DENMARK, S.C. - The University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra will perform in Denmark on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Phoenix Specialty Mfg. Co., Home Federal Savings and Loan, Enterprise Bank of South Carolina, South Carolina Bank & Trust and Tobul Accumulator will present the USC Symphony Orchestra and Marc Rattray, bass-baritone, in a special concert to benefit the Foundation of Bamberg County Hospital and Nursing Center.

The concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23 at the Leonard E. Dawson Human Resource Center at Voorhees College in Denmark. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for students and are available at the Bamberg County Hospital Business Office on McGee Street in Bamberg across from Kilgus Publishing and at the door on the night of the concert.

The orchestra, conducted by Dr. Donald Portnoy, will perform: "Capriccio Espagnol" by N. Rimsky-Korsakoff, "Carmen Suite No. 1" by G. Bizet; "The Sound of Music" by Rodgers and Hammerstein; "Symphony No. 2 Finale" by P.I. Tchaikovsky; selections from "Porgy and Bess" by G. Gershwin and "Stars and Stripes" by J.P. Sousa.

Bass-baritone Marc Rattray will join the orchestra with "Se Vuol Ballare" from "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Madomina il Catalogo" from "Don Giovanni," both by W. A. Mozart; "This Nearly Was Mine" from "South Pacific" by Rodgers & Hammerstein and "Old Man River" from "Show Boat" by J. Kern.

Portnoy is universally recognized as one of America's dynamic and inspiring symphony orchestra conductors. He holds the Ira McKissick Koger Endowed Chair for the Fine Arts at USC. He is also founder and director of the Conductors Institute of South Carolina. As a violinist, Portnoy performs regularly with the ensemble he founded, the American Arts Trio. He also teaches conducting and violin in the School of Music at the University of South Carolina. He is in his 15th year as music director and conductor of the Augusta, Ga., Symphony Orchestra.

A graduate of the Juilliard School, Portnoy received his M.A. from Catholic University of America and his D.M.A. from Peabody Conservatory.

Equally at home on the opera stage and in the concert hall, Rattray has enjoyed much success as guest soloist with organizations such as the Newberry Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Symphony Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, Cartersville Opera, Augusta Symphony, Opera at USC, USC Aiken, Bob Jones University, Palmetto Mastersingers, Lexington County Choral Society and Atlantic Coast Orchestra.

Rattray was a world finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition in 1995, and he has twice represented South Carolina as a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Rattray was awarded Apprentice Artist of the Season at the Chautauqua Opera in 1997 and received the prestigious Shoshana Foundation Career Grant. He is the director of music at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.

The USC Symphony Orchestra was founded 70 years ago, when Madame de Horvath brought her orchestra of 50 musicians to the University of South Carolina. Since then, the orchestra has doubled in size, and the standards she established continue to rise from year to year.

For more information about the Oct. 23 concert, contact Kathy Rhoad at 803-245-2071.

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