Photo of Andre Watts by Steve Sherman, photo of Itzhak Perlman by Strings Exclusive

The AT&T Performing Arts Center is adding to the classical music options available in North Texas by inaugurating a new subscription concert line-up: the Winspear Opera House Recital Series. These are solo performances by three leading virtuosi, Itzhak Perlman, Andre Watts and the lesser-known-in-America-but-a-hot-new-thing-in-Europe Khatia Buniatishvili (born in Georgia, educated in Vienna, a winner in a couple of Rubinstein and Horowitz piano competitions).

Three-show packages run $170-$65 and go on sale to the general public this Sunday. Right now, they’re only available to Center Circle Members, you know who you are.

The full release follows:

The AT&T Performing Arts Center Announces Inaugural

WINSPEAR OPERA HOUSE RECITAL SERIES

ANDRÉ WATTS – Friday, January 31, 2014

KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI – Tuesday, April 8, 2014

ITZHAK PERLMAN – Sunday, May 4, 2014

DALLAS (October 9, 2013) – The AT&T Performing Arts Center continues its tradition of presenting the very best of culture and music to Dallas audiences by announcing today the Center’s inaugural Winspear Opera House Recital Series featuring three acclaimed classical virtuosos.

The series begins on January 31, 2014 with the internationally acclaimed pianist André Watts, continues on April 8, 2014 with the 26-year-old piano phenom Khatia Buniatishvili, and culminates with a rare performance by the iconic violinist Itzhak Perlman performing on May 4, 2014.

All three concerts will be presented in the acoustically superior Winspear Opera House and will feature these artists performing solo, allowing their individual artistry to be enjoyed.

“We are so proud to present these three incredibly talented artists as part of our new series,” said Doug Curtis, President and CEO of the Center. “We think the Winspear Opera House, both visually and acoustically, will provide a stunning environment for classical music fans to enjoy these globally significant musicians.”

Three-show subscription packages are available now exclusively to Center Circle Members. Information is available by calling Membership Services at 214.978.2888.

Subscriptions will be available to the general public beginning Sunday, October 13.

Subscribers to the three-show series receive benefits including discounted ticket price, right to renew their same seats for future season and a discounted parking option.

Subscribers may also purchase pre-show dinner in the Center’s Supper Club, featuring a gourmet buffet prepared by Wolfgang Puck Catering.

Three-show subscription packages range from $175 – $60, plus applicable handling fees, and may be purchased online at www.attpac.org, by telephone at 214.880.0202 or in person at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Information Center at 2353 Flora Street (Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.).

WINSPEAR OPERA HOUSE RECITAL SERIES

ANDRÉ WATTS – 7:30 p.m. – Friday, January 31

André Watts burst upon the music world at the age of 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in their Young People’s Concerts, broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV. Only two weeks later, Bernstein asked him to substitute at the last minute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt’s E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, thus launching his career in storybook fashion. More than 50 years later, André Watts remains one of today’s most celebrated and beloved superstars.

A perennial favorite with orchestras throughout the US, Mr. Watts is also a regular guest at the major summer music festivals including Ravinia, the Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga, Tanglewood, Eastern Music and the Mann Music Center. Recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia and on tour, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the St. Louis, Atlanta, Detroit, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Seattle and National symphonies among others. In celebration of the Liszt anniversary in 2011, Mr. Watts played all-Liszt recitals throughout the US, while recent and upcoming international engagements include concerto and recital appearances in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and Spain.

A much-honored artist who has played before royalty in Europe and heads of government in nations all over the world, André Watts received a 2011 National Medal of Arts, given by the President of the United States to individuals who are deserving of special recognition for their outstanding contributions to the excellent, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States. In June 2006, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl of Fame to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his debut (with the Philadelphia Orchestra) and he is also the recipient of the 1988 Avery Fisher Prize.

KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI – 7:30 p.m. – Tuesday, April 8

Khatia Buniatishvili has given critically acclaimed solo recitals and chamber music concerts at such renowned venues as London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Musikverein in Vienna. In 2008 she made her US concert début at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall), performing Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto. The following year she played Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto with Gidon Kremer at the Musikverein, and toured with him and Kremerata Baltica to Milan (La Scala), Rome, Pavia and Istanbul. Other venues include La Folle Journée, Nantes, the Heidelberger Frühling and the Klavier-Festival Ruhr.

A BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist for 2009-2011, Khatia regularly collaborates with BBC orchestras. In 2010 she received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and has been nominated by Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus as a Rising Star for the 2011/2012 season.

Khatia’s warm, sometimes sorrowful playing may reflect a close proximity to Georgian folk-music, which, she attests, has greatly influenced her musicality. Critics emphasize that her playing has an aura of elegant solitude and even melancholy, which she does not feel to be a negative attribute. “The piano is the blackest instrument,” she says, a “symbol of musical solitude,” which even a pianist must become accustomed to. “I have to be psychologically strong and forget the hall if I want to share it with the audience.”

During her studies at Tbilisi’s State Conservatoire, Khatia won a special prize at the Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists in Kiev in 2003 as well as first prize at the Foundation to Assist Young Georgian Musicians competition set up by Elisabeth Leonskaya. At the 2003 Piano Competition in Tbilisi, she became acquainted with Oleg Maisenberg, who persuaded her to transfer to Vienna’s University of Music and Performing Arts. Winner of the Bronze Medal at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in 2008, she was also distinguished as the Best Performer of a Chopin piece and as Audience Favorite.

Khatia Buniatishvili is fluent in five languages and lives in Paris.

Upcoming engagements will see Khatia Buniatishvili perform with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic with Kent Nagano, and the Orchestre de Paris with Paavo Järvi. Recitals will also take her to Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Tokyo and the Wigmore Hall in London, with further appearances at, amongst other venues, the Verbier Festival, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the MDR Musiksommer.

ITZHAK PERLMAN – 7:30 p.m. – Sunday, May 4

Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music.

Having performed with every major orchestra and at venerable concert halls around the globe, Itzhak Perlman was granted a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003 by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in celebration of his distinguished achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of the United States. He has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012 at the invitation of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama, for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres; and at a State Dinner in 2007, hosted by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush, for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. In 2009, Mr. Perlman was honored to take part in the Inauguration of President Obama, premiering a piece written for the occasion by John Williams alongside cellist Yo-Yo Ma, clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gabriela Montero, for an audience of nearly 40 million television viewers in the United States and millions more throughout the world.

Mr. Perlman has entertained and enlightened millions of TV viewers of all ages on popular shows as diverse as The Late Show with David Letterman, Sesame Street, The Frugal Gourmet, The Tonight Show, and various Grammy Awards telecasts. His PBS appearances have included A Musical Toast and Mozart by the Masters, as well as numerous Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts such as The Juilliard School: Celebrating 100 Years. In 2008, he joined renowned chef Jacques Pépin on Artist’s Table to discuss the relationship between the culinary and musical arts, and lent his voice as the narrator of Visions of Israel for PBS’s acclaimed Visions series. Mr. Perlman hosted the 1994 U.S. broadcast of the Three Tenors, Encore! Live from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. During the 78th Annual Academy Awards in 2006, he performed a live medley from the five film scores nominated in the category of Best Original Score for a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions. One of Mr. Perlman’s proudest achievements is his collaboration with film composer John Williams in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning film Schindler’s List, in which he performed the violin solos. He can also be heard as the violin soloist on the soundtrack of Zhang Yimou’s film Hero (music by Tan Dun) and Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha (music by John Williams).

Numerous publications and institutions have paid tribute to Itzhak Perlman for the unique place he occupies in the artistic and humanitarian fabric of our times. Harvard, Yale, Brandeis, Roosevelt, Yeshiva and Hebrew universities are among the institutions that have awarded him honorary degrees. He was awarded an honorary doctorate and a centennial medal on the occasion of Juilliard’s 100th commencement ceremony in May 2005. President Reagan honored Mr. Perlman with a “Medal of Liberty” in 1986, and in December 2000, President Clinton awarded Mr. Perlman the “National Medal of Arts.” His presence on stage, on camera, and in personal appearances of all kinds speaks eloquently on behalf of the disabled, and his devotion to their cause is an integral part of Mr. Perlman’s life.

For more information on the AT&T Performing Arts Center or to make a donation, visit www.attpac.org.