Nashville Symphony and Nashville Public Television share gala opening of Schermerhorn Symphony Center with the entire nation

A one-hour special of the Nashville Symphony’s inaugural concert at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, “One Symphony Place: A World Premiere from Music City,” will air on Wednesday, Dec. 20, from 9:00-10:00 p.m. CST on WNPT-8 and PBS stations nationwide, including in the Boston, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia markets. 

“One Symphony Place: A World Premiere from Music City,” will re-air again locally on NPT-Channel 8 on Friday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m. CST.

Shot in high definition by Sunrise Entertainment, “One Symphony Place: A World Premiere from Music City,” is an hour-long national special culled from the two-hour live broadcast originally aired on Nashville Public Television of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center Gala Opening concert on Sept. 9, 2006. The special features Nashville Symphony Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin leading the Nashville Symphony in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Samuel Barber’s Essay No. 2 and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” (4th and 5th movements), with guest soloists Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano, and Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano.

“Our original broadcast of the opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center was a momentous occasion for Nashville Public Television, the Nashville Symphony and all Tennesseans,” said Beth Curley, president and CEO of NPT. “The national premiere of the broadcast brings that historic moment to the rest of the country and once again highlights the cultural riches that Nashville has to offer.”

“Few symphony orchestras receive this kind of television exposure,” said Alan D. Valentine, president and CEO of the Nashville Symphony. “We are honored not only to appear on PBS stations nationwide but also to share the excitement of our Gala Opening concert and the remarkable acoustics of Schermerhorn Symphony Center with the rest of the country, thanks to Nashville Public Television.”

Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.2 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.