Don't Miss ODE TO JOY Las Vegas Philharmonic's 20th Season Finale

Concluding their celebratory 20th Anniversary Season, the Las Vegas Philharmonic will present Ode To Joy in the season finale on Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. The program will feature one of the most celebrated and beloved works by Beethoven, his joyous Symphony No. 9, which was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony, making it a "choral" symphony.

The words are sung during the final movement by four vocal soloists and a chorus and were taken from "Ode to Joy", a poem written by French poet, Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with text additions made by Beethoven. The Philharmonic's chorus-in-residence, Las Vegas Master Singers, and acclaimed vocalists, Felicia Moore (soprano), Kelley O'Connor (mezzo), Sean Panikkar (tenor) and Raymond Aceto (bass) will lend their exquisite voices to the rousing and celebratory finale. UNLV Concert Singers and UNLV Chamber Chorale will join in the chorus. German violin sensation, Thomas Reif, will perform with the orchestra on Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.

Reif is the recipient of the Las Vegas Philharmonic's American German Cultural Exchange Fellowship. The fellowship, established by Cabrera and his former classmate now conducting in Germany, Evan Christ, promotes cultural unity through showcasing American and German soloists exchanged between the Las Vegas Philharmonic and German orchestras. Cabrera's and Christ's vision for this collaboration, now in its third year, is made possible by the generosity of German philanthropist and arts proponent Dorothee Hennings-Holtmann.

Lobby doors open at 6:00 pm and patrons are invited to enjoy lobby entertainment and attend the pre-concert conversation hosted by Music Director, Donato Cabrera beginning at 6:30 pm. Joining Cabrera for the conversation will be David Weiller, director of the Las Vegas Master Singers, violinist, Reif and vocalist, Aceto.

Single tickets include five price levels in Reynolds Hall:
PT Box = $109, A Seating = $105, B Seating = $70, C Seating = $50 and D Seating = $30
Tickets can be purchased online through lvphil.org or The Smith Center Box Office at 702.749.2000.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic offers a roundtrip shuttle bus service to the evening performance only from designated Henderson and Summerlin locations to the performance. A roundtrip bus pass costs $25 per concert and can be purchased in conjunction with the patron's concert ticket.