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Dateline: 11/16/2005

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE
Dale Goodwin, Director
Peter Tormey, Associate Director

GU Symphony Orchestra to Perform at The Met Dec. 5

The Gonzaga University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kevin Hekmatpanah, will perform its fall concert at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 5 at The Met (The Metropolitan Performing Arts Center, 901 W. Sprague Ave.).

The Orchestra will perform Mozart’s Adagio & Rondo for Violin and Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in e minor, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F Major. The soloist will be Giora Schmidt.

Tickets are $7 general admission and $5 for non-GU students, and are available at the door. Admission is free to GU students, faculty and staff. For more information, contact the Gonzaga music department at (509) 323-6733, or visit its Web site at www.gonzagamusic.com

With his superb tone and pure musicianship, violinist Schmidt, still in his early 20s, has already proven himself an outstanding artist with a promising future. His performances are marked by a commanding presence and richness of color that have earned him the reputation as a virtuoso of the "old school," whose great technique is matched by a very thoughtful musicality.

Significant landmarks in Schmidt's 2005-06 season will be his European debut at the Louvre recital series in Paris, his Far Eastern debut in a recital in Tokyo, and a debut recital recording, due for release this month. Schmidt began last season with performances with his Trio of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Phoenix and Louisville symphonies, followed by subscription weeks with the Columbus Symphony and the Detroit Symphony.

In recent seasons, he made his Chicago Symphony debut, Itzhak Perlman conducting, and with the Israel Philharmonic in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. He appeared on television in the Kennedy Center Honors in a performance tribute to his teacher Perlman. Schmidt is the recipient of a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant and of numerous other prizes and awards, and was a student of the late Dorothy De Lay and Perlman at the Juilliard School, where he continues to teach as an assistant to Perlman. Schmidt plays a Guarneri Del Gesu violin from 1743, on loan from the Juilliard School.