Three Rivers Arts Festival Highlights Classical Music in Pittsburgh This Weekend

This weekend in Pittsburgh, the Three Rivers Arts Festival will feature some of the city's most distinctive classical music performers. The festivities include a concert from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra this Saturday night at the Dollar Bank Main Stage at Point State Park.

Produced in conjunction with Dollar Bank, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Saturday's performance is being billed by the corporate sponsor as an excellent primer for budding classical music fans: 

"Dollar Bank has always supported the arts, including classical music," says Joseph B. Smith, the bank's senior vice president of marketing. "Saturday night's concert will permit families with children and individuals of all social strata to see this great orchestra for free. What an introduction to classical music."

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performs out of Heinz Hall, located in the city's cultural district. Currently, the PSO is led by Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck, brother to Vienna Philharmonic conductor Rainer Honeck. As detailed on the Three Rivers Arts Festival's website, the orchestra is one of the most renowned in the United States: 

"The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, celebrating 120 years of music in 2016, is credited with a rich history of the world's finest conductors and musicians and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. ... With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900-including 36 international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America -- the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras."

There will be numerous musical events leading up to the orchestra concert that night, including a performance from the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale that day at noon and the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh exhibiting their style of light classical music at 1:00 p.m. on the Stanwix Stage.

The evening orchestral performance will be a "mixed performance" led by guest conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the concert will feature musical pieces by Leonard Bernstein and Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. In addition, musician Steven Hackman will perform his mashup, "Eroica Oratorio," a unique mix of Beethoven music with Coldplay lyrics.

The festival started on June 3 and will run until this Sunday, June 12.

TagsThree Rivers Arts Festival, Classical Music