FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 30, 2005

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - Metropolitan Classical Ballet artistic directors, Paul Mejia and Alexander Vetrov are pleased to announce that acclaimed Bolshoi pianist, Alexei Melentiev, will appear with the company for the season's Winter Repertory program to be presented at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth on January 16th at 8:00 PM. Mr. Melentiev will play the piano accompaniment for Cross Winds, a ballet by Anatoly Emelianov, set to music by Frederick Chopin.

Alexei Melentiev, born in Russia, began his education at the age of four at one of the most famous music schools for gifted and talented children in the world, the Central Special Music School in Moscow. Upon graduation in 1983, he entered Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and in 1991, he graduated with honors. Since then, he has been working for the Bolshoi Theatre, and has toured worldwide. In his program performances with the Bolshoi, he masterfully executes works by such composers as: Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Sergei Prokofiev and Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky.

Mr. Melentiev has performed as Concert Meister for many renowned artists, such as Maya Plisetskaya and Nina Ananiashvili. In 1996 he was awarded Concert Meister in open Ballet competition in Russia; in 1997 he was awarded Concert Meister in the International Competition of Ballet; and in 2004 he was awarded Concert Meister of Ballet which was presented by the Staff Department of the Bolshoi Theater.

This is the second time Mr. Melentiev has performed with Metropolitan Classical Ballet. He played Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini for the 2005 June production of Paganini.

Choreographer, Anatoly Emelianov, is a principal dancer with Metropolitan Classical Ballet. He graduated from the Perm State Choreography College, and started his career at the Opera and Ballet Theater in Nizhny-Novgorod. He has worked with the Moscow Ballet Festival and the Moscow City Ballet. In 2002, he graduated from the faculty of choreography of the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS). He has danced with Moscow Ballet since its premier U.S. season eleven years ago, and he is the artistic director, chief choreographer and founder of the Crown of Russian Ballet Theater. Cross Winds is Mr. Emelianov's first work to be performed by the company. He will dance one of the principal roles in the ballet.

The unique Winter Repertory program also includes Songs of Mahler by choreographer Tanju Tuzer set to the music of Gustav Mahler and sung by Virginia Dupuy, one of the finest concert and recital singers in the United States, and Album for the Young, a world premiere ballet by Paul Mejia. Mr. Liebermann, one of today's most frequently performed and commissioned composers, will play the piano accompaniment for the ballet set to his composition, Album for the Young.

Tickets range in price from $10 - $30 and are available through the Bass Hall Box Office at (817) 212-4280, toll free at (877) 212-4280, or online at www.basshall.com. Season, group and individual tickets may be purchased by calling Metropolitan Classical Ballet at (817) 275-0598 or (817) 465-4644 and in person at 500 West Abram Street in Arlington, Texas.

Season sponsors include American Airlines, WRR Classical 101, and the law firm of Hill Gilstrap.

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Media Note: Further information and photo of Mr. Melentiev may be obtained by contacting Judy Puder at (817) 465-4644.

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