Queens Symphony Orchestra presents world premiere!

Featuring world famous violin virtuoso CHO-LIANG LIN

with internationally acclaimed composer HUANG RUO

and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

Date:	Sunday, March 28, 2004 at 4:00 p.m.
Venue:	Queensborough Community College Performing Arts Center 56^th Avenue & Springfield Blvd., Bayside; 718-631-6311

Queens Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is pleased and honored to announce the world premiere performance of Omnipresence, Concerto No. 1 for Solo Violin, Off-stage Ensemble and Orchestra, written for master violinist Cho-Liang Lin by internationally acclaimed modern classical composer Huang Ruo. Concert attendees will be thrilled to also hear Beethoven's dazzling Symphony No. 5 in C Minor on the program. QSO's artistic director, Maestro Arthur Fagen, will conduct this momentous performance to end the orchestra's 51^st season of the Masterworks Concert Series.

Taiwanese-American virtuoso violinist Cho-Liang Lin, (b. 1960, Taiwan) is lauded the world over for the eloquence of his playing and the superb musicianship that marks his performances. Renowned for appearances as a soloist with major orchestras, he is also frequently heard in recital and in chamber music. Musical America named Mr. Lin as 2000 Instrumentalist of the Year. During the 2003-2004 season, Mr. Lin appears at each of Carnegie Hall's three concert halls: Isaac Stern Auditorium, Weill Hall and twice at Zankel Hall. With the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he recently performed in New York and on tour. Internationally he performs in Europe and Asia. Cho-Liang Lin founded the Taipei International Music Festival (1997), the first large-scale international music festival in the history of his native country.

He is an advocate for contemporary composers and has premiered many works by them. As a recording artist on the Sony Classical label, some of his stellar recordings have won awards such as Gramophone's Record of the Year and two Grammy nominations. Cho-Liang Lin also records for the Ondine and Decca labels. His violin is the 1734 Guarneri del Gesu - The Duke of Camposelice.

Huang Ruo (b. 1976, China) is a Chinese-American composer of modern orchestral, chamber, vocal and piano works that have been successfully performed in the United States and Asia with world-class orchestras. His commissioned work for this concert Omnipresence, Concerto No. 1 for Solo Violin, Off-stage Ensemble and Orchestra, was created during 2002-2003. The composer states: "For different people, coming from different backgrounds, they might interpret the word 'omnipresence' variously: life, death, light, darkness, water, air, land, colors, sound, silence, rhythm, stillness, and so on. But one thing remains the same: the different echoes in people's hearts when they are given the same word, or in this case, the same music." Mr. Ruo's concerto has six sections that will be played in succession without pause. Commission funding provided by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and the Greenwall Foundation.

Ruo is the recipient of many national prizes in his native China; in Switzerland, he received the Henri Mancini Award (International Film and Music Festival 1995). Huang's work has been premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra, and spotlighted on National Public Radio, Radio Amsterdam, Radio Canada and Radio Shanghai and presented internationally. A permanent U.S. resident, he is artistic director and conductor of the International Contemporary Ensemble. The Zhong Shan University Press published his book Selection of Classic Chinese Folk Songs. Huang Ruo holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Masters degree from the Juilliard School.

Ludwig Van Beethoven b. 1770 - 1827 (Germany)

Born into a family of musicians, Beethoven carried on the family tradition and had his first music published at age twelve. The prolific composer spent most of his creative life in Vienna, where he was revered as a major celebrity or pop star in his day. Beethoven's opening four notes in the Fifth Symphony are one of the most recognized and dramatic musical phrases ever penned. He was nearly deaf before the Fifth Symphony's debut in Vienna, December 1808. The all-Beethoven four-hour music marathon at Theater-an-der-Wein included the dramatic Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. It was premiered with only a single rehearsal by a pick-up group of musicians in an unheated concert hall in the dead of winter. This symphony has some of the most complex and intricate orchestral writing in history, establishing Beethoven as one of the greatest composers with the revolutionary Fifth Symphony. It is perhaps the greatest symphony ever written, representing human triumph over adversity and is a testament to his originality and genius.

Now in its 51^st season as the only professional orchestra in Queens, QSO continues its mission of bringing the best in classical, chamber, opera, pops, and arts-in-education to the residents of this borough. For further information about QSO and its programs, please visit www.queenssymphony.org

Tickets prices: Adults $25 orchestra/$20 balcony; Students/Seniors $18.50; Children 12&under $10. Concert tickets can be purchased by calling QSO headquarters at 718-326-4455, ext. 20, or can be bought online at http://www.queenssymphony.org/.

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Contact:
Denise Jaklitsch Marketing & Public Relations	718-326-4455, ext.16 djak@queenssymphony.org