Claudio Bohórquez Guest Cellist with Russian National Orchestra Feb. 26
February 6, 2008
Moscow's Russian National Orchestra, conducted by Carlo Ponti Jr. and joined by guest cellist Claudio Bohórquez, performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium. The program features Dvorák's Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, with Bohórquez as soloist, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36.
Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $49 and $42 for an adult, $29 and $25 for a University Park student and $39 and $32 for a person 18 and younger. Buy tickets online at www.cpa.psu.edu or by phone at 814-863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at Eisenhower Auditorium (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays), Penn State Tickets Downtown (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday), Bryce Jordan Center (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays) and HUB-Robeson Center (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays).
Bohórquez, whose Spanish surname comes from his Peruvian and Uruguayan parentage, was born and raised in Germany.
"Bohórquez," raves a Boston Globe reviewer, "has an astonishing gift for the instrument."
The cellist, who won the 2000 International Casals Competition, performs concertos with acclaimed orchestras on three continents. The Berlin resident also appears as a chamber musician, a recital soloist and a collaborator with a variety of visual and performing artists.
In the United States, Bohórquez has performed as a soloist with the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. He has worked with noted conductors Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Neville Marriner and Leonard Slatkin. He has also performed with his younger brother, violinist Oscar Bohórquez.
The Russian National Orchestra's associate conductor since 2000, Ponti has also been the music director and principal conductor of California's San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra for seven years.
Ponti, who began his musical studies in Paris, earned prizes in several competitions as a pianist. He received a master's degree in conducting from UCLA and also attended the Conductor's Institute in Hartford, Connecticut. He is the son of Oscar-winning Italian actress Sophia Loren and the late Italian film producer Carlo Ponti.
Guided since its inception in 1990 by Artistic Director Mikhail Pletnev, the Russian National Orchestra was the first Russian ensemble of its kind to perform at the Vatican and in Israel. The orchestra, which routinely tours Europe, Asia and the Americas, has recorded more than 50 CDs, including the first album by a Russian orchestra to garner a Grammy Award.
Gay D. Dunne, M.D., and James H. Dunne, M.D., sponsor the presentation. WPSU-FM is the media sponsor. Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring a visiting artist or local expert, is offered in Eisenhower Auditorium one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity. Seating is available on a first-arrival basis. A grant from the Penn State Student Activities Fee Funds makes University Park student prices possible.
Contact: Laura Sullivan, 814-863-6379