In November guest conductor Alexander Mickelthwate joins the North Carolina Symphony with a program highlighting one of the great, transformative works in all of music, Beethoven’s magnificent “Eroica” Symphony. The concerts will take place in Meymandi Concert Hall  on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19-20. All performances begin at 8:00 p.m.

Recognized as one of the most exciting young conductors of his generation, Alexander Mickelthwate is currently the music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra following a lauded tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also co-founded the new music ensemble Bent Frequency, hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the brightest ensembles on the scene.”

He takes the stage in the Triangle with a program specifically designed to stretch the North Carolina Symphony to its limits. Strauss’s sweeping emotional masterwork Don Juan paves the way for Bruch’s First Violin Concerto, showcasing the breathtaking skill of Brian Reagin, now in his 22nd season as concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony. The evening concludes with all the passion and majesty of Beethoven’s “Eroica,” a revolutionary composition that is always a profound experience to hear live.

The concert is the first of the season’s three “Orchestra Showcases,” in which the Symphony welcomes world-class guest conductors to the podium for programs that challenge the orchestra and offer audiences an expansive demonstration of sound and virtuosity. Andrea Quinn conducts selections by Wagner, Haydn and Elgar, Jan. 13-15, 2011, and Carlos Miguel Prieto presents Ginastera, Copland and Rachmaninoff, Feb. 10-12, 2011.

Special ticket packages to all three Orchestra Showcases are available. Learn more at the “Explore the Score” page at the Symphony’s Web site: www.ncsymphony.org/explorethescore .

A pre-concert talk will be held with Dr. Tom Koch in the lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall on Nov. 19 and 20 at 7:00 p.m.