Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. It is the center of the Columbia metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 829,470 and is the 72nd-largest metropolitan statistical area in the nation. The name Columbia is a poetic term used for the United States, derived from the name of Christopher Columbus, who explored for the Spanish Crown. Columbia is often abbreviated as Cola, leading to its nickname as "Soda City."
Lexington County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 262,391, and the 2019 population estimate was 298,750. Its county seat and largest town is Lexington. The county was chartered in 1785 and was named in commemoration of Lexington, Massachusetts, the site of the Battle of Lexington in the American Revolutionary War. Lexington County is the sixth-largest county in South Carolina by population and is part of the Columbia, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works.
The Midlands region of South Carolina is the middle area of the state. The region's main center is Columbia, the state's capital. The Midlands is so named because it is halfway point between the Upstate and the Lowcountry. The main area code is 803.
Lake Murray is a reservoir in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is approximately 50,000 acres in size, and has roughly 650 mi of shoreline. It was impounded in the late 1920s to provide hydroelectric power to the state of South Carolina. Lake Murray is fed by the Saluda River, which flows from upstate South Carolina near the North Carolina state line. The Saluda Dam was an engineering feat at the time of its construction. The dam, using the native red clay soil and bedrock, was the largest earthen dam in the world when it was completed in 1930. Lake Murray itself is named after the project's chief engineer, William S. Murray. The Saluda Dam is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 220 feet (67 m) high. Lake Murray is 41 miles (66 km) long, and 14 miles (23 km) wide at its widest point. At the time when the lake was finished, it was the world's largest man-made reservoir.
School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties is a South Carolina school district encompassing a land area of approximately 196 square miles, (508 km2) roughly half of which is situated in each of Lexington and Richland Counties. Student enrollment is at 16,717 as of August 2005. The school district consists of the northern portion of Lexington County lying north of Lake Murray and the Saluda River and the northwestern portion of Richland County lying south of the Broad River. The School District is primarily a residential suburb located to the northwest of the city of Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina. Included in the District Five are the towns of Irmo and Chapin. The school district has three attendance areas: Chapin, Dutch Fork, and Irmo. District Five operates a total of 12 elementary schools, four middle schools, five high schools, and one alternative school. The interim Superintendent is Akil Ross, appointed in June 2021 following the sudden resignation of former superintendent Christina Melton at a board meeting on June 14 over conflicts with some school board members. The Chief Instructional Officer is Michael Guliano.
The Saluda River is a principal tributary of the Congaree River, about 200 mi (320 km) long, in northern and western South Carolina in the United States. Via the Congaree River, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Albany Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Albany, New York.
The Charleston Symphony Orchestra aka CSO, is an American orchestra based in Charleston, South Carolina and performs Masterworks and Pops series, Youth Orchestra concerts and more, at the Gaillard Center and dozens of other venues across the Lowcountry. The current roster of full-time, salaried core musicians is 24. The orchestra supplements its core by brining more than 400 professionally auditioned guest musicians to Charleston annually.
Brady Allred is an American conductor of choral and orchestral music who currently serves as the artistic director and conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists, a regional choir organization with five choirs with a total of approximately 350 singers. He is the father of Loren Allred of The Greatest Showman fame.
The North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is an American orchestra based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with sixty-six full-time musicians. The orchestra performs in Meymandi Concert Hall and performs occasionally with the Carolina Ballet and the Opera Company of North Carolina. In 2017–18, the organization celebrated its 85th anniversary season. Concert series are also performed across North Carolina in the cities of, Chapel Hill, Cary, Southern Pines, New Bern, Wilmington, and Fayetteville, among others.
Peng-Peng Gong, formerly known as his stage name Peng Peng, is a Chinese classical composer and pianist born on July 3, 1992. Described by The Washington Post as an artist "with the confidence of a weathered veteran and a welcome unbridled quality to his playing", he has established himself as one of the most gifted young artists of his generation. At 18, he has become an internationally active concert pianist and a six-time American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers National Award-winning composer in consecutive years since 2006. He was among the youngest pianists to be officially signed to the artist roster of the renowned Opus 3 Artists in 2007 at age 14, and the youngest composer to be signed by the [Lauren Keiser Music Publishing] in 2009 at age 16. Since 2005, he concertized and toured intensely in the North America, South America, Europe, and China, appearing in over a hundred solo and orchestral engagements. He was invited twice, on personal request, by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to perform for the United States Congress.
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Fort Worth, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall. In addition to its symphonic and pops concert series, the FWSO also collaborates with the Fort Worth Opera, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Southwestern Seminary Master Chorale. and the Children's Education Program of Bass Performance Hall. The FWSO also presents the Concerts In The Garden summer music festival at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, the Columbia metropolitan statistical area, is an area consisting of six counties in central South Carolina, anchored by the city of Columbia. The current population has an estimation of 837,092. It is the second-largest metropolitan statistical area in the state of South Carolina, since the Anderson metropolitan statistical area was combined with Greenville's following the 2010 census.
The International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians is the junior section of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition, and it is the largest competition for junior performers up to 17 years of age. The competition was established in 1992 on the initiative of the Association of Tchaikovsky Competition Stars and is held in the sections of piano, violin, and cello.
Jacqueline Marie Evancho is an American classical crossover singer who gained wide recognition at an early age. Since 2009, she has issued a platinum-selling EP and eight albums, including three Billboard 200 top 10 debuts. She has also presented three solo PBS concert specials.
Charlie Albright is an American-born classical pianist, composer, and improviser. He is an official Steinway Artist, 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant Recipient, 2010 Gilmore Young Artist (2010) and former Young Concert Artist. He graduated from Harvard College (AB) and the New England Conservatory (MM) as the first classical pianist in the schools' five-year AB/MM Joint Program, was named the Leverett House Artist in Residence for 2011–2012, and was one of the 15 Most Interesting Seniors of the Harvard College Class of 2011. He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music with his post-graduate Artist Diploma (AD) in 2014.
Marina Piccinini is an Italian American virtuoso flautist. She is noted for her performances of compositions by Mozart and Bach, and has performed with many of the world's top orchestras and conductors.
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is an orchestra based in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
