Acclaimed conductor Peter Oundjian conducts the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a Bombardier Great Performers Series concert on December 10

in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre

The program includes music by Christopher Theofanidis, Philip Glass, and Beethoven’Äôs Symphony No. 6 ’ÄúPastoral’Äù

OTTAWA, November 27, 2009 ’Äî In the second Bombardier Great Performers Series concert of the NAC’Äôs 40^th Anniversary season, world-renowned conductor Peter Oundjian leads the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Thursday December 10 at 8 p.m.

The program for the evening includes:

CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS Rainbow Body
PHILIP GLASS Violin Concerto No. 2 (The American Four Seasons)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"

Not yet 40 years old, American composer Christopher Theofanidis has been hailed as one of the leading composers of his generation. He was the winner of the UK’Äôs $50,000 Masterprize in 2003 for Rainbow Body, which has subsequently become the world’Äôs most-performed orchestral work by a living composer. This atmospheric work is inspired by a melody from the medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen and by Tibetan Buddhism’Äôs concept of oneness with the universe.

Philip Glass is the first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film and in popular music. Here he reimagines Vivaldi’Äôs famous violin concertos in his fresh-off-the-page Violin Concerto No. 2 The American Four Seasons. The concerto receives its world premiere one day before the NAC concert, on December 9 in Toronto. The work will premiere in London and the U.S. in 2010; it will also be recorded and performed on tour around the world. The TSO was one of five co-commissioners for this new work, written for violinist Robert McDuffie.

Beethoven conducted the premiere of his famous Pastoral Symphony in Vienna in 1808. A series of portraits of country life, the work expressed the composer’Äôs deep, lifelong love of nature, which he considered essential to his mental and physical health. (He did important creative work while tramping through woods and fields.) The Sixth is a genial piece -- spacious, relaxed, lyrical -- yet it was radical enough to influence program music for generations. Beethoven described the Pastoral Symphony as ’Äúmore the expression of feeling than painting’Äù, and it conveys a visitor’Äôs musical impressions of the countryside over the course of one day.

Friends of the NAC Orchestra Silent Auction

The silent auction ’Äì which features special items donated from across Canada and around the world -- will be held in the NAC foyer before the concert, at intermission, and for 20 minutes following the performance. Proceeds will benefit the Friends of the NAC Orchestra’Äôs commitment to

music education programs for young people.

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Thursday December 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $19, $29, $39.50, $46, $50, $60, and $70 for adults and $10.75, $15.75, $21, $24.25, $26.25, $31.25, and $36.25 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’Äôs website www.nac-cna.ca. Subject to availability, full-time students (aged 13-29) with valid Live Rush’Ñ¢ membership may buy up to 2 tickets per performance at the discount price of $11 per ticket. Tickets are available online (www.nac-cna.ca) or at the NAC box office from 10 a.m. on the day before the performance until 6 p.m. on the day of the show or 2 hours before a matinee. Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices to all NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances; to reserve your seats, call Julie Laroche at 613-947-7000, ext. 634 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

For additional information, visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca