Press Release: 2010-01-11
Press Release: 2010-01-11FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2010
PRESS CONTACT: Nina Braun
781-698-8824 or ninab@lexingtonsymphony.org
http://www.lexingtonsymphony.org/press/
Watch the hands dance across the piano keys and listen intently to the sounds that emerge and you will want to believe you are listening to a seasoned musician with an accomplished career behind him. It is not until you glance down at the small sneakers tapping under the piano that you suddenly realize this "virtuoso" can only be just barely a teenager.
The talented fourteen-year old pianist, George Li, who hails from Lexington, will be performing Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C with the Lexington Symphony on Saturday, February 6 at 8 pm in Cary Hall, Lexington Center. The uplifting program, conducted by Maestro Jonathan McPhee, includes Rounds for Strings, composed by David Diamond in 1944, in response to conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos' request for a "happy piece" to distract people from thoughts of war. The music was so successful that Aaron Copland said he wished he had written it. Copland's own masterpiece, Appalachian Spring, is also on the evening's program. Conductor Jonathan McPhee presents his popular pre-concert talk an hour before the concert at 7 pm.
At 14, George Li has already performed on PBS's From the Top at Carnegie Hall, for Senators Kennedy and Kerry at the Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., and with orchestras including the Boston Philharmonic, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Sweden. Li's television credits include an appearance on the Martha Stewart Show and on WBZ-TV's Liz Walker Show. Maestro Lindberg, conductor of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra writes on his blog, "George is not only an incredibly young and talented pianist, he is a musician, an artist like few. His power, his poetry, his humor, rhythm and bounce makes one realize that music is divine!"
Children and parents will also have an opportunity to hear George Li at the Lexington Symphony's biennial Kid's Workshop & Concert on Sunday, February 7 at 2:00 pm in Cary Hall, Lexington Center. Kids will experience music in a hands-on, up-close workshop format. They will have the opportunity to try instruments, conduct, and see how instruments are made. George Li will play with the orchestra led by Jonathan McPhee in a one-hour special concert for the kids at 3:00 pm.
Tickets to Lexington Symphony's concert with George Li can be purchased in advance: on-line at www.lexingtonsymphony.org, by phone at (781) 523-9009, or in person at Wales Copy, 1810 Mass. Ave. (cash/check only). Tickets are also available at the door on a first-come, first-served basis, the night of the performance. Will-call tickets must be picked up 15 minutes prior to start. Tickets for Feb. 6th Saturday evening performance (reserved seating): $40(sold out),$35,$25, $15 (students). Feb.7th Sunday afternoon Kids' Workshop & Concert (general admission): $20 adults, $10 children 12 and under. Cary Hall is located at 1605 Mass. Ave., Lexington Center, between the Town Hall and the Police Station. Municipal parking available.
About the Lexington Symphony
The Lexington Symphony, a group of professional musicians, celebrates its 15th season of sharing classical music with the local community. Praised for their exacting standards of performance, the Lexington Symphony is now in its sixth year under the direction of Maestro Jonathan McPhee, one of the leading musical figures in New England and the Music Director for the Boston Ballet. The symphony's season runs from September through April with five ticketed concerts, monthly community outreach programs, and a dedicated education program for the next generation of musicians, including their acclaimed 'Orchestrating Kids Through Classics'.