Piano Concerto No. 3 by Benjamin Lees to Be Premiered by Pianist Ian
Hobson with the Florida Orchestra April 13, 14 and 15

New York NY - The Piano Concerto No. 3 of Benjamin Lees will be given
its World Premiere performances by pianist Ian Hobson and the Florida
Orchestra, led by their Associate Conductor Susan Haig, in three upcoming
concerts on the west coast of Florida:

Friday, April 13 - 8 PM - Louise Lykes Ferguson Hall of the Tampa Bay
Performing Arts Center, 1010 North MacInnes Place in Tampa, Florida.

Saturday, April 14 - 8 PM -The Mahaffey Theater at the Progress Energy
Center for the Arts, 400 First Street South in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Sunday, April 15 - 7:30 PM - Ruth Eckerd Hall of The Richard B.  Baumgardner
Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 McMullen Booth Road in Clearwater,
Florida.

Other works on the concerts will be Lalo's Le roi d'Ys Overture, and
Debussy's L'isle joyeuse and La Mer.

The composer has written the following about the new concerto:

   'Ian Hobson the soloist, and I, have had a long professional
   relationship, one which saw the birth of Mirrors which he premiered
   as a work in four sections in Chicago in 1992 to the final 35
   minute opus in 12 sections, completed in 2005 which he has
   recorded.  He also recorded my Piano Concerto No.2 on the Albany
   label as well as a CD for Albany containing three major works,
   i.e.  Piano Sonata No.4, Fantasy Variations, and Mirrors (in 6
   sections).'

   'Over the years he asked me to write him a new piano concerto,
   and therein lies the genesis of this work. I broached the idea
   to Leonard Stone, the Executive Director of The Florida Orchestra
   and an old friend from Dallas days. He approved immediately, and
   so the project began.'

   'The work is in three movements, with no break between the second
   and third movement. The character of the concerto is an amalgam
   of sharp, rapid meter changes, and dramatic motifs intertwined
   with lyricism, most noticeably in the second movement. The finale
   is one that surges from climax to climax, with the solo piano
   given a dramatic cadenza as the work comes to a close.  Playing
   time is circa 24 minutes.'

   'This is the composer's fifth opus in the piano/orchestra category,
   with the other four works being the Piano Concertos No.1 and 2,
   Variations for Piano and Orchestra, and the Etudes for Piano and
   Orchestra.'

Read Carson Cooman's Three Questions Before the First Night interview
with Benjamin Lees at Music & Vision Daily -
http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2007/04/benjamin-lees.htm.

Tickets for the April 13, 14 and 15 concerts are available at
http://www.floridaorchestra.org/index.php?pag=3Dproduction&e_id=3D571&mo=3D04.
For more information, please call the Orchestra at (813) 286-2403 or
800-662-7286.

Now in its 39th season The Florida Orchestra is recognized as Tampa Bay's
leading performing arts institution, one of the leading professional
symphony orchestras in Florida, and one of the best regional orchestras
in America.  With 80 professional musicians, the orchestra performs more
than 150 concerts annually in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater,
and St. Petersburg.  Concert series include the Progress Energy
Masterworks, Raymond James Super Pops, Coffee Concerts, free Pops
in the Parks, and youth concerts.  Much more about them online at
http://www.floridaorchestra.org/.  Visit Associate Conductor Susan Haig
online at http://www.floridaorchestra.org/index.php?pag=3Dbio&id=3D245.

British-born Ian Hobson has earned a worldwide reputation as a pianist,
conductor, and teacher.  A finalist in the 1977 Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition, he later took silver medals at the Artur Rubinstein
and the Beethoven International competitions.  In 1981, Hobson's
international career as a pianist was launched when he won First Prize
at the Leeds International Piano Competition.  Much more about him at
http://www.ianhobson.net.

Benjamin Lees' Symphony No. 5, "Kalmar Nyckel" was nominated for a
2003 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition by the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.  He was the first recipient of
a Fromm Foundation award for his String Quartet No. 1 and Sonata for
Two Pianos.  His works have been commissioned, performed and recorded
by, among others, the Tokyo Quartet, Aurora Quartet, Sea Cliff Chamber
Players, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra,
Chicago Symphony, NBC Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Detroit Symphony,
Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, National Symphony, Dallas
Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, American Symphony, Delaware Symphony,
Pittsburgh Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de
Monte Carlo and Portland (OR) Symphony.  He is published by Boosey &
Hawkes. You can find much more information about Benjamin Lees at his
website - http://www.benjaminlees.com/ and more about his piano music
at http://www.jamesarts.com/releases/june06/BL_nws_061606.htm.

For more information about the music of Benjamin Lees, please contact
Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-586-3433 or [log in to unmask]

Jeffrey James Arts Consulting
Website: http://www.jamesarts.com

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