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 Music Director Robert Spano, currently in his 10th season as music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, is recognized internationally as one of the most imaginative conductors today. Since 2001 he has invigorated and expanded the Orchestra’s repertoire while elevating the ensemble to new levels of international prominence and acclaim.
The Atlanta School of Composers reflects Mr. Spano’s and the Orchestra’s commitment to nurturing and championing music through multi-year partnerships defining a new generation of American composers, including Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Theofanidis, and Michael Gandolfi. Since the beginning of his tenure (to date), Mr. Spano and the Orchestra have performed over 100 concerts containing contemporary works (composed since 1950), including 15 ASO-commissioned world premieres.
Mr. Spano has a discography with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra of nine recordings, six of which have been honored with GRAMMY® awards. He has led the Orchestra's performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, as well as the Ravinia, Ojai, and Savannah Music Festivals. He has led the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, San Francisco, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestras, as well as Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, BBC Symphony, and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In addition, he has conducted for Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and the 2005 and 2009 Seattle Opera Ring cycles. Mr. Spano was Musical America's 2008 Conductor of the Year. In March 2010, Mr. Spano began a three-year tenure as Emory University’s Distinguished Artist in Residence, in which he spends three weeks each year leading intensive seminars, lecturing and presenting programs on science, math, philosophy, literature and musicology throughout the University’s campus. In its 165-year history, Emory University has honored only seven other individuals with such expansive residencies, including the Dalai Lama, President Jimmy Carter and author Salman Rushdie.
LYRA AND FRIENDS WITH ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR ROBERT SPANO
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
Sunday, March 13, 2011
7:30pm
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 Cellist, Christopher French is the associate principal cellist of the Houston Symphony. Before joining the orchestra in 1986 he held titled positions in both the Shreveport and Honolulu symphonies. Chris is the seventh in a full octave of musical siblings. He enjoys performing with the Bad Boys of Cello, the alter ego of the Houston Symphony cello section. The Bad Boys play in venues as disparate as homeless shelters and elementary schools in an effort to eliminate the classist misconceptions about classical music.
Chris is a graduate of North Park University in Chicago, the recipient of that school's highest honor, the "Performance Award." In addition to two concerto performances with the Houston Symphony, he has appeared on the Chamber Players series, Da Camera of Houston, and the Greenbriar Consortium. He is a regular participant in the "Mainly Mozart Festival" in San Diego and the Grand Teton Music Festival.
Chris teaches orchestral repertoire at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and is also actively involved in teaching cello to younger students. He assists in cello preparation for Houston's High School for Performing and Visual Arts, was a highly regarded featured speaker at the Texas Music Educators Association convention in 2006 with his presentation of "Preparing Young Cellists for a Life in Music", and is frequently sought as a judge for area competitions. Chris is featured in solos on the Houston Symphony's recent recording of Stravinsky's "Divertimento from Le Baiser de la fee", and on a chamber music recording with the HSO principal clarinetist, David Peck and his wife, Edith Orloff.
Chris and his wife, Kari, live in the Historic Houston Heights with their dog, Lars.
LYRA AND FRIENDS WITH ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR ROBERT SPANO
Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
Sunday, March 13, 2011
7:30pm
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 Dona Vellek Klein is Assistant Principal Cello Emeritus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She studied at the New School of Music in Philadelphia, under the tutelage of Orlando Cole of the Curtis String Quartet. Following studies, she won a position with the Buffalo Philharmonic and played in this orchestra for 3 years before coming to Atlanta as Assistant Principal Cello in 1981.
Ms. Klein ran two chamber music groups, Sempre Sonare and the Atlanta Quartet, for a number of years; they frequented Oglethorpe and Emory universities, where Klein was an artist affiliate for 11 years. Ms. Klein has been a guest artist of such chamber groups as the Georgian Chamber Players, the Atlanta Chamber Players, and LYRA. A highlight of Ms. Klein’s career was a summer at the Robert Shaw Institute and other festivals in France. She loves teaching and works frequently with the ASYO cellists.
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"The performance of my Second String Quartet by the Lyra Quartet was precise, vivacious and knowing, and the collaboration was a joy from start to finish. I sincerely hope that I will have more opportunities to work with this terrific group."
-- Dr. Jon Jeffrey Grier, Composer |
"These musicians (of the LYRA String Quartet) are first class all the way!"
-- Dr. Samuel Goldman, Executive Director of Callanwolde Fine Arts Center |
"We have attended many Spivey Hall concerts this year, and I do believe this one was the best - there was so much connection between the musicians and the audience!
-- Audience Member, Spivey Hall Noteworthy Young People’s Concert, 2009 |
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