Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary will get plenty of commemoration next year, but the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is going to celebrate overseas. Yesterday, it announced its Pittsburgh 250 Ambassador Tour of Europe, a three-week affair starting in January.

		THE PSO'S 250 EUROPEAN AMBASSADOR TOUR Conducted by Fruhbeck de Burgos: Jan. 21, 2008 -- Seville, Spain Jan. 22 -- Murcia, Spain Jan. 23 -- Castellon, Spain Jan. 24 -- Barcelona, Spain Jan. 25 -- El Escorial, Spain Jan. 27 -- Valencia, Spain Conducted by Janowski: Jan. 29 -- Amsterdam, Netherlands Jan. 30 -- Cologne, Germany Jan. 31 -- Wuppertal, Germany Feb. 1 -- Hanover, Germany Feb. 3 -- Vienna, Austria Feb. 4 -- Budapest, Hungary Feb. 5 -- Zagreb, Croatia

"The Pittsburgh Symphony is excited to return to our touring roots, visiting, performing and representing our city in important cultural capitals throughout Europe," said Larry Tamburri, PSO president. The orchestra will be accompanied by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development to promote the Pittsburgh region to international corporations.

The orchestra will perform 13 concerts in six countries, six conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos and the others by the PSO's endowed guest conductor chair Marek Janowski.

Frubeck's leg will be entirely within his native Spain. He will take a program of excerpts from Wagner's operas "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" and "Tristan und Isolde" as well as Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. Concerts will take place in venues such as the Palau de la Musica in Valencia, the Barcelona Auditorium and the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville.

Janowski will conduct programs highlighted by Brahms' Violin Concerto, performed by violinist Leonidas Kavakos; Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, performed by pianist Nikolai Lugansky; and Brahm's Third and Fourth symphonies.

The PSO will perform with Janowski in the prestigious Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, however, of particular interest to the conductor will be his conducting debut in the Stadthalle in Wuppertal, Germany, the town in which he grew up. Two other concerts of note include a return to Vienna, Austria, but to the Konzerthaus, not the Musikverein, and a stop in Pittsburgh's sister city, Zagreb, Croatia.