(POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.) – The Hudson Valley Philharmonic opens its 55th season performing works by Beethoven, Mahler and Nino Rota at the Bardavon on Sunday, October 5, 2014, at 3pm. The concert includes a performance of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor.

The program will also include Beethoven’s moving Egmont Overture and a rare performance of Nino Rota’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra in C, featuring Bradley Ward, the HVP’s principal trombonist, as soloist. Ticket-holders are invited to a pre-concert talk with Maestro Randall Craig Fleischer and members of the orchestra one hour before curtain.

Bradley Ward has been principal trombone for the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 1995. He holds the same position with the Ridgfield Symphony Orchestra and the Reading Symphony Orchestra, and also performs with the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County Wisconsin as second trombone. Ward has backed up artists as diverse as Julie Andrews, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Bernadette Peters, Doc Severinson, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Sara McLachlan, Ben Folds, and Louie Bellson, He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Orchestra of St. Lukes, American Symphony Orchestra, Long Island Philharmonic, Royal Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New York City Opera, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia to name a few. In the recording studio he has done work for NFL Films, Nascar, Warner Brothers publications and several commercial jingles.

Randall Craig Fleischer is the dynamic, engaging music director of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and celebrates his 21st season with the HVP this year. He is a leading force in the classical music scene all over the United States. His charismatic personality and contagious love of music ignite orchestral brilliance in every concert he conducts.

Fleischer has an active guest conducting career with many major orchestras in the United States and internationally including repeat engagements with the Israel Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Pops, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Houston Symphony, and others. Additionally, Mr. Fleischer is currently music director of the Anchorage Symphony and Youngstown Symphony Orchestra.

Also a composer, Fleischer is a national leader in symphonic rock and world music fusion. Pioneering these new and growing genres for more than 20 years now, he has worked with artists such as John Densmore (The Doors), Natalie Merchant, Blondie, Ani DiFranco, John Cale (Velvet Underground), Garth Hudson (The Band), and Kenny Rogers. Fleischer’s arrangements and orchestral works have been and are performed around the world.

Tickets for Mahler’s Fifth range in price from $32 to $54. Student Rush tickets will be available one hour prior to the concert for $20. Tickets can be purchased at:

Bardavon Box Office                       UPAC Box Office

35 Market Street                   601 Broadway

Poughkeepsie, NY             Kingston, NY

845.473.2072                                   845.339.6088

or through TicketMaster 800.745.3000.