Internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter and multi-award winner Ian Tyson is celebrating 5 decades of performance in 2011 with a full schedule of concerts planned from coast to coast in both Canada and the United States. Throughout 2008, Tyson shot a TV Music/Documentary Special for Canada’s Bravo Chanel which aired in January 2010 and, along with additional live footage, a second TV special was also produced for the CBC Network. These shows are now available in a double DVD package titled “Ian Tyson, This Is My Sky”. In December 2010, Ian’s memoir for Random House of Canada – “The Long Trail” – became an instant Best Seller. 

Robert Bernhardt served as Music Director and Conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera for 19 seasons. He was the second Music Director in the combined company’s history, and is now the first with the title Emeritus. A lover of all genres of music, he is equally at home in symphonic, operatic, pops, and educational performances.  He also nears another milestone in his career with the Louisville Orchestra, with this year representing his 30th consecutive season with the LO, and his 15th as Principal Pops Conductor. 2010-2011 saw Mr. Bernhardt make his conducting debuts with the Houston Symphony and Cincinnati Pops, and returning twice to the Boston Pops. His vast symphonic repertoire covers most of the standard canon and his commitment to the music of our time is significant. He has been a frequent guest conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Boston Pops. He has also been a guest with the Seattle Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Iceland Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, and others. He has recorded for Vanguard, First Edition, Carlton Classics, and RPO record labels. He has also conducted the Louisville Ballet, the North Carolina Ballet, the Jacksonville Ballet, and the Lonestar Ballet.