The Gateway Orchestra Comes to Ridgewood, NJ Featuring Two Performances of Symphonic and Concerto Masterworks with International Competition Winning Violin Soloists

    RIDGEWOOD, NJ, October 01, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Gateway Orchestra, a seventy-piece professional orchestra and member of the League of American Orchestras will perform two concerts at the Ridgewood United Methodist Church, 100 Dayton Street in Ridgewood, NJ as part of its 2015 Tri-State Regional Great Works of Art Up Close and Personal Tour of masterworks. On Sunday, October 4, 7:00 p.m. the program will be the Beethoven Eighth Symphony, the Sibelius Violin Concerto with Szigeti International Violin Competition winner Xiao Wang as violin soloist and two works by Brahms: Tragic Overture and Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn. Sunday, November 8, 7:00 p.m. the program will include the Beethoven Fifth Symphony, the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 with award winning violinist Yezu Elizabeth Woo as soloist and two overtures from Verdi's La forza del destino and Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila. All performances will be conducted by Gateway's Artistic and Music Director Ida Angland, who was featured last year in a front page article by the Greenwich Time entitled "Leading lady conductor makes her mark in field dominated by men."

Tickets: Adult $35; Senior $25; Student $15. Ambassador tickets for $100 and above are tax deductible minus the ticket value and help to bring Great Works of Art performances of masterworks to underserved neighborhoods free of charge. All tickets may be purchased on the website at www.gatewayclassical.org or at the door one hour prior to performances. Contact Gateway for group discounts of 6 or more by emailing [email protected].

Gateway Classical Music Society began in 2004 with Verdi's Aida as the inaugural performance. It is now in its twelfth season. Gateway's objectives are to present exciting performances of music masterworks and to provide opportunities for deserving talent with the goal of fostering appreciation and popularity for classical music. Every performance offered to the public is presented with the Gateway Orchestra, Gateway's seventy-member professional orchestra. Gateway highlights soloists of outstanding talent from all over the world. Gateway's Great Works of Art Up Close and Personal program initiative has been met with enthusiastic audience response and reviews praising the performances, which have been presented to city and suburban neighborhoods in New York City, Southern Connecticut, Westchester and Northern New Jersey.

The Gateway Orchestra comprises outstanding musicians from the Tri-State area. Some players are former members of orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic. Others are young, professional freelance musicians, many of whom perform in the U.S. and abroad with renowned chamber ensembles and various other professional orchestras. The Gateway Orchestra is a member of the League of American Orchestras.

Ida Angland is the Artistic Director for Gateway Classical Music Society and the Conductor of the Gateway Orchestra. Ms Angland is one of only a few American woman conductors who consistently program and conduct large masterworks that are among the most difficult in the repertoire. Prior and concurrent to her involvement with Gateway, Ms Angland assistant-conducted with the New York Grand Opera for seven years for numerous operas and concerts in Central Park and Carnegie Hall. Ms Angland has been characterized as having "inner genius," "flair," "idealism," and "grit." Gateway's Great Works of Art performances have been described as "fantastic," "thrilling," "compelling," "a revelation," "unforgettable," and "amazing." (Brooklyn Eagle, Italian Voice, Greenwich Time, Stamford Advocate, Italian Citizen and other regional publications).

# # #