For Immediate Release

Janice Christensen – February 23, 2004

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra to perform at SFA

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 5, in W. M. Turner Auditorium as part of the Stephen F. Austin State University's University Series.

The program will include Beethoven's "Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Opus 21" and Peter Boyer's "Three Olympians for String Orchestra,” a piece that was commissioned by the Artistic Conductors Institute in 2000. The institute’s artistic director, Harold Farberman, requested that Boyer compose a piece with three contrasting movements that would require different aspects of technique and approach from the 30 conductors in attendance at the institute.

The orchestra will also perform an arrangement of Johannes Brahms' “ Concerto in A Minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra” (Double Concerto), featuring Markus Groh as piano soloist. According to the program notes for the concert, Groh transcribed the piece upon the suggestion of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s music director, Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Groh explained that he approached the work by trying to arrive at how Brahms, a pianist himself, would have written the music for piano rather than two single-line instruments. He likens the process to that of making a good translation, for which the saying exists, “it should be as literal as possible but as free as necessary.” Most of the orchestral parts have been left unchanged.

The winner of the 1995 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, Groh concertizes throughout the world. He has performed with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, The Hague Residentie Orkest, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Beijing Symphony and Tokyo Philharmonic.

            Recently, he has given recitals in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and London and has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony and the Colorado Symphony.

            In addition to his concert activities, Groh is the founder of the Bebersee Chamber Music Festival outside of Berlin. He has appeared frequently on radio and television in Germany, Spain, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

            The Forth Worth Symphony Orchestra’s director, Harth-Bedoya, is known for his self-assurance, communicative talent and ability to draw an immediate response from both musicians and audiences alike, said Sylvia Bierschenk, director of arts information at SFA. He has been described by the Los Angeles Times as "conducting with crisp, energetic, insightful and vivifying leadership." He also serves as associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and music director of the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand.

            Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 2000, Harth-Bedoya has guest-conducted many of North America's top orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's and the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as the Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Seattle, San Diego and Toronto symphonies. In Europe, Harth-Bedoya has led the Bamberg Symphony, London Concert Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Orchestra. He has appeared at the Ravinia, Hollywood Bowl, Interlochen, Oregon Bach, Avanti (Helsinki) and Adelaide festivals.

            He was the winner of the 2002 Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductor's Award and has been music director of the New York Youth Symphony and the Eugene Symphony Orchestra in Oregon.

            Born in Peru in 1968, Harth-Bedoya holds a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master's degree from The Juilliard School.

            Prior to the concert, the SFA College of Fine Arts will host a 6:45 p.m. reception to honor the event's corporate sponsor, Commercial Bank, and a pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. Both events will be held in the Griffith Gallery. The public is invited.

            The concert is also sponsored in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

            Tickets range from $15 to $30, with discounts available for seniors, students, children and groups.    For tickets or more information, please call (936) 468-6407 or 1-888-240-ARTS or log on to www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

                                                                        -30-