New Haven, CT (October 23, 2013): The New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) presents a spectacular evening of incandescent ballet music!  Music Director William Boughton conducts The Princess & The Firebird, a program which brings to life Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, Stravinsky’s Firebird, and more on Saturday, November 23 at 7:30pm at Woolsey Hall in New Haven.

Thanks, in part, to the generosity of First Niagara, students, faculty and staff from schools in the greater New Haven area will be granted free admission to this evening of exciting music as part of the annual School Night at the Symphony program.  Last season, over 600 children and their families participated in School Night at the Symphony, many of whom were attending a live classical music event for the first time.

Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, based on a French seventeenth-century tale, was commissioned by the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and paid for through the patronage of Tsar Alexander III.  Through Tchaikovsky’s imaginative orchestration and ballet master Marius Petipa’s spectacular staging and choreography, The Sleeping Beauty became the model for the display of the Russian imperial style. The NHSO will perform the Panorama and Waltz t which have become some of the world’s best-loved music.

Stravinsky Firebird Suite premiered on June 25, 1910 and was an instant success due to its romantic tone, lush orchestral colors, imaginative use of instruments, and exciting rhythms.  The ballet, taking its plot from numerous Russian folk tales, tells the story of the heroic prince, Tsarevich Ivan, who encounters the magic firebird wandering in an enchanted forest.  The production required an immense orchestra, and therefore, Stravinsky made two subsequent revisions with modified orchestration.  The 1919 version will be performed by the Yale Symphony Orchestra on November 9 (tickets at www.yalesymphony.com) and the 1945 version will be performed by the New Haven Symphony in their November 23 program (tickets at www.NewHavenSymphony.org)

The NHSO will give a repeat performance of The Princess & The Firebird on Sunday, November 24 at 3:00pm at Morgan High School in Clinton.  The concert is presented as part of the George Flynn Classical Concerts.

OLAV VAN HEZEWIJK, a native of Holland, has charmed Connecticut audiences since 1982 with his dazzling technique and lyrical phrasing.  Following his graduation from the Yale School of Music in 1984, he was a prize winner in the famed Gillet International Double Reed Competition in Graz, Austria and has since established himself in elite circles both as a performer and teacher.  He is principal oboe of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra and the renowned Colorado Music Festival in Boulder.  In 2003 he toured as guest principal oboe for two months with the China National Symphony.  Mr. Van Hezewijk resides in Hamden with his wife, NHSO’s assistant principal oboe, Marta Boratgis, and two dachshunds.

Tickets for the performance at Woolsey Hall ($15-69) can be purchased at 203.865.0831 x10 or www.NewHavenSymphony.org.  Student tickets are always $10.  KidTix are free for kids ages 6-17, with a paying adult.  Blue Star tickets are free for the families of active duty military.  To purchase tickets for the performance in Clinton, visit www.georgeflynnclassicalconcerts.com.

Thank you to our sponsors: First Niagara Bank and Crest Auto Group.  Season Media Sponsor: New Haven Register.  Media Co-Sponsors New Haven Living, New Haven Magazine.