PRESS RELEASE Contact: Sarah O’Halloran For Immediate Release: [email protected] 02/20/2016 www.capitalcitysymphony.org

Go-Go Symphony Featuring Capital City Symphony and Go-Go Symphony 03/04/2016, 8pm

Concert takes place at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE, Washington, DC 20002 Purchase tickets at the Atlas box office, at www.atlasarts.org or 202-399-7993. Direct ticket link: http://www.atlasarts.org/event/go-go-symphony-3/ Tickets price: $25 Press images available here: http://bit.ly/1PohbIa

Capital City Symphony (www.capitalcitysymphony.org) joins forces with Go-Go Symphony (http://gogosymphony.com) to combine the energy and spontaneity of Go-Go with the power and precision of a symphony orchestra. This concert is part of Atlas Performing Arts Center’s INTERSECTIONS festival and marks the fourth occasion that these two D.C. ensembles have pooled their musical resources. Audiences can expect the kind of lively, participatory performance that is a hallmark of Go-Go music with the lush, full sound that only a large ensemble can provide.

What is Go-Go Music? Go-Go is Washington DC's own sub genre of funk, characterized by driving percussion, improvisation, and lively audience participation. A key feature is the swinging "pocket beat" popularized in the 1970's by Chuck Brown, the "Godfather of Go-Go." In some go-go songs the rhythm becomes more straight and aggressive, embodying the younger generation's "bounce" beat.

About Capital City Symphony Capital City Symphony is a community orchestra based at Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street. We strive to make great orchestral music enticing by presenting fun, affordable, inclusive concerts. We present our creative programs in a relaxed atmosphere, while proving performing opportunities for accomplished amateur and professional musicians. Capital City Symphony is led by our artistic director and conductor, Victoria Gau. John Devlin will join us on the podium for our Go-Go Symphony performance.

About Go-Go Symphony (http://gogosymphony.com) The Go-Go Symphony ensemble is led by composer Liza Figueroa Kravinsky and music director Joshua Cruse. The core group performs by itself in smaller venues and sometimes partners with full symphony orchestras for a more dramatic effect.

Biographies

John Devlin is an innovative conductor whose performances are hailed by the Washington Post as “refreshingly unfamiliar” events that deliver “a new audience for classical music,” and that have brought “the sold-out house to its feet, cheering.” This is John’s mission as a conductor—to deliver concerts that frame orchestral music in new and innovative ways. Devlin’s artistic leadership has inspired many forward-thinking concepts such as Gourmet Symphony, Go-Go Symphony, Seamless Symphony, Interactive Symphony and the New Retro Project.

Each reflects Devlin’s mission of making classical music attainable and engaging for all audiences. These projects have earned high praise as performances that “stand out and are exciting, ambitious and, dare we say — funky?”

Currently, John is the Assistant Conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and the cover conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra, assisting Music Director Christoph Eschenbach. Devlin also serves as the Artistic Director and Conductor of Gourmet Symphony and the McLean Youth Orchestra. With these, and other orchestras, Devlin has conducted at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and at the Music Center at Strathmore.

Devlin is also an active conductor of outstanding high school and collegiate ensembles. He recently made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Youth Orchestras of Prince William at the National Orchestra Festival. At the University of Maryland, Devlin conducted the world premiere of La Saulaie, written by Claude Debussy and completed by scholar Robert Orledge. He was also selected to conduct numerous honor ensembles, including the Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Maine All-State Orchestras.

A strong advocate for new music, Devlin has commissioned over 30 new works that span from traditional orchestral works, to collaborations with chefs, rock bands, street dancers and rap artists.

Devlin graduated with both a master’s and a doctoral degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Maryland School of Music, where he studied with James Ross. His undergraduate degree is from Emory University where he graduated summa cum laude with a double major in Music and Latin.

For more information on Devlin, including recordings and upcoming concerts, please visit www.JohnDevlinMusic.com.

Liza Figueroa Kravinsky learned to play piano and violin from her mother, Elnora Teopaco Figueroa. She became a classical and pop composer and went to Oberlin College to study classical music composition. She then played keyboards in Washington DC area bands; eventually touring with Stacy Lattisaw, Pleasure go-go band, and a faction of Trouble Funk go-go band. She also directed, played keyboards, and composed for “Robin Power and the Uptown Dames,” a band that Prince put together.

After the Prince project, Liza composed music for documentaries, commercials, and films; including works aired on the Discovery Channel and PBS. She also became a video producer and documentary filmmaker. Her documentary "Beauty in the Eyes of the Beheld," about the experiences of everyday beautiful women, is now distributed in the educational market.

Liza founded and composes for the Go-Go Symphony ensemble, which partners with larger orchestras to perform her new "symphonic go-go" music.