Corrick Brown Conducts SR Symphony Feb. 10,11,12

Shai Wosner Performs Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto

News Release Contact:
Sara Obuchowski, (707) 546-7097 ext 218

January 8, 2007

(SANTA ROSA, CA) –In celebration of his 50th anniversary with the Santa Rosa Symphony, Conductor Emeritus Corrick Brown takes the podium on February 10, 11 and 12 at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts to present the works of three great classical masters: Brahms, Beethoven and Dvořák.

Israeli-born pianist Shai Wosner performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a dynamic work rich in the turbulent emotions for which the composer was famous. Dvořák’s Czech heritage and Bohemian spirit come to life in his impetuous and romantic 6th Symphony. The program opens with Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture.

Brown was music director of the Santa Rosa Symphony from 1957-1994 and has been actively involved with the Green Music Center Capital Campaign. Daniel Cariaga, music critic of the Los Angeles Times, has written: “Corrick Brown is the real thing—a conductor who leads, a musician who inspires.” Following the Sunday, February 11 matinee concert, a Symphony benefit gala and tribute honoring Brown will take place at the Vintners Inn Event Center. That event is sold out.

Winner of a 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2005 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, Shai Wosner has been described by The New York Times as “a superb pianist” and by The Financial Times as “an artist to follow keenly.” Since his Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 with the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Wosner has performed with many major orchestras in the United States, and has given recitals in Vancouver, Toronto, Kalamazoo and on Ravinia’s “Rising Stars” series, and in many festivals throughout Europe. Contemporary music performances figure prominently in his activities and he has performed Bright Sheng’s Red Silk Dance with the Winnipeg Symphony, and at the UC Berkeley Edge Festival on a program dedicated to John Adams.

The February 10-12 performances of the Santa Rosa Symphony Classical Series are underwritten by an anonymous donor “in appreciation of Corrick Brown’s 50 years of conducting the Santa Rosa Symphony.”

Concert times are Saturday and Monday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa. Conversations with the Conductor begin in the main concert hall one hour prior to each concert.

The popular Discovery Series of open rehearsals continues at 2 p.m. on February 10. These concerts, priced at $10 for adults and $6 for youth, offer a sneak peek into the final rehearsal process before each concert set.

Call (707) 546-8742 for tickets or purchase tickets online at santarosasymphony.com. Tickets are also available in person at the Symphony Box Office on the first floor of the North Coast Bank building at 50 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, Wednesdays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tickets may also be purchased at the door 1½ hours before each performance based on availability. Single tickets are $27-50, with student and senior discounts available. $10 Student Rush tickets (valid student I.D. required) can be purchased a half hour prior to curtain.

Photos of conductor Corrick Brown and guest artist Shai Wosner available on request.