National Symphony presents concert

Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, home of the world’s longest running live radio program, will abandon its country roots April 25 when it plays host to a music legend of a different kind – the National Symphony Orchestra. Now in its 73rd season, the National Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra of the United States capital and has long been recognized as one of the country’s foremost classical music ensembles. Internationally celebrated conductor Leonard Slatkin, presently in his eighth season as the orchestra’s music director, will conduct.

The Nashville engagement comes at the invitation of the Tennessee Arts Commission and is part of the orchestra’s 2004 American Residency, a program funded by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. Department of Education. The program will be a presentation of The Nashville Symphony in partnership with the Murfreesboro Philharmonic.

“The Nashville Symphony is an American treasure with a rich tradition of both artistic and educational excellence,” said Alan D. Valentine, Nashville Symphony executive director. “Through this residency program, the National Symphony will help The Nashville Symphony and Murfreesboro Philharmonic further its goals of bringing the beauty and wonder of classical music to an ever-growing Middle Tennessee audience.