Antonio Pontarelli Debuts at Carnegie Hall

"Yamaha Artist Antonio Pontarelli debuts at Carnegie Hall on his Yamaha EV-204 Electric Violin"

NEW YORK, NY – June 20, 2010 was a night to remember for Yamaha Violin Artist Antonio Pontarelli, performing for the first time at the world famous Carnegie Hall as Concertmaster of the World Civic Orchestra (WCO). The evening featured Pontarelli as soloist in a newly commissioned work by Dana Wilson titled "We Must Prevail," as well as the George Gershwin classic "Summertime." Playing on both an acoustic violin and his Yamaha EV-204 Electric Violin, Pontarelli brought his unique style to the evening, which was the inaugural concert for the World Civic Orchestra, conducted by WCO Music Director Vincent Koh.

Pontarelli first picked up a violin at the age of three, and by the time he was seven he was already winning competitions. Pontarelli's electrifying performance of his arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" won PAX's "America's Most Talented Kids" competition in November 2004. In February 2005 he returned to "America's Most Talented Kids" for their Tournament of Champions and delivered the performance of the season, crowning him Grand Champion. Later that year he had the honor of receiving the Outstanding Young Rock Musician award at the 2005 Young Artist Awards. Most recently Pontarelli won the Peoples Voice Award at the prestigious International Songwriting Competition.

"It's exciting to watch Antonio reach another high point in his young career," said Ken Dattmore, Orchestral Strings Marketing Manager, Yamaha Corporation of America, Band and Orchestral Division. "Working with performers of this caliber, and creating instruments that meet their demands is a major driving force behind the quality and reliability of our instruments."

The World Civic Orchestra is an ensemble consisting of top professional players and serious amateurs from a wide variety of countries, religions and age groups. One of the main goals of the WCO is to foster understanding and relationships through music, and this inaugural concert was a wonderful first step toward that goal.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com, or visit www.yamaha.com/press.