Southeastern Louisiana University

LPO brings Broadway to the Columbia Theatre April 28

Contact: Christina Chapple

4/21/06

      HAMMOND – The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra will bring the sounds of the Great White Way to the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts when “Broadway Comes to Hammond” April 28.

      The third of the New Orleans based orchestra’s annual trio of concerts at Southeastern Louisiana University’s downtown theater will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $32, Orchestra 1 and Loge; $28, Orchestra 2 and Balcony 1; $20, Orchestra 3; and $19, Balcony 2. Tickets are on sale at the theater lobby box office from noon-5 p.m., weekdays, (985) 543-4371.

      Under the baton of guest conductor Stuart Chafetz, the LPO will perform selections from popular Broadway musicals including favorites by Gershwin, Bernstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Marvin Hamlisch.

      The program includes Bernstein’s “Candide Overture,” Webber’s “Symphonic Reflections,” and selections from “Porgy and Bess,” “South Pacific,” “West Side Story,” “Man of La Mancha” and “A Chorus Line.”

      Known for his innovative and exciting classical, pops and family concerts, Stuart Chafetz is the guest conductor of choice by musicians and audiences nationwide. Recently featured as a 2004 and 2005 Emerging Artist in Symphony Magazine, he is currently music director and conductor of the Maui Pops Orchestra. In those roles, he oversaw remarkable artistic growth and vastly increased statewide exposure.

      Chafetz's guest conducting appearances include the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Austin Symphony, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Mississippi Symphony, the South Dakota Symphony and the Chautauqua Symphony.

      As a frequent guest conductor of the Honolulu Symphony, he has led the orchestra numerous times on the MasterWorks and Pops series, working with such distinguished artists as Jean-Philippe Collard, Chee Yun, Jon Kimura Parker, Awadagin Pratt, Bernadette Peters, John Denver, Richard Chamberlain, Jim Nabors, Jason Scott Lee, and Tony award winner Michael McGuire.

      A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory, Chafetz is a powerful advocate for the musical education of young people. He is committed to educational concerts and promoting the young talent of Hawaii and every city to which he travels. He continues to be involved with Carnegie Hall's LinkUp! program with the Louisiana Philharmonic and Baton Rouge orchestras.

      Chafetz has also hosted a nationally aired PBS special, "Hawaii: The Old and the New," featuring some of Hawaii's most talented young performers, which is still being seen throughout the nation. Every season he leads Tchaikovsky's “Nutcracker” with Ballet Hawaii and principals from American Ballet Theater.

      Chafetz and his wife, conductor Ann Krinitsky, currently divide their time between homes in Honolulu and Chautauqua, N.Y.

      For additional information about “Broadway Comes to Hammond” and other Columbia Theatre programming, visit www.columbiatheatre.org or call (985) 543-4371 or (985) 543-4366.