Joshua Bell and PSO come to Lincoln Park Arts Center

An Evening with Leonard Slatkin and Joshua Bell Tonight, 8 p.m. Lincoln Park Performing… An Evening with Leonard Slatkin and Joshua Bell Tonight, 8 p.m. Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center Tickets $12 for students, $17 for faculty and staff through Pitt Arts 412-392-4900

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra starts 2008 with a power punch by bringing in the heavyweight equivalent of classical violinists.

Joshua Bell is set to perform tonight with guest conductor Leonard Slatkin and the PSO at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Since making his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985 with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Bell has performed all over the world with many of the top orchestras. Bell plays with a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin, the Gibson ex Huberman, and will be performing the solo to “The Red Violin” Concerto as a part of the performance tonight.

The concerto is composed of music written by John Corigliano, PSO’s composer of the year, for the film “The Red Violin.” Corigliano won an Oscar for Best Film Score in 2000 for his work on the film.

The performance will also feature Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a piece written for Mussorgsky’s good friend Victor Hartmann, who died at the age of 39. Barber’s Essay No. 2 will also be performed..

For those who can’t make tonight’s event, Bell will continue to perform with the PSO through the weekend. To purchase tickets for the event, contact the Heinz Hall box office at 412-392-4900, or visit www.pittsburghsymphony.org. Discounted tickets are available for Pitt students, faculty and staff through Pitt Arts.