FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2008
PRESS CONTACT: Rebecca Hawkins
781-274-8233
http://www.lexingtonsymphony.org/press/
LEXINGTON SYMPHONY SUPPORTERS STAND AND DELIVER
“It’s a tribute to the quality of Boston’s classical-music scene that a suburban orchestra like the Lexington Symphony is capable of a performance to attract the attention of those who live closer to Symphony Hall. Even if the BSO season were in full swing, last Saturday’s program would have been worth the trip.” – from Boston Phoenix review of Lexington Symphony’s September program
Lexington Symphony played its first concert of the 2008-2009 season in September to a full house of nearly 800. While the orchestra has enjoyed many successful concerts, this one went deep. “So powerful, intense, emotional. My guests…were very moved. Saw tears. Bravo!” wrote one audience member. Wrote another: “I closed my eyes and I thought I was in heaven…and I didn’t want the piece to end.” And from a third: “Congratulations on last week's concert--it was stupendous. Mr. McPhee has brought the Lexington Symphony into one of the best orchestras around. Lexington is so lucky!” Classical station WCRB, where the concert had been advertised, received phone calls of praise from appreciative listeners who attended.
For those present, the final note of the evening brought a spontaneous emotional response, with all in Cary Hall rising together in a standing ovation. Fred Johnson, President, remarks, “I have had people stop me on the street to tell me how incredible the September concert was. We really touched a lot of people with that performance.”
Lexington Symphony’s audience has grown to a loyal base of over 1,000. Its ticket sales have nearly doubled over the past several years, and subscriptions have increased more than 50% over last season. “The Lexington Symphony is not your typical town orchestra,” says Johnson. “Its members are professional players and the group prides itself on exacting standards that come as a surprise to those who have never heard them play before. There is a buzz of excitement in the hall.”
The group performs again on November 8th in a program that showcases works by Tchaikovsky. Music Director Jonathan McPhee, who also conducts the Boston Ballet and a good deal of Tchaikovsky through the Nutcracker season, developed the program with Lexington Symphony patron Christina Gamota, who is an ardent Tchaikovsky fan. To make the concert a reality, Gamota and the LS Board established the Lexington Symphony Concert Fund: Partners in the Fund provide substantial financial support to enable the orchestra to perform at least one concert each season requiring resources greater than are normally possible, such as a larger orchestra, a prominent guest soloist or multiple soloists, or high music rental costs for 20th century works still in copyright.
A generous supporter of special LS programs has been Lexington resident Elsa Olsen Sullivan. “Elsa provided funding for a performance of the Amy Beach Piano Concerto a few years ago – our audience is passionate about their music, and we are able to bring them closer to it by hearing their program ideas and making them happen,” said Music Director Jonathan McPhee. Elsa joins this year’s group of Concert Fund Partners, who include Kate and Gordon Baty, John and Claire Bertucci, Elizabeth Boveroux, Bud and Shirley Frawley, Christina Gamota, George Gamota, Sandra Gasbarro, David and Harriet Hathaway, Richard Hawkins, Nancy Hubert, Carol Janota, Mary Nokes, Epp Sonin, Gerry Whiting, Georgia Williams, and the Yates Family.
For information on how you can become a Lexington Symphony Concert Fund Partner, please contact Liz Whitfield, (781) 863-9581 or info@lexingtonsymphony.org.
Violinist Irina Muresanu, whose playing has been hailed as "thrilling” and “drop-dead gorgeous" by the Boston Globe, performs Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Lexington Symphony and Music Director Jonathan McPhee on Saturday, November 8th at 8:00pm, at Cary Hall, 1605 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington Center. Also on the program are Mussorgsky's Dawn over the Moskva River and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. Come early for a conductor’s talk with Jonathan McPhee at 7:00pm in the concert hall. For more information and to buy tickets, go to lexingtonsymphony.org, call (781) 863-9581 or visit Wales Copy, 1810 Massachusetts Avenue. Tickets are $35 standard, $30 seniors and $15 students; reserved seating. Buy 3-concert season tickets and receive a 10% discount - available through Oct. 31 by calling (781) 863-9581
