NEW WEST SYMPHONY CONCERTMASTER DANIELLE BELEN TO MAKE SOLO DEBUT WITH ORCHESTRA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 12, 2012 --

January 12, 2012--New West Symphony concertmaster Danielle Belen will make her Symphony solo debut on the next Masterpiece Series concert. She will play Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 64. The program will also include Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Opus 98 by Johannes Brahms. Guest conductor Steven Mercurio will lead three performances of the program. The first performance will take place on January 27, 2012 at 8:00 pm at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, located at 800 Hobson Way in Oxnard. The program will be repeated on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 8:00 pm at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks and on Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 4:00 pm at Barnum Hall on the Campus of Santa Monica High School, located at 601 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica.

Danielle Belen’s appointment as concertmaster began with the 2011/2012 season. She started playing with the Symphony during the 2004/2005 season and has served as assistant and associate concertmaster as well as concertmaster during the intervening years. Ms. Belen won First Prize in the 2008 Sphinx Competition. She has appeared as soloist with the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco Symphonies, the Boston Pops and the Florida and Cleveland Orchestras. A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, Ms. Belen is now on the faculty of the Colburn School and is a teaching assistant to renowned violin pedagogue Robert Lipsett.

Guest conductor Steven Mercurio’s accomplishments encompass both the symphonic and operatic worlds. He has conducted more than 45 different operas in seven different languages, at many of the world’s great opera houses. He served for five years as music director of the Spoleto Festival and principal conductor of the Opera Company of Philadelphia. He has conducted orchestras throughout Europe and the United States, and collaborated as an arranger with a wide array of artists including Andrea Bocelli, Placido Domingo, Bryn Terfel, Sting and Chick Corea.

Complete biographies of Danielle Belen and Steven Mercurio are available at www.newwestsymphony.org.
The Masterpiece Series is sponsored by Jennifer & Craig Zobelein. This concert is sponsored by the New West Symphony League.

Tickets: Tickets priced from $25 to $98 are available by phone, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday at 1-866-776-8400. Tickets are also available in person at the New West Symphony office, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday and through the Symphony web site at www.newwestsymphony.org, 24/7. Tickets are also available at the respective concert hall box offices. Student Rush tickets priced at $10 are available at the concert hall box offices beginning 30 minutes prior to the performance.

Hear & Now Live: This lively and informative, pre-concert discussion about the music on the program begins at 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings and 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon. The programs are free and open to ticket holders for the respective performances.

The New West Symphony is a professional orchestra serving audiences in Ventura County, the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles. The musicians of the orchestra are drawn from the rich talent pool of professional Los Angeles area musicians. The Symphony presents internationally-acclaimed soloists on its Masterpiece Series concerts. It is the resident orchestra of the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and Barnum Hall in Santa Monica.

Danielle Belen     New West Symphony     Steven Mercurio     USC