Emergence
BAINBRIDGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Music Director & Conductor Mario Alejandro Torres
Featuring: Nathan Chan, cello
The Program
ARAM KHACHATURIAN: Gayane's Adagio
EDWARD ELGAR: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 – Nathan Chan, cello
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
The Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra’s opening concerts are set to comfort, welcome, and delight our beloved audience. We open the concert with the soothing and warmhearted Gayane’s Adagio by Aram Khachaturian, from his ballet “Gayane.” The fascinating Nathan Chang then joins the stage to perform Elgar’s captivating Cello Concerto in E minor, one of the most important pieces in the cello literature. The BSO will conclude the concert with Brahms’ most endearing symphony, Symphony No. 2 in D major. After almost twenty years of perfecting and working on his first symphony, the second bloomed effortlessly from the master's mind. On the surface, this work is light in character; digging deeper, we find that Brahms’ second symphony embraces an expansive and nuanced array of emotions.
Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra's four-concert classical series features a star-studded cast of guest performers, masterworks, beloved favorites, original compositions, and special collaborations. Performances continue on February 16 & 17, 2019, April 13 & 14, 2019, and June 8 & 9, 2019.
Mario Alejandro Torres
Mario Alejandro Torres is a conductor, teacher, and performer native to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Currently based in Seattle, Washington, Mr. Torres made his Benaroya Hall conducting debut in collaboration with Maestros Ludovic Morlot and David Alexander Rahbee in an exciting concert with the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra. For the past two years, he has served in a conducting fellowship with the Seattle Symphony, assisting Maestro Morlot in collaboration with artists such as Hilary Hahn and John Luther Adams. As the Music Director of Poulsbo Community Orchestra, he has brought a new and exciting sound to the ensemble. Outside of the United States, he has conducted performances with the Eddy Snijders Orchestra in Paramaribo, Suriname, and in his hometown with the professional Chamber Orchestra of San Pedro Sula, and Victoriano Lopez School of Music Choir.
As an advocate for Education, Mr. Torres serves as Assistant Conductor of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra, where he is a candidate for the doctoral degree in orchestral conducting under the mentorship of David Alexander Rahbee and Seattle Symphony Music Director Ludovic Morlot. His energy and passion to work with young musicians have brought the UW Campus Philharmonia Orchestras to a higher level of artistic performance. He has also held teaching positions at the Victoriano Lopez School of Music in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and Louisiana Academy of Music in Natchitoches, Louisiana. In his work for social inclusion, Mr. Torres has appeared internationally as a guest conductor and clinician for programs such as The National Music School of Suriname in South America and the Académie Musicale Occide Jeanty in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti.
As a violist, he has performed as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of San Pedro Sula, NSULA Symphony and Chamber orchestras, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, and the Monteux School and Music Festival. He has been co-principal violist for Texarkana Symphony Orchestra, South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and Shreveport Summer Music Festival. He has also played with Symphoria, Shreveport, Longview, Rapides, Marshall, and Costa Rica Symphony orchestras. Mr. Torres performed with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, and England.
Mr. Torres holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from Ithaca College under the mentorship of Jeffery Meyer, and a Bachelor and a Master of Music in Viola Performance from Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA). Mr. Torres completed a professional program with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas’ Global Leaders Program, focusing in community leadership, teaching artistry, and social entrepreneurship. Mr. Torres also holds degrees in Computer Information Systems and Business Administration.
His wife Jenny is an active member of the community, supporting and engaging in activities with the Seattle Music Partners Program, and the Special Events department of the Seattle Symphony
Nathan Chan
Cellist Nathan Chan discovered his talent for music at an early age through conducting. Before he was two, he could emulate the styles of conductors he saw on music videos such as Seiji Ozawa, Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, using a chopstick as a baton. As a toddler, his imitations were so intuitively musical that he caught the attention of San Francisco Opera Assistant Conductor Sara Jobin. Under her eye, he made his debut as a conductor at age three, leading the San Jose Chamber Orchestra in a set of Mozart variations, despite not yet being able to read music. This was followed by a guest appearance with the Palo Alto Philharmonic a year later, conducting the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Initially drawn to the sounds of low strings, he began formal music lessons with cellist Irene Sharp at age five. He later studied with Sieun Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Nathan Chan has performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, working with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, James Gaffigan, Alexander Prior, Benjamin Simon, Donato Cabrera, Alasdair Neale, Edwin Outwater, Laura Jackson, and David Allen Miller, among others. He also participated in the Emmy-award winning NPR program From The Top and NPR's Performance Today with Fred Child. In 2009, he was featured in The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies, a three-part British series documenting a global search for talented musicians, in which Nathan and three other performers gave the world premiere of the Velesslavista Quadruple Concerto, composed by Alexander Prior. Nathan Chan has performed benefit concerts for the American Alzheimer's Association and the Friends of Children with Special Needs, among others. For his contributions to the community, he won the Peninsula Arts Council’s Ray Lorenzato Diamond Arts Award in 2007. In 2006, Nathan Chan appeared in The Music in Me, a documentary that aired on HBO and won the Peabody Award. This program led to a performance in Carnegie Hall and caught the attention of the legendary soul singer Roberta Flack, who invited Nathan to collaborate on her project of Beatles songs for Sony Records.
Nathan Chan was named a 2012 Davidson Fellow for his project entitled, "The Importance of Passion” and was awarded a $25,000 scholarship as part of this prestigious honor. While in New York City, he made his debut in Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) playing Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major and with the Juilliard Orchestra performing Strauss' Don Quixote as the winner of the 2013 Juilliard Cello Concerto Competition, led by Maestro Leonard Slatkin. In 2015, Mr. Chan was chosen to participate in Classe d'Excellence du Violoncelle with world-renowned cellist Gautier Capuçon in association with Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France. Nathan won the 2015 Aspen Low Strings Concerto Competition playing Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major and was a recipient of the 2016 Samuel Mayes Memorial Cello Award at Tanglewood.
Nathan is a strong proponent of using technology and media to attract others into the classical world and is committed to his fast growing Internet presence; to date, he has over 6.8 million views on YouTube. He recently joined the Seattle Symphony as their new Third Chair Cello.
Nathan received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics at Columbia University and his Masters of Music with Richard Aaron at The Juilliard School.
“At 23, and with a small frame and Harry Potter-ish glasses, Chan at first looks like a high-school kid who sneaked into the symphony. But once Chan starts to play, he brings a wide, rich tone, and you can hear why he’s one of conductor Ludovic Morlot’s most exciting recent hires.” — Seattle Times
“Nathan is perhaps one of the most inspiring human beings that I’ve come across in the last two decades. It never ceased to amaze me how blessed, generously gifted and humble he is. I can’t wait to do other things with him. He is destined for big success.” — Roberta Flack
“Rather than just hearing how a piece of music begins and end, Chan wants to communicate to audience(s) every step it takes to climb the musical mountain.” — NPR's Performance Today with Fred Child
“Nathan was a joy to watch. This young man obviously loves what he does... he exuded the most passion while performing. Parallels with Yo Yo Ma? You bet!” — JustWatchLah (Singapore)
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Tickets
Adults - $21.00 USD
Discounted - $18.00 USD
Youth 18 and under (free with paying adult) - $0.00 USD
Youth in Music Initiative: Please phone the BPA Box Office at 206.842.8569 to take advantage of this offer for youths, 18 and under.
Performances
November 10 & 11, 2018