SYMPHONY

Philharmonic Showcases Cellist and Tchaikovsky on Valentine’s Day
PR Contact: Marilyn LaRocque larocquemr@aol.com 702/240-4944

EVENT:Las Vegas Philharmonic concert, Friday, February 14, 8 p.m., Artemus W. Ham Hall, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

PROGRAM: The Las Vegas Philharmonic’s Music Director and Conductor David Itkin has scheduled an all-Tchaikovsky program for the orchestra’s February concert on the 14th, Valentine’s Day. Cellist Zuill Bailey will be featured in the Rococo Variations and the Nocturne for Cello and Orchestra.
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, and his last symphony, #6 “Pathetique,” complete the program. TICKET INFORMATION:Tickets for the February 14 Las Vegas Philharmonic concert are available online at http://www.lvphil.com/ and by calling 895-2787 or may be purchased at Ham Hall Box Office on the UNLV campus. Prices range from $30 to $75. Tickets for seniors (62+) and students (18 and under) cost $27 to S67.50.CONCERT AND GUEST ARTIST INFORMATION:Since the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s February concert is on the 14th, Valentine’s Day, Music Director and Conductor David Itkin has scheduled an all-Tchaikovsky program. Acclaimed cellist Zuill Bailey will be featured in the Rococo Variations and the Nocturne for Cello and Orchestra. Tchaikovsky’s tribute to the ultimate romance, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, and his last symphony and masterwork, Symphony #6 “Pathetique,” round out the evening. The concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Artemus W. Ham Hall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.Bailey divides his musical passion between two loves—a rare 1693 Matteo Gofriller cello made famous by the legendary cellist of the Budapest String Quartet, Mischa Schneider, and a techno-carbon-fiber instrument handcrafted by Instruments of Grace in Arizona.“I always try to discover and explore where music and instruments are going,” said the 36-year-old international star, who resembles a young Antonio Banderas. “Obviously instruments of the past represent everything up to this point. However, sometimes it’s not appropriate for me to play the 1693,” Bailey explained. “It’s like carrying around an infant. You have to be very careful because it’s fragile and unstable with the elements, particularly outdoors where high heat could melt the varnish and frigid temperatures could crack the wood. “I can play the carbon fiber cello in all kinds of weather—rain, wind, sun, and it sounds terrific, as good at 32 degrees as at 100. You don’t realize the sound is coming from a synthetic instrument. It has a very direct tone quality, very penetrating. It’s a new approach to a classic design and a bridge to taking music even further. I’ve played it near the ocean and in the mountains of El Paso where it rained. When it gets scuffed, I use Turtle Wax to clean it up. If something serious happens to it, it’s replaceable. The 1693 is not.”However, Bailey will play his 1693 cello when he performs with the Las Vegas Philharmonic. “What makes the instrument incredibly special is that it produces an environment of sound,” Bailey said, “very resonant, very earthy. It’s the Van Gogh of musical expression, very vibrant, textural, incredibly complex, like an aged man telling an awesome story of life’s journey.” How did Bailey find the 1693 cello?“Totally by accident,” he replied. “I went into a violin shop in New York City (1997), and one of my friends said ‘I have something very special to show you. You might want to look it over’. When I played it, the sound was so big, so gorgeous, I played with my eyes shut. The cello was producing sounds that I had previously only heard in my head. I played it and played it and played it. Fate stepped in, and a very special person enabled me to get it. The cello makes me speechless. Since it was made in 1693, it predates almost every classical composer we celebrate.”When Bailey thinks of music written for the cello, he cites Bach as the “Bible” repertoire. “Bach haunts me every day,” he remarked, “particularly the Bach cello Suites. I can’t imagine life without them.” However, he laments the fact that Mozart composed nothing for the cello as a solo instrument. “It’s probably a blessing in disguise,” he admitted. “Mozart is diabolically difficult but has to sound so easy; but, it’s also a curse because we have no option and can’t play it because it doesn’t exist.“Tchaikovsky paid homage to Mozart by writing this Rococo Theme and Variation in Mozartian style. So we have Mozart in spirit and the virtuosity, romanticism, and flavor or Tchaikovsky, great melodies and fire. The piece bridges two geniuses at one time. The seven variations have a dance-like sound, and the end is like letting racehorses out of the gate. We’re playing as fast as we can. The Nocturne is ‘night music’ with heart wrenching melodies. The cello is the perfect instrument. It’s one of the most soothing sounds you’ll ever hear. It makes everything right, no matter what is going on around you. When you hear the Nocturne, shut your eyes and revel in the moment. That’s what makes the music so timeless.”Bailey grew up in Northern Virginia near Washington, D. C. in a musical family. Both his father and mother, who was also a pianist, were music educators and frequently took him to concerts. One night backstage four-year-old Zuill literally ran into a cello and smashed it. ”I decided then and there that I wanted to play the cello,” he reported. “I had a lesson and was mesmerized. My parents never had to ask me to practice.“Suzuki was blossoming in Washington in the 1970’s,” he continued, “and I was whisked into that. I was about 13 when I first performed with an orchestra (Prince William Orchestra in Woodbridge, VA, a suburb of D.C.). The cello became intertwined with my life. Every morning I marvel that I get to spend another day with it.” Bailey has performed with great orchestras and conductors around the world. He has traveled the globe playing in famous concert halls and at prestigious music festivals. He has appeared on radio and TV and starred as the murderous cellist on HBO-TV’s “OZ.” (http://colbertartists.com/ArtistBio.asp?ID=44) He established the El Paso Music Festival, now in its eighth year, in his hometown. “I started traveling in my late teens,” Bailey said, “and soon realized I lived in very rarified air. What I had experienced musically didn’t happen everywhere. I discovered that music education for youngsters was becoming more difficult. Unlike the Youth Concerts the Las Vegas Philharmonic presents, there was little opportunity for them to hear symphony sounds. It was distressing to me. “In my late 20’s I started thinking about how I could make a difference personally. I was asked to be artistic director of El Paso Pro Musica, and I accepted. We bring the arts together to enrich the community. It’s a dream come true. Throughout January we have a festival of music, films, a museum series. The performers must go to hospitals, schools, senior citizens centers. We draw unbelievable crowds to the concerts. We’re bringing to the table what I was able to see and be wired by when I was living in the D.C. area. It’s really invigorating to see a response like this.“Wherever I perform, I make sure I have time to take my cello to people in the community, to kids in schools, to hospitals, to senior centers. We need culture, need the arts. They’re how we represent ourselves as a society. Music is the sound track to our lives. One of greatest feelings about playing is to see people in the audience with their eyes shut. Music has taken them out of their daily lives. That’s the magic of what it’s all about!” (In Las Vegas, Zuill will teach a master class for talented young cellists at the Las Vegas Academy of Music.)Bailey has two sons, ages 2 and 6. Will he encourage them to become professional musicians?“They’re crazily interested in music,” he replied. “They can sing every piece I’m playing. They go to concerts with me and sit with me while I practice. The two-year-old gets a wooden soupspoon and bows in front of him. My four-year-old travels with me quite a lot. He knows how passports work, how planes, train work. I’m showing them a very unique vantage point to life. However, I don’t want them to feel they have to do this. Music is just one of many things offered to them—art, sports. They’re literally going to have to beg me for it. What I want most is for them to be appreciative of the arts.”Bailey’s cellos are also well traveled. The 1693, ticketed as Cello Bailey, rides in the seat next to him on the plane. He admitted that the crash on the Hudson River had set him thinking about what he would do in a similar crisis. “I’d make sure all the people were safely off the plane,” he remarked, “and then I’d do my best to get the cello off with me. Of course,” he added, “if I were traveling with the carbon fiber cello, it would be in the hold of the plane with the luggage. It could spend weeks under water and then, when it was fished out, once it was dried off, it would be ready to play and sound as good as ever”Signed copies of Bailey’s just released CD, “Russian Masterpieces,” which includes both the Rococo Variations and Nocturne, will be sold at the Philharmonic’s concert.Tickets for the February 14 Las Vegas Philharmonic concert are available online at http://www.lvphil.com/ and by calling 895-2787 or may be purchased at Ham Hall Box Office on the UNLV campus. Prices range from $30 to $75. Tickets for seniors (62+) and students (18 and under) cost $27 to S67.50.**************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. AOL Music takes you there. (http://music.aol.com/grammys?ncid=emlcntusmusi00000002