MODESTO - Music Director David Lockington and the Modesto Symphony Orchestra open their 81st season on Oct. 7-8 at 8 p.m.at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto.

They will perform a program of classical favorites featuring acclaimed pianist Andrew von Oeyen performing Greig’s Piano Concerto in A minor.  The program also features Strauss’ Don Juan and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.  Opening the concert will be the west coast premiere of Lockington’s own composition, Ceremonial Fantasy Fanfare.

 Tickets start at $15 and are available through the Gallo Center for the Arts Box Office at (209) 338-2100 Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are also available on-line at www.modestosymphony.org

 Andrew von Oeyen has already established himself as one of the most captivating pianists of his generation. Since his debut at age 16 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen,  von Oeyen has performed to critical acclaim in recital and orchestral appearances around the world.

Commanding an extensive and diverse repertoire, von Oeyen has performed the major concertos of the keyboard literature -- Bartok, Barber, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Gershwin, Grieg, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Schumann, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky -- with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Slovenian Philharmonic and Slovak Philharmonic. As both soloist and conductor he has led concerti and orchestral works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel and Kurt Weill at Spoleto Festival USA. On July 4, 2009, von Oeyen performed at the U.S. Capitol with the National Symphony in “A Capitol Fourth,” reaching millions worldwide in the multi-award-winning PBS live telecast.