Memphis Symphony Orchestra begins Music Director Auditions at Next Grand Series Concert

Alastair Willis, candidate for Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s music director position, will guest conduct Brahms Symphony No. 1, the second concert of the First Tennessee Grand Series on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 8 p.m. at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.
Willis is the first of the three conductor candidates to audition for the music director position being vacated by Maestro David Loebel. He will lead the orchestra through a program of works by Jennifer Higdon, Gustav Mahler and Johannes Brahms. The Memphis Symphony will begin the evening with a performance of Higdon’s Blue Cathedral, and close out the program with Brahms’ stirring and dramatic First Symphony.
Guest soloist for the evening is Marietta Simpson, one of today’s most sought-after mezzo-sopranos. She will sing Mahler’s Ruckert-Lieder.
To learn more about the music on the program, patrons can attend the free “Concert Spotlight” 45 minutes before the performance in the Cannon Center mezzanine lobby. Willis will share background about the featured composers and their works.

To order tickets by phone with Visa, American Express or MasterCard, call the Memphis Symphony Orchestra Box Office at 901-537-2525, visit the MSO office at 585 South Mendenhall Road, Memphis, TN 38117 (9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on concert Saturdays) or visit the website at www.memphisymphony.org. Student and group discounts are available.