Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert Returns to Chicago
Enjoy a magical and joyous start to the New Year as “Salute to Vienna”, patterned after Vienna's world famous “Neujahrskonzert”, returns to Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center on January 2nd for a glorious 13th season. This simultaneously produced series has inspired diehard romantics all over North America – this year in 20 cities. Always a festive sold-out event, it is performed live by a brilliant cast of 75 musicians. This year, The Strauss Symphony of America, featuring the Chicago Philharmonic, will be led by Hungarian Maestro András Deák, Viennese soprano Renée Schüttengruber, Viennese tenor Wolfgang Gratschmaier along with dancers from the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine. A wonderful way to celebrate the joy and hope the New Year brings – the concert features favourite Strauss waltzes, polkas and famous operetta pieces. This is a light hearted New Year's tradition the whole family can enjoy.
Tickets to see New Year's Concert 2012 – SALUTE TO VIENNA start at $27.00 and are available online at www.cso.org or at the hall's Box Office 220South Michigan Avenue (Chicago, IL) or by calling 312 294 3000
The SALUTE TO VIENNA (STV) concert series has become a favourite holiday musical tradition throughout North America. It is delightfully reminiscent of Vienna's famous and beloved Neujahrskonzert, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for over 70 years and televised annually to 1.3 billion people around the globe. Over the past decade, STV has grown into the largest concert series of its kind in North America under the leadership of Attila and Marion Glatz, co-Presidents of AGCP, the founders and producers of this unique tradition.
In 1995, AGCP premiered STV in Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall. By 2004, the show was being presented in 33 major concert halls over a five-day period across the continent, including sold-out performances in Los Angeles (Walt Disney Concert Hall), Philadelphia (Kimmel Center), Washington, D.C. (Kennedy Center), New York City (Lincoln Center), Boston (Symphony Hall), Montreal (Place des Arts), Vancouver (Orpheum Theatre) and Calgary (Jack Singer Concert Hall). SALUTE TO VIENNA is the only genuine re-creation of original Viennese production and is officially recognized by the Mayor of Vienna as an authentic Viennese New Year's celebration.