Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Performing Arts Center will present Russia’s St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. Principal guest conductor Vladimir Lande will lead the orchestra in a program that includes Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony and Bernstein’s “Candide Overture.” Award-winning cellist Dmitry Kouzov will join the orchestra for Schumann’s Cello Concerto.
The St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra was established in 1967 as the Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music. It was renamed the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra in 1985 and began holding concerts in the Mirror Hall of St. Petersburg’s famed Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace.
The orchestra started touring internationally in 1990 and now tours extensively throughout Europe, North and South America and Asia with programs that encompass a wide range of music.
In 2008, Lande was named the orchestra’s principal guest conductor. Lande is also guest conductor of the National Gallery Orchestra in Washington and music director of the Washington Soloists Chamber Orchestra and the Johns Hopkins University Chamber Orchestra.
Russian cellist Kouzov received the New York Cello Society Rising Star Award, and he won First Prize at the International Beethoven Competition. Kouzov is also a two-time laureate of Russia’s International Virtuosi of the Year Competition.
The Performing Arts Center will offer a pre-concert lecture at 7:15 p.m., which is free and open to the public.
Tickets for the concert are $25-$57 and are discounted for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the box office at 706-542-4400 or toll free at 888-289-8497.
