The UNLV Performing Arts Center is proud to present the Budapest Festival Orchestra featuring violinist Renaud Capucon at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11 as part of the Charles Vanda Master Series. Called "one of the world's greatest" by London's The Guardian , the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Maestro Ivan Fischer performs Wagner, Mendelssohn, and Mahler.

Formed in 1983, the Budapest Festival Orchestra is a vital part of Budapest's music life and a frequent guest on the world's stages: Salzburg Festival, Lucerne and Montreux Festivals, New York's Carnegie Hall, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, London's Barbican Center, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, plus the concert halls of Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal, Hong-Kong, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Rome, Madrid, Athens, Copenhagen, Prague and Brussels.

Renaud Capucon was born in Chambery in 1976 and began studying at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris at the age of 14. In 1992, he was awarded First Prize for Chamber Music and First Prize for violin the following year. In 1995, he won the prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts and went on to study with Thomas Brandis and later, Isaac Stern.

Capucon plays a 1721 Stradivarius that belonged to Fritz Kreisler.

Tickets to the Budapest Festival Orchestra are $45, $60, and $90 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 895-ARTS (2787) or by visiting pac.unlv.edu. Student rush tickets are $12.50 each and available one hour prior to each event, based on availability and with valid student I.D. UNLV faculty and staff discounts also are available. A $.50 facilities fee, in addition to the ticket price, is charged on all Performing Arts Center tickets. The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Information about all of the season's performances can be found on the Performing Arts Center website, located at pac.unlv.edu.

Founded in 1976, the Performing Arts Center at UNLV continues to be Southern Nevada's premier performing arts venue. Located on the north end of the UNLV campus, the PAC hosts a variety of performances each year in two distinct series - the Charles Vanda Master Series and New York Stage & Beyond. The Performing Arts Center is proud to present its 2005-2006 30 th Anniversary Season, "Our Greatest Performances." UNLV and KLVX Channel 10 are graciously sponsoring the season.