The National Repertory Orchestra has an exciting 2010 season planned! Here are upcoming highlights:
Mark Russell Smith
A champion of the music of our time, Mark Russell Smith, will be the National Repertory Orchestra’s special guest conductor on Sunday, July 25 at 2:00 PM the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center.
Whether conducting contemporary masterpieces or bringing fresh insights to the symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven or Brahms, Mark Russell Smith demonstrates consummate musicianship and enthusiastic commitment to the art of music-making – qualities that have endeared him to audiences and musicians alike. In June of 2007, Smith was appointed Director of New Music Projects of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Minnesota, a combined post that enables him to bring his commitment for excellence and passion for education to new audiences. In March of 2008, he was named Music Director and Conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, effective September, 2008. As Music Director of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, a
position he held from 1999 to 2009, Smith was praised for his innovative and approachable programming and is widely credited with fostering the orchestra’s unprecedented artistic growth.
As a guest conductor, Smith enjoys a burgeoning international reputation that has already brought him engagements and re-engagements with prestigious American orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. With the Minnesota Orchestra, he made his critically-acclaimed Sommerfest debut in 2006 and made his subscription series debut in March of 2009. In November 2007, he returned to his alma mater to lead the Symphony Orchestra of The Curtis Institute of Music in Verizon Hall. Smith’s debut at the Nomus Music Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia was met with critical and audience acclaim and led to immediate reengagement.
Smith grew up in a musical family in Phoenix, Arizona where he began the serious study of conducting while still in his teens. He is a graduate in cello performance of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Claus Adam, and of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied conducting with Max Rudolf and Otto-Werner Mueller. While at Curtis, Smith was first prize winner in the National Repertory Orchestra Conductors Competition, and upon graduation, was named Assistant Conductor of the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Singers.
Stacey (Miller) Rose
Stacy (Miller) Rose will be performing with the National Repertory Orchestra at the Gates Concert Hall, University of Denver on Saturday July 31st.
Captivating audiences across the world with her unique combination of virtuosity, beauty of tone, and musical sincerity, Stacey Rose projects true magnetism on today’s music stage. Cheered in solo recital, as a soloist with orchestra, and as a chamber music collaborator, her graceful musicianship has been shared in over ten countries. As a composer, she has received enthusiastic response to her performances of original works. She has represented Steinway pianos as a Steinway Artist since 1992.
In recent concert seasons, Ms. Rose performed as soloist with orchestras in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Korea, South America, Russia, and the Republic of Georgia, often premiering new repertoire in these countries. She has been a featured soloist with many ensembles in the U.S. including The Rochester Symphony, The Syracuse Symphony, The Colorado Symphony, The Denver Chamber Orchestra,
After 9/11, Ms. Rose established a fund with the United Way of America, performing recitals throughout the country entitled, “For the Children Concerts” each of which benefited families of the tragedy. She recently played a recital for an international fund-raising event in Denver honoring former President Clinton. Some of her numerous solo and chamber concerts in the tri-state area have included 2 sold-out recitals at Weill Recital Hall, the Woodland Concert Series (Hartford, CT), Whitney Center’s Gala Concert Series, Gracie Mansion (performances for the last 4 New York mayors), and two significant fundraising recitals to benefit the New Haven Symphony. She has performed on television and particularly enjoys giving radio and public “informances,”
in which she talks about piano works and their composers. An artist whose interpretive talent ranges from Gershwin, Cole Porter, and virtuosic Broadway arrangements, to Bach, Chopin, and Ravel, she has performed extensively for audiences in the tri-state area including solo recitals for several New York senators, governors, and mayors. She has played in chamber recital with renowned instrumentalists and members of top U.S. orchestral ensembles.
Kristjan Järvi
Kristjan Järvi will be the National Repertory Orchestra’s special guest conductor on Wednesday, August 4th at 7:30 PM the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center.
Estonian-born and American-raised, conductor Kristjan Järvi is a unique musical personality pushing classical music borders with fresh ideas, charisma and technical prowess. Hailed by the New York Times as “a kinetic force on the podium, like Leonard Bernstein reborn,” Järvi has combined his classical roots and affinity for traditional repertoire with an infectious enthusiasm for creating original programs; propelling classical concert halls around the globe into the 21st century.
Kristjan Järvi’s name has become synonymous with artistic and cultural diversity, embodied in his roles as Artistic Advisor to the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Founder and Music Director of New York’s Absolute Ensemble. His imaginative programming has been embraced by leaders of classical, jazz and world music spheres alike. Järvi’s authentic commitment to all genres is reflected in his collaborations with Arvo Pärt, Tan Dun, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, H.K Gruber, Renee Fleming, Joe Zawinul, Benny Andersson, Goran Bregovic, Paquito d’Rivera, Eitetsu Hayashi and Marcel Khalife.
Kristjan Järvi has actively sought the commission of over 100 new works. Premieres in the 2009-10 Season include works by: Indian composer Nitin Sawhney with the London Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Schnyder with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, James MacMillan with the London Symphony Orchestra and Tim Garland with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Järvi will also record Arvo Pärt’s newly commissioned Stabat Mater with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.
