Virtuoso teenage violinist dazzles with Philharmonic

Sixteen-year-old violin phenom Shannon Lee will solo with the Las Vegas Philharmonic at its April 4 Masterworks concert in Artemus Ham Hall at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway.

"I heard (Lee's) CD and was knocked out," said David Itkin, music director of the Philharmonic, explaining why he asked her to be a soloist.

Lee and the orchestra will perform Paganini's First Violin Concerto, Op. 6.

"Shannon played a Las Vegas Philharmonic soiree (recital) last season, and the audience went crazy for her," Itkin added. "The Paganini First Concerto is probably the most technically complex work in our standard repertoire of violin concertos. It fits Shannon's astonishing technical gifts so perfectly."

The 8 p.m. concert also will include the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony in D Minor and Mozart's overture to "Don Giovanni."

Tickets are available online at www.lvphil.com or by phoning the UNLV box office at 895-2787. Regular prices are: $25, $35, $50 and $75. There are discounts for seniors, military and students 18 and younger. Student rush tickets are available one hour prior to performance at 50 percent off the regular prices.