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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performs Sunday in Athens
ASORobert Spano
Robert Spano will conduct T he Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24 in the UGA Performing Arts Center’s Hodgson Concert Hall in Athens.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24 in the UGA Performing Arts Center’s Hodgson Concert Hall in Athens.

Music director Robert Spano will conduct a program that includes Verdi’s “Overture to La Forza del Destino” and Brahms’s Symphony No. 2. Guest pianist Ollie Mustonen will join the orchestra for a performance of Respighi’s Concerto in modo misolidio.

Spano is in his 12th season as ASO music director. He is recognized internationally as one of the most imaginative conductors. In 2008, he was named Conductor of the Year by Musical America.

Spano has produced 19 recordings with the symphony, six of them earning Grammy Awards. In 2010, he began a three-year tenure as Emory University’s Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, an honor bestowed on only seven other people.

A native of Helsinki, Finland, Mustonen is a well-respected conductor and composer. He founded the Helsinki Festival Orchestra and is the artist in residence at the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. As a pianist, he boasts an extensive, award-winning discography. His release of “Preludes by Shostakovich and Alkan” received the Edison Award and Gramophone Award for Best Instrumental Recording.

Tickets for are $20 to $59 with special discounts for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the box office at 706-542-4400 or toll free at 888-289-8497.

Nancy Riley, a graduate teaching assistant in music at UGA, will give a lecture 45 minutes before the concert. The lecture is free and open to the public.