Press Release - May 18, 2010
BAY-ATLANTIC SYMPHONY GALA TO HONOR THE BEATLES WITH CLASSICAL MYSTERY TOUR LIVE AT BORGATA, SEPT. 26
Atlantic City, NJ (updated 9/7/2010) – Curious to know what The Beatles would sound like in concert with a symphony orchestra? Find out this fall as the Bay-Atlantic Symphony presents Classical Mystery Tour during their third annual gala concert in The Music Box at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City on Sunday, September 26.
The concert begins at 3 p.m. and tickets ($65 and $50) are available for purchase by calling (866) 900-4849, online at www.theborgata.com, or in-person by visiting the Borgata Box Office. The ticket price is subsidized by a generous grant from the PNC Arts Alive grant program.
The four musicians in Classical Mystery Tour look and sound just like The Beatles, but Classical Mystery Tour is more than just a rock concert. The full show presents over two dozen Beatles tunes performed exactly the way they were originally recorded.
Hear Penny Lane with a live trumpet section, experience the beauty of Yesterday with an acoustic guitar and string quartet, and enjoy the classical/rock blend of I Am the Walrus. From early Beatles music on through the solo years, Classical Mystery Tour is the best of The Beatles like you never heard them: totally live and backed by the Bay-Atlantic Symphony conducted by Music Director Jed Gaylin.
Classical Mystery Tour features Jim Owen (John Lennon) on rhythm guitar, piano, and vocals; Tony Kishman (Paul McCartney) on bass guitar, piano, and vocals; John Brosnan (George Harrison) on lead guitar and vocals; and Chris Camilleri (Ringo Starr) on drums and vocals. Martin Herman, who transcribed the musical scores note for note from Beatles recordings, conducts many of the other Classical Mystery Tour concerts.
Since 1996, Classical Mystery Tour has performed with more than 100 orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, receiving accolades from fans and the media. The Los Angeles Times called the show “more than just an incredible simulation…the swelling strings and soaring French horn lines gave the live performance a high goose-bump quotient…the crowd stood and bellowed for more.”
The demand for Beatles is greater than ever, from the recent success of The Beatles: Rock Band music video game and the release of remastered Beatles albums. Many Beatles fans never had the opportunity to experience a live Beatles show. In the comfort of a live concert, hall, Classical Mystery Tour offers that live experience.
PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC) is the presenting sponsor for this concert. The support is part of PNC Arts Alive, a five-year, $5 million investment from The PNC Foundation, to help area residents gain access to the arts, and help arts organizations expand and engage audiences.
The Bay-Atlantic Symphony, which gives performances in four South Jersey counties, was established in 1983 as the Bridgeton Symphony with Russell Meyer as its Music Director. During this period, the orchestra achieved significant growth, attracting players from throughout the Delaware Valley region and renowned soloists in a wide and varied repertoire. The orchestra at this time also established outreach relationships with Cumberland County College, Rowan University, and the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. It became the orchestra in residence at Stockton’s Performing Arts Center in 1993.
Under Jed Gaylin, the orchestra’s Music Director since 1997, the orchestra has grown to an impressive ensemble with national recognition. The orchestra changed its name in 1998 to the Bay-Atlantic Symphony to reflect this artistic growth and the regionalization of its stature.
The Bay-Atlantic Symphony has been broadcast repeatedly on National Public Radio, including a segment on Weekend Edition 2004—a feature also broadcast by Voice of America in English and translated throughout Europe and the former Soviet Union. It has also received worldwide exposure through a concert broadcast on WWFM’s Celebrating our Musical Community.
Among world-renowned soloists collaborating with the orchestra have been Hilary Hahn, Eugenia Zukerman, the Eroica Trio, Stefan Jackiw, Awagadin Pratt, Shai Wosner, Chee-Yun, and Adam Neiman, among others.
In addition to its continued relationship with Richard Stockton College, the Bay-Atlantic Symphony has been the resident orchestra of the Guaracini Fine and Performing Arts Center at Cumberland County College since 1999, Pfleeger Concert Hall at Rowan University, orchestra-in-residence of the Cape May Music Festival since 2003, and the resident orchestra of Avalon’s “Symphony by the Sea” summer series.
This outreach also includes music education programs and four-county monthly lecture series. It has been further strengthened through active membership in the South Jersey Cultural Alliance, Jersey Arts Communicators, League of American Orchestras, Art Pride New Jersey, Arts and Business Partnership of Southern New Jersey, as well as various local chambers of commerce, and community-based groups.
Gaylin, now entering his 14th season as Music Director of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, is also the Principal Conductor of the Cape May Music Festival. He has been the Music Director of the Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra since 1993 and, since 2007, the Principal Guest Conductor of the National Film and Radio Philharmonic in Beijing, China.
A sought-after guest conductor, Gaylin has led orchestras including the Sibiu Philharmonic of Romania—where he served as Principal Guest Conductor, Shanghai (China) Conservatory Orchestra, Bucharest (Romania) Radio Orchestra, Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona, Spain), Lodz and Pomorska (Poland) Philharmonics, Gnessin Institute Orchestra and Moscow Chamber Symphony (Russia), Orquesta Sinfonica de Guanajuato (Mexico), Orvieto Festival Orchestra (Italy), and the Naples Philharmonic (Florida). He also maintains a close association with Baltimore’s Opera Vivente. A much sought-after guest conductor throughout Europe, he has appeared with such orchestras as the Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, Spain, for repeat engagements, as well as the Bucharest (Romania) Radio Orchestra, Lodz (Poland) Philharmonic, and the Moscow (Russia) Chamber Symphony.
“The PNC Foundation has a long history of providing grants to non-profit organizations that strengthen and enrich the lives of our neighbors,” said Bill Mills, president of PNC for Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. “We understand the valuable return that investing in the arts can deliver. Today more than ever, the businesses we attract, the jobs we create and the visitors who extend their stay are drawn by what South Jersey has to offer.”
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, including the arts and culture. Through its signature cause, Grow Up Great, PNC has created a 10-year, $100 million initiative to enhance early childhood education and school readiness.
For more information on the Bay-Atlantic Symphony’s exciting 2010-11 season, please call the Bay-Atlantic Symphony at (856) 451-1169 or visit the Symphony’s website at www.bayatlanticsymphony.org.
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