Contact:  Meg Whalen, Director of Public Relations
E: megw@charlottesymphony.org
P: 704-714-5114
W: www.charlottesymphony.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                          January 18, 2011

Symphony’s Second KnightSounds Program Has Latin Flair
Tangos & Tapas
Friday, February 4
Knight Theater

The Charlotte Symphony heats up February with the latest in its new KnightSounds series, Tangos & Tapas. The night of Latin entertainment begins in the Knight Theater at 6:30 p.m. with pre-concert tapas and drinks, followed at 7:30 p.m. by a concert featuring the colorful music of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. A post-concert salsa dance party will be held at the Mint Museum Uptown, featuring the salsa band Orquesta Mayor.

The innovative KnightSounds series premiered last fall with a sold-out multi-media performance of Gustav Holst’s The Planets. “The premiere of the Symphony’s KnightSounds Series at the new Knight Theater was anything but the usual concert experience,” wrote Perry Tannenbaum in Classical Voice NC. “The buzz was all positive, all glowing as we left the hall.”

Tangos & Tapas will also offer audiences a multi-sensory experience not often found in a traditional concert setting. Metropolitan Ballroom dancers Clement Joly and Tatiana Kazakova will perform the mambo to Leonard Bernstein’s dance from West Side Story. The concert also features two special guest artists – conductor Maximiano Valdés and violinist Elena Urioste.

Born in Santiago, Chile, Valdés is currently the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Puerto Rico Symphony. He was also recently named Artistic Director of the Festival Casals in San Juan. The American born Mexican-Basque violinist Elena Urioste made her symphonic debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at just 13 years old and has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Richmond, San Antonio, and Sarasota orchestras. Recently named by Symphony magazine as an emerging artist to watch, Urioste will perform Four Seasons of Buenos Aires by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.

Tickets are $30 and include a drink and hors d’oeuvres in the Knight Lobby, as well as entry into the Mint Museum following the concert. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Symphony ticket office at 704-972-2000 or at www.charlottesymphony.org. For more information, visit http://www.charlottesymphony.org/KnightSounds.asp.