Nashville Symphony Plays Music Festival at Carnegie Hall, Now thru 5/12

The Grammy®-winning Nashville Symphony performs at New York City's Carnegie Hall as part of the Spring for Music festival, a high-profile celebration of adventuresome programming among leading North American orchestras. The Symphony is one of six ensembles scheduled to perform at Spring for Music's second annual event, opening tonight, May 7 and running through May 12, 2012. The Nashville Symphony's Saturday-evening performance at Carnegie Hall will conclude the six-day festival.

This will be the Nashville Symphony's second appearance at Carnegie Hall; the first took place in 2000. The forthcoming performance is especially noteworthy, however, because the orchestra has been selected by the Spring for Music organization from a highly competitive pool of applicants based on the strength of its programming. Though the program has yet to be announced, it will include one newly commissioned work and at least two 20th century works rarely performed on the concert stage. Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero will conduct the concert, and electric violinist Tracy Silverman will be the featured soloist.

"Even though we have much work to do to restore our home, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, from the recent flood damage, this news is a great reminder that the music, in the end, is the reason we're here," said Nashville Symphony President and CEO Alan D. Valentine. "This opportunity is closely aligned with our own strategic vision and will serve as one more step towards the realization of that vision. It gives us a wonderful opportunity to showcase, on a national stage, our longstanding commitment to innovative, distinctly American programming."

"I promise you that the orchestra's Carnegie Hall performance is going to make this city very, very proud," said Guerrero. "The past few seasons at the Schermerhorn have really prepared our musicians for this opportunity. We're incredibly excited, and we are going to put on a concert that will absolutely grab people's attention."