“The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra had two minutes to set up in the end zone during halftime of Thursday night’s game between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens” at Heinz Field, writes Elizabeth Bloom in Friday’s (10/2) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Led by guest conductor Jeff Tyzik, “PSO members accompanied a highlights film about [former Steelers player] Jerome Bettis,” who was honored at the game. “The PSO’s live performance was layered over a PSO recording of [Tyzik’s own composition] ‘Whitewater’ and three additional tracks…. ‘This is really a coincidence. I co-wrote the Ravens’ football theme song,’ Mr. Tyzik said…. He also confessed to having conducted members of the Cleveland Orchestra during a Browns game…. The appearance put the symphony … in front of 63,929 fans…. More than 21 million people tuned in to the Sept. 24 game on CBS and NFL Network…. Several Steelers have been known to attend PSO concerts… ‘I invited [Troy] Polamalu to join our horn section once. He looked at me like I was nuts,’ [horn player Zachary Smith] said…. The appearance marked the first time the orchestra had performed at a professional sporting event, although the brass and percussion sections previously have played at Steelers games.”
Posted October 5, 2015
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performs at halftime at Heinz Field Thursday night during a special presentation honoring Jerome Bettis. Photo by Nate Guidry
