Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers 40th Season Begins; First Concert Commemorates Start of the Velvet Revolution 10/4

The launch of Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers' (OSSCS) 40th Anniversary Season coincides with another anniversary: the 20th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1989, on the very same week of OSSCS's first concert this season, a massive demonstration of over 70,000 people occurred in Leipzig -the heart of the Communist resistance in East Germany. Less than one month later the Berlin Wall fell; and one year after that, in celebration, Leonard Bernstein conducted Beethoven's brilliant Ninth Symphony at East Berlin's Schauspielhaus (Playhouse).

OSSCS's outstanding 40th anniversary season begins October 4, 2009 at 7 pm at the First Free Methodist Church in Queen Anne. This commemorative concert features Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and conductor George Shangrow will pair it with one of the most beloved of all cantatas, the Bach Cantata, Jesu, der du meine Seele (No. 78), in honor of Bach's hometown, Leipzig. Soloists include: Eleanor Stallcop-Horox, soprano; Melissa Plagemann, alto; Stephen Wall, tenor and Charles Robert Stephens, bass.

Also part of this benchmark season, OSSCS members will continue their commitment to nurturing talent in young musicians by participating in an innovative collaboration with Seattle University's (SU) music department. OSSCS conductor George Shangrow and Quinton Morris, Director of Chamber and Instrumental Music at Seattle University, will work with selected SU students who will receive credit for playing with Orchestra Seattle. Students will have the opportunity to rotate within the sections (excluding the concertmaster or principal seats) and violinists will have the opportunity to rotate in both the first and second violin sections.

40th Anniversary Season tickets are on sale now and cost $200 for all 10 concerts ($160/seniors, $80/students). One free youth subscription (age 7-17) is available with the purchase of each paid subscription. Single tickets are $25 for adults; $20 for seniors; $10 for students. One free youth ticket (age 7-17) may be requested with each paid ticket. Subscriptions and single tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets by phone at 1-800-838-3006, online at www.brownpapertickets.com and www.osscs.org, or at any Silver Platters location. For more information please call 206-682-5208, or visit www.osscs.org.

Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) is made up of a 60-member semi-professional orchestra and a 55-voice chorus. Membership is by audition and includes professional musicians, music teachers, and highly skilled amateurs who choose to work together under the direction of George Shangrow. During its forty-year history OSSCS has made an extensive tour of the orchestral and choral literature and has sought to promote area musicians, world-recognized soloists and new music by Northwest composers. They have attained special recognition for their interpretations of the music of Handel and Bach and have introduced rarely heard choral masterpieces to Seattle audiences such as Handel's Israel in Egypt, Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers, and Haydn's The Seasons. Praised by critics for their vibrant sound and spirited, disciplined singing, the Seattle Chamber Singers also delight in performing classics such as Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and Brahms' German Requiem.