Las Vegas Philharmonic to perform Beethoven’s “Eroica" Symphony in honor of JFK Nov 23

LAS VEGAS - Oct. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- The Las Vegas Philharmonic will present an orchestral salute to President John F. Kennedy on Saturday, November 23^rd when it performs “Love of Country” in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30PM.  The second half of the concert will be a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 known as the “Eroica” which is Italian for “Heroic.”  The concert will be conducted by Steven Jarvi.  Tickets are priced from $25 to $94 and are available from The Smith Center box office, phone 702.749.2000 or online from lvphil.org (http://lvphil.org/concert_schedule/masterworksII.php).

The day before the concert, Friday, November 22^nd, marks the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  To honor his call to Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” the Las Vegas Philharmonic will also pay tribute to servicemen and women, past and present at the concert.

Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony is considered to have changed people’s perceptions of what a symphony could be by capturing the human experience in music.  Written in 1804 the work’s second movement titled Funeral March is a poignant expression of grief, both public and personal.  A moving evocation of loss and grief, the symphony then transforms into a message of hope.  This will be the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s first performance of a Beethoven symphony in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, where it is a resident company.

Beethoven’s “Eroica” As Requiem

         The Las Vegas Philharmonic’s choice of Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony to commemorate JFK is not unprecedented.  On the day that the President was shot, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Erich Leinsdorf were performing an afternoon concert that was also being broadcast live on the radio.  News had spread before the concert that President Kennedy had been shot.  During the first half of the concert, his death was confirmed.  Orchestra officials backstage had the librarians pull orchestra parts for the second movement of Beethoven’s “Eroica” and Leinsdorf relayed the sad news to the audience and then led the BSO in a tribute to the fallen leader. (You can read about this moment and hear the announcement and performance online at WQXR here (http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/185148-remembering-erich-lei...).)

“Music has long provided people with solace and the means to mourn collectively and also to heal together.  Beethoven’s “Eroica” is a true masterwork and an apt way to not only commemorate past losses but also to celebrate the present and offer hope and joy for our future,” says Las Vegas Philharmonic President & CEO, Jeri Crawford.

Musical Tributes to JFK

Orchestral works composed to honor John F. Kennedy feature in the first half of the concert, including a contemporary work by Peter Lieberson called Remembering JFK: ”An American Elegy” commissioned for the 50^th anniversary of JFK’s inauguration and premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra on that occasion at the Kennedy Center in Washington.  The piece incorporates excerpts from three of JFK’s speeches and the Las Vegas Philharmonic has invited former U.S. Senator and Governor for Nevada Richard Bryan as the guest narrator.

“Love of Country” opens with the short but powerful Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy by Leonard Bernstein that was first performed at President Kennedy’s inauguration gala concert in 1961, a concert that was organized by Frank Sinatra.  Bernstein, who was the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic at the time of Kennedy’s Presidency, was deeply affected by his death.  He dedicated his just-completed “Kaddish” Symphony to Kennedy and in the days immediately following the assassination, led a performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony in his honor.  At a tribute held at Madison Square Garden he declared: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

A work by Pulitzer Prize winner George Walker – the only living composer on the program – called Lyric for Strings, also features in the first half.  Full program notes for the concert are available online at lvphil.org (http://lvphil.org/concert_schedule/2014_program_notes/MWI...).

         Guest conductor, Steven Jarvi (http://www.stevenjarvi.com/bio.aspx), will present a pre-concert conversation in Reynolds Hall at 6:45PM open to all ticketholders.  Mr. Jarvi is the Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony (http://www.stlorchestra.org/), Music Director of Winter Opera Saint Louis (http://www.winteroperastl.org/) and the Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra (http://www.stlsymphony.org/youthorchestra/).  In February he conducted the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s “Mardi Gras in Las Vegas” concert and is a candidate for the open Music Director position.

Tickets

The Las Vegas Philharmonic offers a 10% military discount on all concert tickets to active service men and women and veterans.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic offers $25 tickets for balcony seating at all of its 2013-14 season concerts.  Seats in other sections are priced $46, $64 and $94.  Tickets are available from The Smith Center Box Office, phone 702.749.2000 or online from lvphil.org (http://lvphil.org/concert_schedule/masterworksII.php).  A 50% student discount is available on all single ticket purchases (ID required.)  Group sales are available by calling the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

Calendar Editors:

Saturday, November 23, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

Masterworks Series II: Love of Country

Pre-concert conversation 6:45 p.m.

Las Vegas Philharmonic

Steven Jarvi, conductor

Richard Bryan, narrator

PROGRAM:

BERNSTEIN          Fanfare for the Inauguration of JFK

WALKER          Lyric for Strings

LIEBERSON          Remembering JFK, “An American Elegy”

Intermission

BEETHOVEN          Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica”

Tickets $25, $46, $64 & $94 available from The Smith Center Box Office, phone 702.749.2000 or online at lvphil.org (http://lvphil.org/concert_schedule/masterworksII.php).

Bus Service

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 $15 roundtrip per concert.

PRESS CONTACT INFORMATION:

Photos of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and full biographies and high resolution photos of the guest conductors and guest artists are available on request from Jennifer Scott, Communications Manager, Phone 702.462.2011, email news@lvphil.com

Accommodation for the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s guest artists is provided by MGM Resorts at The Signature Suites at MGM Grand.