The Fort Collins Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Wes Kenney, will feature New York Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Joseph Alessi on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. Marvels of Virtuosity, the second concert in the “From the Lincoln Center (New York) to the Lincoln Center (Fort Collins)” series, will showcase one of today’s finest players of the trombone as Alessi performs Christopher Rouse’s Pulitzer Prize winning Trombone Concerto.

In 1992, Joseph Alessi premiered the Trombone Concerto with the New York Philharmonic. The piece, commissioned on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Philharmonic for Alessi, is dedicated to the memory of Leonard Bernstein. In addition to his appointment as Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic in 1985, Alessi is on the faculty of the Juilliard School. An active soloist, recitalist, and chamber music performer, Alessi has been a guest artist for the New Japan Philharmonic, Mannheim National Theater Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, and the Colorado, Alabama, Santa Barbara, Syracuse, and Puerto Rico symphony orchestras, to name a few. His discography includes many releases, including the recording of George Crumb’s Starchild, featuring Alessi as soloist, which won a Grammy Award in 1999-2000.

The Fort Collins Symphony will also perform Three Dances from Fancy Free as a tribute to Leonard Bernstein. The evening concludes with Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, a piece filled with warmth and homage to old musical forms.

Tickets for the concert may be purchased by calling the Lincoln Center at 970.221.6730 or by visiting www.fcsymphony.org. The Fort Collins Symphony’s Season sponsor is Banner Health, the Masterworks Concerts sponsor is the City of Fort Collins Fort Fund, and the B Sharp program is supported by Kaiser Permanente. Marvels of Virtuosity is sponsored by EKS&H and Myra Monfort.