Travel the Orient Express

Lubbock—All aboard! The Lubbock Symphony Orchestra invites you to Travel the Orient Express on Friday and Saturday, January 18 & 19 at 8 p.m. in the Civic Center Theatre. Sponsored by United Supermarkets, this is the third installment of LSO’s Global Journeys series.   As you celebrate the New Year, travel aboard the famous train known as the Orient Express. Our journey will follow the path of the train from Paris, France to Istanbul, Turkey while blending the exotic cultures of Europe and Asia. This concert will explore the captivating Dance Suite by Béla Bartók; Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 100, more commonly known as his Military Symphony; Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture from Abu Hassan; Offenbach’s Overture from Orpheus in the Underworld and Johann Strauss Jr.’s Bauern Polka, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, and 1001 Nights Waltz. Come early to SoundBites and enjoy a fabulous dinner coupled with dancing entertainment. Professional dancers from Strictly Ballroom, Lubbock’s Premier Ballroom will demonstrate the art of waltzing while accompanied by members of the Lubbock Youth Symphony Orchestra.  Tickets are $20 per person and reservations must be made in advance. Call the Lubbock Symphony Office to reserve your spot today!  In conjunction with this concert and to advance music education in the Lubbock and surrounding communities, LSO has also selected Travel the Orient Express as the theme for its annual Listen Live! Education Concert. The free concert geared directly to 5th graders will be held on January 15, 2008 in the Lubbock Civic Center Theatre with performances at 9:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Each year more than 4,000 students from more than 60 schools attend Listen Live! Guidebooks are given to students and teachers prior to the concert to inform and educate the young concertgoers and to allow teachers to integrate concert related activities into their daily lesson plans. To obtain a Guidebook or more information on Listen Live!, please contact Kristin Lyman, LSO Education Director, at or by calling 762-1688. This year’s concert is SOLD OUT! Tomasz Golka, conductor, has appeared in performances of over 100 major works with such orchestras as the Seattle, Fort Worth, Louisville, Spoleto USA, Charleston, Lansing, and Florida West Coast symphony orchestras. He has also appeared with Buffalo Philharmonic, where he replaced the ailing scheduled conductor on just a few hours notice and led the orchestra in an enthusiastically received performance.   LSO presents Travel the Orient Express                                                                                  page 2 As a conducting fellow at the 2006 Tanglewood Music Festival, he worked with James Levine, shared the podium with Bernard Haitink, and conducted a historic performance of Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale with legendary composers Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter and John Harbison as narrators. He has toured Mexico several times appearing with the country's top orchestras including those of UNAM, Xalapa, Queretaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Aguascalientes and Yucatan.  Golka is currently in his first year as Music Director of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. Past positions held by Golka include Music Director of the Ball State Symphony Orchestra and Opera and the Bakersfield Youth Symphony (2003-04), and Founder and Artistic Director of the Chamber Music at All Saints (2000-02) and the Bloomington Chamber Orchestra (1998-99). As a violinist, Golka has served as concertmaster of Spoleto USA Festival Orchestra and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra (1999-2000). Golka studied conducting with David Effron at Indiana University and Gustav Meier at the Peabody Conservatory. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in violin from Rice University, where he was a violin student of Kenneth Goldsmith and Sergiu Luca. He was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival in 2002 and has conducted in Master Classes for such distinguished conductors as Yuri Temirkanov and David Zinman. Our Global Journeys Series continues with The Many Faces of the Americas on March 7 & 8 and our final destination takes you to Bohemia where you will hear Bohemians and Their Rhapsodies on May 2 & 3. These concerts will take place at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays at the Civic Center Theatre located at Mac Davis Lane and Avenue O. Our last bonus concert for the 2007-2008 season is Jazz in the City with special guests, New York Voices, which will be held on Saturday, April 12, at 8 p.m. in the City Bank Auditorium. This is the final opportunity to purchase season subscriptions. Season Subscriptions are $50, $90 and $115 for adults, and ticket prices to Travel the Orient Express are $45, $35 and $20. Student pricing is also available. For more information about upcoming concerts, our new conductor, or to purchase tickets, please call (806) 762-1688, visit our website at www.lubbocksymphony.org or stop by our office at 601 Avenue K in Lubbock.