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EDMOND—The Armstrong International Cultural Foundation will celebrate its 13th season of performing arts excellence when the doors of its new $20 million Armstrong Auditorium open September 5 in Edmond. Immediately following grand opening ceremonies the Armstrong College Choral Union and full professional orchestra will inaugurate the concert hall with an encore presentation of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.”

The inaugural season, which runs from September to April, continues with the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the sensational 5 Browns, pianist André Watts, the Russian National Ballet Theater performing “Swan Lake,” the Vienna Boys Choir, the National Philharmonic of Poland, the Anderson-Roe Concert Piano Duo and, finally, the Grammy-nominated Eroica Trio.

Season tickets go on sale July 5 and include all 10 events in the 2010-2011 season. Prices range from $178 to $403 and offer a 15 percent savings off regular tickets prices. New this year to Armstrong’s lineup are a group of series subscription packages, offering patrons 10 percent savings on the events in the Choral, Dance, String and Piano series.

“Armstrong Auditorium is a concert-goers dream,” said operations manager Ryan Malone. “The caliber of performers in our series will now be matched by this magnificent venue. There isn’t a bad seat in the house.”

The palatial 823-seat auditorium is adorned with more than a dozen Swarovski®-trimmed chandeliers, seven-foot Baccarat® crystal candelabra commissioned by the Shah of Iran, American cherry wood veneers, Spanish marble and Persian onyx.

Gracing the entrance is the soaring Swans in Flight sculpture, created by famed English sculptor, Sir David Wynne. The bronze masterpiece depicts the five stages of a swan taking flight. Each bird weighs three-quarters of a ton, and has a wingspan from 13-15 feet. The sculpture sits amid a 40,000 gallon reflecting pool; six water jets cascade over the swans, giving the appearance of motion in flight.

Two Steinway concert-grand pianos were hand-selected and imported from Hamburg, Germany.

Armstrong Auditorium was designed by the Oklahoma City-based firm Rees Associates, Inc., which was also responsible for designing the Rose State Performing Arts Center in Midwest City.

The eight-story concert hall sits near the intersection of Bryant and Waterloo Road, just one-and-a-half miles east of Oak Tree National.

For tickets visit ArmstrongAuditorium.org or call (405) 285-1010.