov is also the Music Director of the Princeton Symphony and of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (OSPA) in Spain. During the 2015-16 season, he is dedicating the Princeton concert season to the creativity of women, showcasing the compositions of some of the most respected emerging female composers, such as Anna Clyne, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snyder. With OSPA, he celebrates the orchestra's 25th anniversary with 25 new works and premiere performances in Spain. He will also be conducting a new production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" at the Zurich Opera.

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

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