World Premiere of Dan Locklair's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra To Be Presented on April 16 By Harp Soloist Jacquelyn Bartlett, North Carolina's Western Piedmont Symphony and Their Music Director John Gordon Ross - Concert in Hickory, NC Dan Locklair's Concerto for Harp and Orchestra will be given its World Premiere performance by harp virtuoso Jacquelyn Bartlett, Music Director John Gordon Ross and the Western Piedmont Symphony on Saturday, April 16, 2005, 8:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 339 Second Avenue NW in Hickory, North Carolina. The Masterworks V concert, sponsored by Alex Lee Inc., will also feature Rimsky-Korsakov's "Russian Easter" Overture" and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55. "Eroica". Locklair's Concerto was written during the Spring and Summer of 2004. A commissioned piece for a group of American orchestras, the force behind the project was harpist Jacquelyn Bartlett and her mother Mary J. Bartlett, to whom the piece is dedicated. Tickets for this concert range from $12 to $35 and are available through the Western Piedmont Symphony Box Office at (828) 324-8603. For more concert information, contact the Symphony at (828) 324-8603 or visit them online at http://www.wpsymphony.org. Harp virtuoso Jacquelyn Bartlett studied with world-renowned harpists Carlos Salzedo and Alice Chalifoux, made her debut in Chicago's Orchestra Hall and has since performed throughout the U.S. with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Kansas City Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and Baltimore Symphony. She has served on the faculties of Duke University, the University of North Carolina, Appalachian State University and is currently Professor of Harp at the North Carolina School of the Arts. She is also Founder/Artistic Director of Summer Music in Blowing Rock, an annual chamber music festival. Visit her online at http://www.ncarts.edu/ncsaprod/music/facharp.asp. Her performance appearance is sponsored by First Citizen's Bank. This concert will continue the celebration of the Western Piedmont Symphony's 40th season. Led by Music Director John Gordon Ross, it is a professional orchestra of more than 60 players from Unifour, Boone, Blowing Rock, Charlotte and the Piedmont Triad. They are grant recipients from the National Endowment of the Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council and a funded affiliate of the Catawba County Council for the Arts. Visit the WPS online at http://www.wpsymphony.org. Internationally recognized American composer Dan Locklair, a native of Charlotte, NC, is Composer-in-Residence at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. His compositional output, influenced by a wide variety of traditions, ranging from Medieval to modern music, includes symphonic works, a ballet, an opera, and numerous solo, chamber, vocal, organ and choral compositions. His music has been performed throughout Europe and North America by many major orchestras, choral groups, chamber ensembles and soloists. Several of these works have received major awards, including the 1989 Barlow International Competition Award for "changing perceptions & Epitaph" and the 1996 American Guild of Organists Composer of the Year Award. Among his other honors are consecutive ASCAP Awards since 1981 and a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. His latest CDs, Dan Locklair Orchestral Music (Albany Records Troy 517), and Dan Locklair Chamber Music (Albany Records Troy 701-02) have been released to great critical acclaim. For more information about composer Dan Locklair, including a bio, list of works, discography and much more, please visit http://www.locklair.com. He is represented by Jeffrey James Arts Consulting - 516-797-9166 - phone and fax, to whom inquiries about his music can be directed. Jeffrey James Arts Consulting Tel/Fax: 516-797-9166 Website: http://www.jamesarts.com