Verona Arena Orchestra Confirms Participation at the MBZ

The Orchestra of the Arena di Verona Foundation will be performing at the Biennale, conducted by Marko Letonja, with Günther Sanin on the violin and Aldo Orvieto on the piano, as well as Biao Li, the Chinese percussionistwho is becoming a regular at the Biennale. The concert, organized in collaboration with the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, will be held at the Lisinski Hall on April 9, 2011, as part of the Lisinski Saturday Series.

It will feature Requies by Luciano Beri, the "Yeliel" Concerto for Violin and Orchestra by Carlo Galante, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Bruno Maderna, World Trade Center Requiem by Giampaolo Coral and the premiere of the Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra by Berislav Šipuš.

The score for the Concerto by Bruno Maderna has been rediscovered only recently, and this is the first time the Concerto will be performed outside of Italy.

The Orchestra has been a vital part of the Opera Festival at the Verona Arena since its beginnings in 1913 (although orchestras and choirs had performed at the Arena even before that date), but it also holds regular independent performances - a practice initiated by conductor Tullio Serafin. The Orchestra conductors over the years have included Pietro Mascagni, Lovro Matačić, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and Georges Prêtre.