ONE SYMPHONY PLACE: A WORLD PREMIERE FROM MUSIC CITY & CHRISTMAS AT BELMONT AIR NATIONALLY ON PBS
Two television specials produced in Nashville will air on Nashville Public Television and many PBS stations nationwide in December, highlighting the diversity and world-class musicianship Music City has to offer.
ONE SYMPHONY PLACE: A WORLD PREMIERE FROM MUSIC CITY – the broadcast of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in its inaugural concert at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville -- airs on NPT-Channel 8 and PBS stations throughout the United States on Wednesday, December 20, 2006, 9:00-10:00 p.m. CST. Additionally, CHRISTMAS AT BELMONT, hosted by country artist Josh Turner and filmed at Belmont University, airs on NPT-Channel 8 and PBS stations nationwide on Thursday, December 21 at 9:00 p.m. CST.
Shot in high definition, ONE SYMPHONY PLACE: A WORLD PREMIERE FROM MUSIC CITY, is a one-hour national special culled from the live broadcast that originally aired on Nashville Public Television when the Schermerhorn Symphony Center opened last September. The special features the Nashville Symphony Orchestra performing symphonic masterpieces, Samuel Barber’s Essay No. 2 for Orchestra and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” (4th & 5th movements). Nashville Symphony music advisor Leonard Slatkin conducts the orchestra with soloists Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano, and Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano.
Country music artist and Belmont graduate Turner hosts CHRISTMAS AT BELMONT, a festive musical collage that will include a holiday repertoire ranging from traditional carols to classical masterworks to lighthearted secular songs. Belmont School of Music's well-regarded chorale contingents, some of which have become prominent in music festivals worldwide, are featured in the one-hour program along with the Nashville Children's Choir, which has recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. Combined, the choirs featured on CHRISTMAS AT BELMONT will total 400 voices performing musical styles including classical, jazz, rock, bluegrass, country and a cappella.
“Our original broadcast of the opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center was a momentous occasion for Nashville Public Television, the Nashville Symphony and all Tennesseans,” said Beth Curley, President and CEO of NPT. “The national premiere of the broadcast brings that historic moment to the rest of the country and once again highlights the cultural riches that Nashville has to offer.
“Both of these shows also shine a light on the commitment NPT has to serving as Nashville’s curator of culture and history. I see this broadcast as a traveling exhibit -- hitting every town in America simultaneously – while never leaving home.”
The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, located in the heart of downtown Nashville, encompasses 197,000 square-feet and holds the acoustically and visually intimate Laura Turner Concert Hall, inspired by world-class concert halls such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Symphony Hall in Boston.
Those outside of NPT-Channel 8’s viewing area should check their local listings for days and times of these broadcasts.
For more information and photos, please contact Joe Pagetta at 615-259-9325 ext. 211, jpagetta@wnpt.net or visit www.wnpt.net.
Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.2 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.