Fort Worth Symphony World Premiere

Dvorák's dramatic Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70, the pinnacle of his achievements, completes the event.

The concerts begin at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Learn more about the music by joining composer Puts along with Maestro Harth-Bedoya and Principal Keyboardist Shields-Collins Bray for Symphonic Insights, one hour before each concert in the audience chamber.

Kevin Puts is hailed as one of the most promising young composers in the United States. Known for his distinctive and richly colored musical voice, he has had works commissioned and performed by leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East. The FWSO has commissioned a new violin concerto from Puts, which will be premiered with Concertmaster Michael Shih on April 20.

Puts' recent compositions include the premieres of three orchestral works: a percussion concerto for Orange County's Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, premiered by Evelyn Glennie; a sinfonia concertante for five solo instruments and orchestra for the Minnesota Orchestra; and a cello concerto commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival to be performed by Yo-Yo Ma in honor of David Zinman's 70th birthday. Puts' recent orchestral work River's Rush was performed by the FWSO in 2004.

Chinese-American violinist Michael Shih, in his sixth season as concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, has performed throughout the United States and his native Taiwan, as well as on tours of Canada, France, Germany, Costa Rica, Honduras, Japan, and Korea. A U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, he was a winner in the Naumburg International Violin Competition and Artists International's Auditions, the latter award resulting in his New York recital debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in 1992. He has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Hollywood Bowl, the Little Orchestra Society at Avery Fisher Hall, the Williamsburg Symphonia, New York Youth Symphony, San Pedro Sula Symphony in Honduras, Taipei Symphony at Taiwan's National Concert Hall, and with the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Hartford, Long Beach and New Amsterdam. He has also made a solo appearance at the prestigious Chiehshou Hall Concert at the Office of the President of Taiwan.

An avid performer of chamber music, Shih has collaborated with such artists as Leon Fleisher, Sharon Isbin, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Tree, and Charles Wadsworth. From 1992 to 2002 he was first violinist of the Whitman Quartet, formerly graduate quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School and winner of the Naumburg Chamber Music and Catherine Filene Shouse Debut Artists awards.

His music festival appearances include Aspen, Bard, Chamber Music Northwest, Chautauqua, La Jolla, Lincoln Center, Ravinia, Spoleto USA, and Mostly Mozart. He has also appeared at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music International in Dallas and Van Cliburn Foundation's "Cliburn at the Modern" series with composers John Corigliano and Lowell Liebermann. Shih has been heard frequently on National Public Radio's Performance Today, and has appeared on NBC's Today Show and Japan's NHK Television. He plays a 1710 Antonio Stradivari violin, generously on loan to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra by Mr. and Mrs. William S. Davis of Fort Worth.

These concerts are made possible, in part, by the generous support of American Airlines. Promotional support is provided by the Star-Telegram and WRR Classical 101.1 FM. This program is made possible in part through a partnership of Meet The Composer, Inc. and Mid-America Arts Alliance with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP, and the Virgil Thomson Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, and private contributions to M-AAA.

Tickets are $15-$76. -- www.fwsymphony.org