Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ Baylor PR) - Virtuoso violinist Antonio Pontarelli has become known as an award-winning musician without boundaries and an artist who gets audiences on their feet with his powerful rock performances. On June 20th at 2:00 pm, Antonio will make his Carnegie Hall debut as co-concertmaster and soloist with the World Civic Orchestra. The 19-year-old prodigy will perform his own rendition of
George Gershwin's immortal 'Summertime' and help lead the World Civic Orchestra, overseen by music director
Vincent Koh, through works by Dana Wilson and Samuel Barber with a finale of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 'Choral.'
Pontarelli chose to join the World Civic Orchestra for its Carnegie Hall performance to support the mission of using music as a means to bridge the cultural, social, and political differences, as well as exposing the younger generations to classical music. A gifted rock singer-songwriter as well as a bow-wielding wunderkind, Pontarelli clearly is a musician who connects his classical roots with the pulse of modern day music. He has performed with acts such as Jethro Tull, the San Diego Symphony and David Benoit, and has opened for Earth, Wind & Fire, Seal, Jason Mraz, Brian McKnight, among other artists. He also lit up the Wavefest at the Greek Theatre, and played on the red carpet at the 48th, 49th and 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Pontarelli's playing can also be found on the debut solo album of Serj Tankian, lead singer of Grammy-winning rock band System of a Down.
Pontarelli's incendiary rock music has drawn frequent comparisons to guitar legend, Jimi Hendrix, while his jazz improvisations inevitably recall the expressive solos of Stephane Grappelli. 'His signature shred-like style ... sends a surge of excitement through audiences of all ages,' Yahoo! News declared in a 2007 review; themusicedge.com recounted how the young 'Pontarelli ignited the crowd from the very first note and held them captive until the end, when he articulated licks with the power of a machine gun while on his back.' 'It is his style of music antiquity, blending classical, baroque and jazz influences into modern day rock music that has been magnetic in drawing a younger audience into more traditional concert halls.'
The University of Southern California senior honors student first picked up the violin at age three, and by seven began his career by winning the Music Heritage String Competition and going on to win numerous other music awards. His lengthy list of laurels - as both musician and songwriter - includes being deemed Grand Champion on NBC's 'America's Most Talented Kids' (2005); Outstanding Young Rock Musician honors at the Universal Disney Young Artist Awards (2005); Best Instrumentalist at the
Southern California Music Awards (2006); inclusion among Music Connection's Top 100 Indie Artists (2006-08); Alternative Styles National Winner of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) (2005-08); the International Songwriting Competition's 'People's Voice' Award Winner (2008); multiple wins at the Unisong International Songwriting Competition, including Best Performance (2008) and Best Rock Song (2009), and many more. In 2009 he performed with his band at the world renowned Jakarta International Jazz Festival in Indonesia.
Proceeds from the concert benefit the World Civic Orchestra & Choir's education program and scholarship fund www.worldcivicorchestra.org. Tickets for the program can be purchased by phone 212-247-7800 at Carnegie Hall, NY or by visiting www.carnegiehall.org.
For more artist information, visit www.antoniomusic.com or www.facebook.com/antoniopontarelli.
