Van Cliburn medalist to perform with USC Symphony March 20

Italian pianist Benedetto Lupo will perform Nino Rota's Piano Concerto with the USC Symphony March 20.

The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Koger Center. Nicola Guiliani will be guest conductor. Donald Portnoy is music director and conductor of the USC Symphony.

After Lupo received the bronze medal in the 1989 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, he debuted with several American orchestras and performed with the Tokyo String Quartet. He made his New York City debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1992. That same year, he won the Terence Judd International Award, earning his recital debut at London's Wigmore Hall.

Lupo's 2006-07 season includes performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Jacksonville, Tucson, Phoenix, and Augusta symphonies. His European engagements include a tour of Italy with the Verdi Symphony Orchestra.

His recordings include a version of Nino Rota's Concerto Soiree with the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana and a new recording of the same work on Harmonia Mundi, which received the Diapason d'Or from the French magazine Diapason.

Lupo teaches at the Nino Rota Conservatory in Italy, gives master classes around the world, and is on the jury of the Cleveland International Competition and the Gina Bachauer Competition in Salt Lake City, having won second and third prizes, respectively, in the past. He is featured on the Emmy Award-winning documentary Here to Make Music: The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the seven-part series Encore! The Final Round of Performances of the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, both for PBS.

Matt Busse, stage manager for the USC Symphony, will conduct a pre-concert chat at 6:45 p.m. in the Large Rehearsal Room. The chat will include information about pieces, artists, or composers being performed at the concert.

Tickets are $20, general public; $18, USC faculty and staff and senior citizens (age 55 and older); and $8, students.

Tickets are available in advance at the Carolina Coliseum box office or by calling the charge line at 251-2222 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. To order tickets online, go to www.capitoltickets.com. Tickets will be available in the lobby of the Koger Center an hour before the performance starting at 6:30 p.m. in the round ticket kiosk.

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