Unique concert to explore sights, sounds of the planets

Saturday, February 7, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. ~

COLUMBIA, SC – The S.C. Philharmonic invites patrons to explore the planets – their sights and sounds – with a unique concert experience at the Koger Center, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.
 
In The Planets, sponsored by SCE&G, Music Director Morihiko Nakahara presents the famed, eponymous Gustav Holst classic from 1916, with a twist: two large screens flanking the stage will show high-quality planetary images, timed with the score, to bring a visual element that enhances the concert experience.
 
It’s the S.C. Phil’s first multimedia Masterworks concert, and it helps celebrate the planetarium, observatory, and 4-D theater that opened last summer at the S.C. State Museum. The museum will display antique telescopes at the concert, and weather permitting, allow patrons to observe planets and stars with a striking, high-powered telescope outside the Koger Center.
 
John Williams’ music from Close Encounters of the Third Kindopens the concert and sets the outer-space theme, while Ravel’sLa valse evokes a feel of dancing in the clouds. The stratosphere is broken yet again as the program returns to space for Holst’sThe Planets.
 
Nakahara presents the popular pre-concert lecture seriesClassical Conversations at 6:30 p.m. in the Koger Center auditorium, offering unique insight into the evening’s program free to all ticket-holders.
 
Concert tickets are $53, $45, $35, $27 and $23. They are available online 24-hours a day at KogerCenterForTheArts.com, or from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday by phone at803.251.2222 or at the Koger Center Box Office at Park and Greene streets. Student and military discounts are available. Self-parking is $5 and Southern Valet provides valet parking for $10.
 
Returning for its fifth season, the “Music for a Cause” initiative allows the S.C. Phil to partner with a diverse group of fellow non-profit organizations to raise money and awareness for their causes. The partner for the Feb. 7th concert is Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital.
 

ABOUT PALMETTO HEALTH CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

The first children’s hospital in South Carolina is now the newest! Our state-of-the-art, freestanding hospital combines compassionate medical care with comfortable family-centered spaces, age-appropriate play areas and therapeutic diversions to help reduce stress and encourage healing.
 
Here, you’ll find a skilled team of pediatric professionals all located under one roof and sharing one goal — to provide coordinated, compassionate care to South Carolina’s children and their families. Learn more at http://ch.palmettohealth.org/.