HARTFORD SYMPHONY 2013 TALCOTT MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL TO OPEN JUNE 28 WITH MOZART IN THE MOONLIGHT

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s summer series, the Talcott Mountain Music Festival, will open with Mozart in the Moonlight on Friday, June 28, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Simsbury Meadows.  Led by guest conductor Steven Lipsitt, this outdoor concert’s program highlights will include Mozart’s “Paris” Symphony, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Overture to Don Giovanni, plus Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major featuring HSO Principal Cellist Jeffrey Krieger. The concert will culminate with a dazzling fireworks display.

Jeffrey Krieger has been principal cellist of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, chamber musician and soloist since 1979. Krieger has been featured as a soloist with the New York City Ballet, a solo recital of music by Osvaldas Balakauskas sponsored by the American-Lithuanian Society of New York, at the Kennedy Center, and with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. In 2007 and 2008 he served as Cultural Ambassador to India performing concerts of American music sponsored by the US Embassy. Festival performances have included the Boston Cyberarts Festival; International Festival of Electronic Art at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; International Festival of Arts and Ideas, New Haven; Subtropics Festival, Miami International University; New Directions Cello Festival at the Knitting Factory, New York City; and Ebeltoft Festival, Denmark.

Now in his fourteenth season as Music Director of the Boston Classical Orchestra, Steven Lipsitt has brought this professional chamber orchestra to the front ranks of Boston’s musical life with freshly designed, vividly realized programs of four centuries of music. He has conducted orchestras in Russia, Greece, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Canada, and the U.S.  He has been a guest conductor at Scottish Opera, the Kennedy Center Opera House, Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Pops, and Boston Ballet, and has served as cover conductor for the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Toronto, and Boston. He has trained young musicians at Tanglewood, New England Conservatory, Boston University, The Hartt School, and the Boston Conservatory Opera Theatre.

The 2013 Talcott Mountain Music Festival continues through July 26. Led by music director Carolyn Kuan, the HSO will Celebrate America on Wednesday, July 3 in a Patriotic Celebration saluting American heroes. On July 12, Rob Zappulla and his big band will join the HSO for a night of Frank Sinatra's most swinging hits at Sinatra Under the Stars. Popular Boston Pops guest conductor James Orent will lead the HSO in the Movie Music of John Williams, including soundtrack music from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and more. The festival will end July 26 with The Rolling Stones Tribute: 50 Years of Satisfaction.

Ticket Information: Subscriptions to the 2013 Talcott Mountain Music Festival range in price from $100-$1420; single tickets range in price from $20-$45; and lawn tickets for kids 12 and under are $5. Discounts are available for tickets purchased in advance. For more ticketing information, please contact HSO ticket services at (860) 244-2999 or visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.

Additional Information: Gates open at 6:00 p.m. for all Talcott Mountain Music Festival concerts. Open to all ticket holders, the HSO Education Tent is open from 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.; families can enjoy free activities such as music-themed games and crafts, the “Instrument Zoo,” and youth performances.  In the case of severe weather, this concert will be performed the following night (June 29) at the same time.

The 2013 Talcott Mountain Music Festival is presented by Hartford Hospital. The 2013 Festival Sponsor is The Richard P. Garmany Fund at Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. Sinatra Under the Stars is sponsored by Classic Hotels of Connecticut. The 2013 Talcott Mountain Music Festival receives Festival Patron support from Falcetti Music, Paine’s, Inc, Seabury, The Hartford, and UBS Realty Investors; Festival Benefactor support from Chubb, Cigna, Ensign Bickford Industries, HB Group, Show Lighting, Simscroft Echo, Travelers, and Viking Fuel Oil; and Festival Friend support from 2fly wines, Bank of America, Big Y, CL&P, Dornenburg - Kallenbach Advertising, Ethel Walker School, Federman, Lally, and Remis, Fitzgerald Foods, JP Morgan Chase, Metro Bis, Motley Rice, Murphy, Laudati, Kiel, Buttler &Rattigan LLC, Robert Hensley and Associates, Simsbury Bank, The Aegis Group, Tom and Suzy Reich, and United Healthcare. The Education Tent Sponsor is sponsored by Westminster School. Fireworks are sponsored by the Town of Simsbury. Generous support for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra is provided by the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and with support from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra 2012-2013 Season is sponsored by Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center.