Lawrence Loh Music Director of Symphoria, was named Music Director of the West Virginia Symphony commencing in the 2017-18 season. Mr. Loh concluded his 12-year tenure as Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic in 2017. Mr. Loh had a decade-plus association with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra where he currently leads annual pops and other select programs.
Mr. Loh's previous positions include: Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Syracuse Opera; Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.
Appreciated for her elegance and effortless ability, Tai Murraycreates a special bond with listeners through her mature phrasing and subtle sweetness. Her programming reveals musical intelligence. Her sound, sophisticated bowing and choice of vibrato remind us of her musical background and influences, principally, Yuval Yaron (a student of Gingold & Heifetz) and Franco Gulli. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2004, Tai Murray was named a BBC New Generation Artist (2008 through 2010).
Murray has been described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as "a violinist with more than technique on her mind" and a musician of "exceptional assurance and style." She has performed as guest soloist on the stages of such halls as the Barbican, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens, and Shanghai's Concert Hall.
A recipient of artist diplomas from Indiana University and The Juilliard School, Ms. Murray's recordings to date include an album of Ysaÿe sonatas (Harmonia Mundi, 2014), 20th Century: The American Scene (eaSonus, 2014), and a recording of Bernstein's Serenade (after Plato's Symposium), which was released in 2014 on the Mirare label.
Tai Murray joined the faculty of the Yale School of Music in 2021. She plays a violin by Tomaso Balestrieri fecit Mantua ca. 1765, on generous loan from a private collection.
Symphoria is one of only two co-op orchestras in the United States, and its musicians are vested in the success of the organization. Their commitment and passion are just a part of what makes it so noteworthy.
The Symphoria Home Page
facebook video of Tai Murray performing Bruch Violin Concerto, III. Allegro energetico.
Program Notes for the Evening's Concert.
This concert was made possible, in part, by a grant from FairGame, an entity providing support to arts and culture organizations for projects in the regions represented by FairGame and determined by the NYS Gaming Commission, and by funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program, a regrant program of New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Auburn Public Theater.
Founded in 1994 by C. Brian Williams, Step Afr¡ka! is the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Under Mr. Williams' leadership, stepping has evolved into one of America's cultural exports, touring more than 60 countries across the globe, and the Company now ranks as one of the top ten African-American dance companies in the United States.
Step Afr¡ka! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation. The blend of technique, agility, and pure energy makes each performance unique and leaves the audience with their hearts pounding.
The Company is featured prominently at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History & Culture with the world's first stepping interactive exhibit. In 2017, Step Afr¡ka! made its Off-Broadway debut with the critically-acclaimed production, The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence, and in 2018 and 2019 traveled internationally to promote cultural dialogue and exchange in Jordan (2018), Ghana (2018). Croatia (2019), Ukraine (2019), Zambia (2019), Angola (2019), and South Africa (2019).
Step Afr¡ka! promotes stepping as an educational tool for young people, focusing on teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding. The Company reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year through a 50-city tour of colleges and theaters and performs globally as Washington, DC's one and only Cultural Ambassador.
Step Afr¡ka! has earned Mayor's Arts Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education, Innovation in the Arts, Excellence in an Artistic Discipline and headlined President Barack Obama's Black History Month Reception at The White House.
The Step Afr¡ka! Home Page
YouTube video of Step Afr¡ka!
YouTube video of Step Afr¡ka! on CBS This Morning.
Program Notes for the Evening's Concert
This concert was made possible, in part, by a grant from FairGame, an entity providing support to arts and culture organizations for projects in the regions represented by FairGame and determined by the NYS Gaming Commission, and by funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program, a regrant program of New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Auburn Public Theater.  |
| Masks and proof of vaccination required. Wednesday, 2 February 2022 at 7:30 pm Froelich Hall in the Gearan Center Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY |
| THE CORE ENSEMBLE Featuring DRACYN BLOUNT as Aaron Douglas, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen MIKAEL DARMANIE, Piano |
A chamber music theatre work for actor and trio (cello, piano, and percussion) celebrating the lives of the great African-American poets, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay, as seen through the eyes of the great muralist painter, Aaron Douglas. The text is by Akin Babatunde. The musical score includes works by jazz giants Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Billy Strayhorn, Thelonius Monk, and Charles Mingus, as well as concert music by Jeffrey Mumford and George Walker. |
| About the Core Ensemble Since 1993, the Core Ensemble has produced and performed new music theatre works based on multicultural, feminist, and humanistic topics. While they are dedicated to national touring and have performed in all fifty of the United States, they have a special relationship with their home community in South Florida. Their goals are to promote intercultural understanding; to explore social justice issues through artistic interpretation; to provide education programs for young people and adults, and to offer emotionally impactful cultural experiences that spark conversation and inspire actions that make a difference in promoting equality for all. Tickets: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, students (K-12 and Hobart and William Smith) free and may be purchased at the door. The Core Ensemble home page. A trailer for "Of Ebony Embers" by Core Ensemble is available here. |
The distinguished American pianist Jon Nakamatsu—known internationally for the panache and elegance of his solo, concerto, and chamber performances—has become a favorite with audiences throughout the world. As a prolific recording artist, Mr. Nakamatsu has set to disc numerous seminal performances on the harmonia mundi label. In his review of Mr. Nakamatsu's recent performance of Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2, Daniel J. Kushner writes in The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: "Nakamatsu evinced brilliant musicianship. His tone and articulation sparkled and shimmered, while his use of dynamics and energy brought out the lifeblood of each and every phrase."
Mr. Nakamatsu has been an active guest soloist with leading orchestras throughout his career; among them the orchestras of Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Rochester, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Berlin, Milan, and Tokyo. He has collaborated with such esteemed conductors as James Conlon, Philippe Entremont, Marek Janowski, Raymond Leppard, Gerard Schwarz, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Michael Tilson Thomas and Osmo Vänskä . His numerous summer engagements have included appearances at the Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Caramoor, Vail, Wolftrap, and Britt festivals. In 1999, Mr. Nakamatsu performed at the White House at the special invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton.
A high school teacher of German with no formal conservatory training, Jon Nakamatsu's electrifying performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto won him the Gold Medal at the 1997 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition amidst a field of experienced competition warriors. Mr. Nakamatsu had studied privately with the late Marina Derryberry from the age of six, and worked with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, son of the great pianist Artur Schnabel. He also studied composition and orchestration with Dr. Leonard Stein of the Schoenberg Institute at the University of Southern California, and pursued extensive studies in chamber music and musicology. Mr. Nakamatsu is a graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in German Studies and a master's degree in Education.
Lawrence Loh Music Director of Symphoria, was named Music Director of the West Virginia Symphony commencing in the 2017-18 season. Mr. Loh concluded his 12-year tenure as Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic in 2017. Mr. Loh had a decade-plus association with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra where he currently leads annual pops and other select programs.
Mr. Loh's previous positions include: Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Syracuse Opera; Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.
Symphoria is one of only two co-op orchestras in the United States, and its musicians are vested in the success of the organization. Their commitment and passion are just a part of what makes them so noteworthy. Symphoria is composed of a diverse group of talented musicians hailing from all across the globe, bringing with them a breadth of musical talent that extends far beyond the Syracuse community.
The Symphoria Home Page
Program Notes for the Evening's Concert.
Pianist Xiayin Wang is an artist of keen musicality and sweeping virtuosity, and was praised by The New York Times for her "estimable grasp of pianistic color and her ability to maintain and illuminate a strand of melody within the thickest of textures." An exclusive Steinway Artist, Ms. Wang has released numerous celebrated recordings and has performed throughout the world, from New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, to music centers in South America, Europe, and Asia. As Musical America put it: "She can be at one moment sensual and the next rhythmically driving...with such assuredness, such delicacy, that one forgets the difficulties inherent in the performance, and is left breathless in musical awe."
Ms. Wang's discography has received international acclaim, with her recent Chandos recording of Tchaikovsky and Scriabin piano concerti being hailed as "terrific" (Gramophone) and "the model of refinement" (The Herald). Her recordings of Alberto Ginastera's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with the BBC Philharmonic and Music Director Juanjo Mena were commended by Gramophone as "jaw-droppingly impressive," and were singled out by The New Yorker's Alex Ross. Ms. Wang's 2018 release of a lesser-known collection of works by Granados on Chandos was praised by the BBC Music Magazine as catching "the spirit of youthful Spanish ardour."
Ms. Wang has performed with the Baltimore, Houston, and Pittsburgh Symphonies, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma. She has appeared in recital in New York at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Vienna at Mozartsaal, as well as in France, Italy, Hungary, Russia, Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, and her native China.
Spanish-American conductor François López-Ferrer came to international attention after a critically acclaimed debut at the 2018 Verbier Festival, where he substituted for Iván Fischer at short notice in a shared program with Sir Simon Rattle and Gébor Takécs-Nagy.
As Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and the May Festival, he conducts the CSO's Young People's Concerts and provides artistic support to the CSO's Music Director, Louis Langrée, and the May Festival's Principal Conductor, Juanjo Mena. López-Ferrer is one of six participants to be featured in the 2022 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He previously served for two years as associate conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile (OSNCH) and Principal Conductor of the Ballet Nacional Chileno, and he was the youngest-ever Conductor-in-Residence of the OSNCH's Summer Concert Series.
López-Ferrer was winner of the inaugural 2015 Neeme Järvi Prize awarded at the Menuhin-Gstaad Festival and received third prize at the 2018 OFUNAM International Conducting Competition. He was previously a member of the prestigious Deutsche Dirigentenforum.
López-Ferrer holds a Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, under the tutelage of professor Aurélien Azan Zielinski, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where his teachers included Joel Hoffman, Miguel Roig-Francoli, and Michael Fiday.
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Home Page
Program Notes for the Evening's Concert.
This series is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Williams Family Foundation, by a grant from FairGame, an entity providing support to arts and culture organizations for projects in the regions represented by FairGame and determined by the NYS Gaming Commission, by funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program, a regrant program of New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Auburn Public Theater, and by the friends of Geneva Concerts.
