Press Release
The Point Chamber Orchestra
Inaugural Italian Tour

The recently created Point Chamber Orchestra has just returned from
its inaugural tour in Italy. Its founder and Music Director, Efraín Amaya,
also a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, received an astounding
response from the Italian audiences as well as a wholehearted welcome from the cities that invited and sponsored this new group of vibrant and select musicians.

The guest soloists were the renowned Douglas Ahlstedt (tenor), Cecily Nall (soprano), Alberto Almarza (flutist) and Giulio Tampalini (guitarist), the only soloist from Italy. The ensemble was formed by thirty-seven
musicians from different parts of the world, including twenty-three from
the Pittsburgh area. Together they joined in Mr. Amaya's challenging
and exciting project, which consisted of seven concerts during the
second half of July, in places like the famous opera house of the
Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Auditorium San Nicolò in Chioggia, the Basilica of San Francis of Assisi, the Piazza Duomo in Chiusi, and the well-known Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.

Among the various programs performed were Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, Eduardo Alonso-Crespo's Mephisto, Waltz from the opera Putzi, and Efraín Amaya's Indigo Concerto for flute and orchestra, Angelica, Maroon Dreams for tenor and orchestra and Parasol.

This tour became a reality through the initiative of Barbara Mastella
of Italy, a writer, music lover and patron of the arts. The orchestra also
received local support from the Greensburg American Opera,
which acted as a sponsoring organization, and from numerous private
donors who showed great enthusiasm for Mr. Amaya's
new endeavor. The Point Chamber Orchestra is currently planning
its future presentations and tours.