Las Vegas Philharmonic Celebrates Opening Night for its 18th Season on Saturday, September 10th

The Las Vegas Philharmonic's opening night soars on Saturday, September 10th at 7:30 p.m. in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center with three magnificent works led by Music Director Donato Cabrera and featuring an alumnus of the prestigious San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship, Maria Valdes. Following the performance, the Las Vegas Philharmonic will host a celebratory cocktail reception on stage.

The orchestra will start the evening with a West Coast professional premiere of American composer Kevin Beavers' Bright Sky. Inspired by Diane Gregory's poem, "The Sky in Connemara," Beavers' three-minute piece captures the spirit of her vibrant text as revealed in this excerpt: "Never free from clouds / never at rest / the sky In Connemara / tugs at us / to come close / puffs of tendrilled vapor / trail from hilltop to lough / to ocean / Gray sweeps in / to be foiled / by a patch of blue / a blaze of sun rays / sent to a rocky slope / sets mica and quartz / to sparkling."

Next, the orchestra will perform Mozart's solo motet or choral composition, Exsultate, Jubilate, featuring guest soprano Maria Valdes. While in Milan, a 16-year old Mozart composed this celebratory work as a gift for acclaimed Italian castrato Vinanzio Rauzzini. The piece is best known for its exuberant final aria, Alleluia.

Valdes's accolades include winner of the regional Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions and the Corbett Opera Scholarship Competition at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and recipient of the Shoshana Foundation Grant which provides funding for young, emerging American opera singers. While an Adler Fellow at The San Francisco Opera, Valdes's performances included Musetta in La Bohème, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro.

To close the first performance of the 2016-2017 concert season, the Philharmonic will perform Mahler's Symphony No. 4 in G Major. Based on a song Mahler composed about "Life in Heaven," the symphony opens with Sleigh Bells and flutes, transitioning into a violin solo reminiscent of a country fiddler followed by a calm third movement highlighting the cellos and ending with Valdes singing of "heavenly delights" in the final movement.
Ticket prices for the opening night September 10th performance are $30, $50, $70, $105 & $109. The post-concert cocktail reception is $50 per person and will be hosted on stage after the performance. Both concert and reception tickets can be purchased through The Smith Center Box Office, phone 702.749.2000 or online at lvphil.org. Nine-concert, six-concert and four-concert subscription packages, ranging from $120 to $981 per subscription, are also available for purchase through the box office and online.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic offers shuttle buses to The Smith Center from Summerlin (Starbright Theatre, 2215 Thomas Ryan Blvd) and Henderson (Anthem Center at Independence Center 2460 Hampton Road.) Bus passes must be purchased in advance and can be obtained when purchasing concert tickets, or by calling The Smith Center Patron Services at 702.749.2000. Each bus pass costs $20 roundtrip per concert.

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