DENTON (UNT), Texas -- UNT's Symphony Orchestra will open the 2012-2013 season with a concert that includes Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, a complex 20th-century masterpiece displaying the orchestra's technical and artistic strengths, at 8 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Murchison Performing Arts Center.

The orchestra also will perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58, with UNT Regents Professor of Piano Adam Wodnicki, and Arturo Marquez's Danzón No. 2. Wodnicki is an internationally renowned pianist, recording artist and pedagogue, and a three-time prizewinner of the annual Chopin Society National Piano Competition in Warsaw and the recipient of three prizes at the Eighth Festival of Polish Pianists.

The technical complexity of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra is reflected in its name, said David Itkin, conductor of the UNT Symphony Orchestra. A concerto typically features a soloist accompanied by an orchestra, but this work has no single soloist. Bartók made the unusual choice to name this work a "concerto for orchestra" rather than a "symphony," reflecting the soloistic material played by each section of the orchestra.

"The piece is a tour de force for the orchestra as a whole, and every single person in the orchestra has challenging material to work through," Itkin said. "The full 38 minutes are so varied and so complex. The piece requires a high level of maturity from our students, who are embracing the challenge and rising to the occasion."

Tickets to the performance can be purchased online or by calling 940-369-7802. Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for senior citizens, non-UNT students, children, UNT faculty/staff/retirees and groups of more than 10; and are free for UNT students.

The UNT Symphony Orchestra was established in 1938, and has performed regularly for more than 70 years.

About the UNT College of Music
The UNT College of Music is one of the largest and most respected comprehensive music schools in the country. About 1,500 music students attend UNT each year, participating in more than 40 widely varied ensembles and pursuing specialized studies in performance, composition, music education or music scholarship. UNT faculty members and students have made appearances on the world's finest stages and have produced numerous recordings, many receiving Grammy awards and nominations. Distinguished UNT alumni can be found around the globe, in top music ensembles, opera companies, universities and schools.