Milestone birthday

The Reno Chamber Orchestra kicks off its 30th anniversary concert season this weekend featuring new conductor Theodore Kuchar. Kuchar was selected from more than 140 candidates from 10 countries to replace former RCO conductor, Vahe Khochayan, who stepped down earlier this year after 29 seasons with the orchestra. Kuchar was Conductor Laureate of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and the Music Director of the Boulder Philharmonic and Fresno Philharmonic Orchestras. He’s also considered one of the most recorded conductors of his generation with more than 60 CDs to his credit. He will lead the RCO in a program that includes Suite No. 1 from Manuel de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat and Symphony No. 5, “Reformation,” by Felix Mendelssohn. Guest pianist Sergei Babayan will perform Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The concert starts 8 p.m. Sept. 27 at Nightingale Concert Hall inside the Church Fine Arts Complex at the University of Nevada, Reno. Tickets are $30 general, $27 seniors and $10 students. Call 348-9413 or visit www.RenoChamberOrchestra.org.