Westmoreland Symphony welcomes guest artists for upcoming concert

Two guest artists will join the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra for “Music and Magic” at 7:30 p.m. March 16 at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

The concert will open with Manuel de Falla’s “El Amor Brujo,” featuring mezzo soprano Corrie Stallings, a former Pittsburgh Opera resident artist, and the premiere of new choreography by Otis Cook with guest dancers Iffy Roma and David McKay.

Grammy-nominated cellist Amit Peled will perform Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C.

The concert concludes with Schubert’s Symphony No. 3.

WSO Artistic Director Daniel Meyer will conduct.

“When I first had the opportunity to collaborate with Amit Peled in California, I quickly realized that he is an intense, powerful and brilliantly virtuosic cellist,” Meyer said. “He takes each work he plays with total commitment.”

“I am also excited to welcome back mezzo soprano Corrie Stallings, as she will completely inhabit the mysterious and magical world of Falla’s gypsy-tinged ‘El Amor Brujo.’ We are also looking forward to a brand-new, unique collaboration with choreographer/dancer Otis Cook, who is making his WSO debut creating new choreography specifically designed for our performance,” Meyer said. “Combined with the charming, ebullient Symphony No. 3 of Franz Schubert, this concert is designed to captivate the audience.”

Israeli cellist Peled is acclaimed worldwide as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today, according to the WSO. Peled performs on the Pablo Casals 1733 Goffriller cello, which was loaned to him personally by Casals’ widow Marta Casals Istomin.

Peled also is a professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University.

Ticket from $15 to $60 are available at 724-837-1850, westmorelandsymphony.org and at the door. Student rush tickets will be $5 at the door.