St. Petersburg Philharmonic to perform April 1 in final concert of season

Performing Arts Series concert: St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Date and time: Friday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Sauder Concert Hall, Goshen College Music Center
Cost: $35 (choral terrace), $40, $45, $55
For more information: Call (574) 535-7566 or email welcomecenter@goshen.edu

GOSHEN, Ind. – The Goshen College Performing Art Series concludes on Friday, April 1 with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra concert at 7:30 p.m. in Music Center's Sauder Concert Hall, and only a few tickets are left.

A special highlight of this concert will be the unveiling of the lineup of performers for the Performing Arts Series 2011-12 season. Attendees will have the opportunity to reserve season tickets that night. Season tickets for the general public will go on sale on Monday, April 4. Tickets to individual concerts will go on sale on Aug. 8.

Concert tickets for the choral terrace, located behind the stage, are available for $35. Sometimes regular seat tickets ($55, $45, $40) are returned to the Music Center box office the night of the concert and will be available an hour before the concert. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Goshen College Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566 or emailing welcomecenter@goshen.edu.

The world-renowned St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra is on a 19-city tour playing at some of the premier venues in the United States. Nikolai Alexeev will conduct the orchestra as they perform Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Great Russian Easter Overture"; Shostakovich's "Cello Concerto No. 1," featuring Alisa Weilerstein on cello and Brahms' "Symphony No. 4."

The St. Petersburg Philharmonic was founded in 1882 and is Russia's oldest symphony orchestra. Initially known as the "Imperial Music Choir," the group started out performing privately for the court of Alexander III of Russia, and began expanding to wider public audiences in the 1900s.

The orchestra earned most of its fame under the directorship of Evgeny Mravinsky (from 1938 to 1988). It was under Mravinsky that the orchestra recorded a number of studio and live recordings and premiered seven of Shostakovich's symphonies.

The orchestra acquired its current name after its home city in 1991. Yuri Temirkanov is the current chief conductor of the orchestra, and has been since Mravinsky retired in 1988.

– By Alysha Landis

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.