Recently returned from the tour that took him to five China cities, next November, 24 Pacho Flores begins a new tour in Israel with the Israel NK Orchestra under the baton of its Chief Conductor, Christian Lindberg, that will take him to the cities of Givat Brenner, Ein Hahoresh, Jordan Valley, Tel Aviv, Netanya, Neharya and Mizra, where finish on December, 2. The program, titled “Breathtaking Virtuosity”, includes the Concert for two trumpets by Vivaldi, that Pacho shares with the orchestra soloist Guy Sarig, and Akban Bunka by the own Lindberg.
But the cooperation between these two artists has a larger scope: Lindberg will conduct Pacho and the Arctic Philharmonic in the third recording of Pacho for Deutsche Grammophon. The recording will take place at the Stormen Konserthus, Norway, between April the 30 and May the 4, 2018. In November 2018 the same artists and orchestra will make a European Tour; and in 2019 Pacho will perform the absolute premiere of the new trumpet concerto that Lindberg is composing for him, with a Spanish orchestra and under own Lindberg conducting. Actually Lindberg tells that Pacho is the new star on the sky of brass.
Pacho Flores, commissions and premieres
Between the most relevant commitments of Pacho for the near future, it stands out the shared commissions of new trumpet concertos dedicated to him to premier all around the world along the next seasons. First of all, Arturo Marquez’s, will be premiered between September 2018 and August 2019 in Mexico, USA, Japan and Spain. Next are Roberto Sierra and Paquito D’Rivera whose premieres will take place between 2018 and 2020. All of the three new concertos will be recorded together with Efraín Oscher‘s Mestizo, a concert premiered in 2010 by Pacho and performed more than two dozens of times since then.
In the while Pacho will also premiere a work by himself, Cantos y Revueltas, inspired on work songs and traditional Venezuelan music, with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia under Manuel Hernández-Silva‘s baton the bext 11, 12 and 13 of January, 2018 in Santiago, Vigo and A Coruña; and a new concerto by Giancarlo Castro with the Ulster Orchestra and Rafael Payare on the 23 of Febrero, 2018.
ACM Concerts is proud to announce that Venezuelan conductor Christian Vásquez joins our roster in exclusive representation for Spain and Portugal. Despite his youth, Christian is Chief Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, in Norway; and Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest, in Arnhem, Holland. In addition he is also Chief Conductor in the Orquesta Sinfónica Teresa Carreño in Venezuela; and he was also Principal Guest Conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra between 2010 and 2013.
Christian Vásquez, conductor
Christian Vásquez became Chief Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the 2013/14 season, inaugurating the start of an initial four-year term with Mahler Symphony No. 2 in the orchestra’s new hall in August 2013. The 2015/16 season saw him become the Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest, starting his tenure with a tour of the Netherlands featuring an all-Latin programme. He is also Music Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, notably leading them on a tour of Europe which saw them perform in London, Lisbon, Toulouse, Munich, Stockholm and Istanbul.
Christian Vásquez by Wolf Marloh
Following his debut with the Gävle Symfoniorkester in October 2009, one of his first appearances in Europe, Christian was appointed Principal Guest Conductor (2010-2013). He has worked with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Vienna Radio Symphony, Camerata Salzburg, State Symphony of Russia, Tokyo Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony. In North America, he has conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) and Los Angeles Philharmonic, the latter during his participation in their Young Artist Fellowship programme.
Christian’s 2013/14 season included projects with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Galicia Symphony, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Prague Radio Symphony, Warsaw Beethoven Festival and Turku Philharmonic. 2014/15 saw Christian’s first opera engagement in Europe at the Norwegian Opera for Carmen as well as returns to the Arnhem Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, and Turku Philharmonic. Highlights of the 2015/16 season included projects with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Prague Radio Symphony, and Poznan Philharmonic. Last season, Christian made his debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Pinchas Zukerman. He also reunited with the Turku Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic and collaborated with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. The summer also saw Christian make his debut with the Norwegian National Youth Orchestra on a European tour.
In addition to his regular commitments in Stavanger and Arnhem, 2017/18 sees Christian return to the Danish National Opera for New Year’s concerts with the Royal Danish Orchestra. He will also make his debut with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Further orchestral highlights include collaborations with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and a European tour with the Het Gelders Orkest.
ACM Concerts is proud to announce that the conductor from Hong Kong, Perry So, joins our roster in exclusive representation for Spain and Portugal. First and Special Prizes in the Prokofiev International Conducting Competition in St. Petersburg and first Dudamel Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, So comes from an amazing Opening Concert with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife and trumpet player Pacho Flores.
In the 2017-18 Season, conductor Perry So returns to the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias as the orchestra’s Artistic Partner. He makes his European operatic debut at the Royal Danish Opera in Die Zauberflöte, opens the season at the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, and debuts with the Szczecin Philharmonic and the Nürnberger Symphoniker, which he will lead on tour to Milan. Other highlights include a return to the Vancouver Symphony, and a four-program festival with the Cape Town Philharmonic.
Recent debuts include the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras, Houston, Detroit, New Jersey, Israel and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras, the China Philharmonic, and the Residentie Orkest in the Hague. He has been a frequent guest both at Walt Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl following his stint as an inaugural Dudamel Conducting Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He led the Hong Kong Philharmonic with Lang Lang in an internationally televised celebration of the 15th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China at the close of his four years as Assistant, then Associate Conductor. He toured the Balkan Peninsula with the Zagreb Philharmonic in the first series of cultural exchanges established after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Perry So received the First and Special Prizes at the Fifth International Prokofiev Conducting Competition in St Petersburg. His recording of Barber and Korngold’s Violin Concertos with violinist Alexander Gilman and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded the Diapason d’Or in January 2012. He has recorded extensively with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
He is known for his wide-ranging programming, including numerous world premieres on four continents and works from the Renaissance and the Baroque. He has conducted productions of Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Turn of the Screw, Giulio Cesare, Gianni Schicchi, and Die Fledermaus. His commitment to working with young musicians has taken him to the Australian Youth Orchestra, the Round Top Festival, the Manhattan School of Music, the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, and the Yale School of Music. He has assisted Edo de Waart, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel and John Adams. Born in Hong Kong, Perry So holds a degree in Comparative Literature from Yale University.
Hernández-Silva will conduct the Spanish National Orchestra next Saturday, October, the 14th, in the opening concert of Auditorio de Alicante’s Symphonic Season, that will host other conductors such Valery Gergiev or Fabio Luisi, and orchestras like Philharmonia Zürich and Mariinski Theatre Orchestra. Program: Gershwin’s Cuban overture, Philip Glass’ Concerto Fantasy for two timpanists, with soloists Xavier Eguillor and Julien Bourgeois; and Shostakovich’s 12th Symphony.
Hernández-Silva
Manuel Hernández-Silva conducted in several great international festivals, and he is a frequent guest of Spanish and foreign orchestras. He has been principal conductor of the Córdoba Orchestra; principal guest conductor of the Simón Bolívar Orchestra of Caracas, with which he worked intensively for over five years; and musical director of the Youth Orchestra of Andalucía. He is currently chief conductor and artist director of the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio, Mulhouse Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Nord Czech Philharmonic, Olomouc Philharmonic, National of Mexico,Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Chile National Orchestra, Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, Caracas Symphony Orchestra, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, Janacek Philharmonic, Rheinische Philharmonie, and the major orchestras in Spain.
Maestro Hernández Silva has undertaken an intense teaching activity, teaching internationally on conducting and performing, as well as numerous conferences. All this has earned him the recognition of the musicians with whom he has worked, as well as that of the audience and specialized critics. Manuel Hernández-Silva earned his degree from Vienna’s Superior Conservatory (Konservatorium der Stadt Wien) with honors, under Professors Reinhard Schwarz and Georg Mark. In his senior year he won the Forum Jünger Künstler Conducting Competition, convened by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, which he conducted in the Austrian capital’s Konzerthaus.
The American conductor Ira Levin has been named as the principal guest conductor of the Sofia Opera, beginning in the 2017-18 season. Levin has already conducted on the Sofia stage Verdi’s Requiem in April 2017, and on 1 October, at 16 h, he will open the new season with the newest production of Bulgarian first opera theatre. With the Sofia ensemble and orchestra, he will conduct Wagner’s complete “Ring of the Nibelung” tetralogy in May, 2018 at the legendary Bolschoi Theater in Moscow – the first performances of the “Ring” there for over a century, followed by the entire cycle in Sofia in July. He will conduct also “Don Carlos”, “Werther”, “Un ballo in Maschera” and concerts.
Ira Levin
Ira Levin has conducted over 1000 operatic performances and his repertoire encompasses 70 different titles. His symphonic repertoire includes most of the standard repertoire as well as many lesser-known works. He has worked with innumerable internationally renowned conductors, instrumentalists, singers and stage directors and is also an active concert pianist and composer/arranger. He conducted a double-bill of Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” and Busoni’s “Arlecchino” in the 100th anniversary season of the Theatro Sao Pedro in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in August 2017.
His hugely successful US operatic debut took place in April 2017 at Lincoln Center, conducting Respighi’s brilliant and rarely heard La campana sommersa in the first season of the newly re-organized New York City Opera. He received unanimously positive reviews from all of the leading papers and musical journals. He debut at the illustrious Théâtre de Geneve in November 2016 with Marschner’s Der Vampyr, was likewise received with great popular and critical acclaim. He also conducted several performances of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande.
Ira Levin was the Principal Guest Conductor of the legendary Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires from 2011-15, where he conducted 12 major opera productions, among which new productions of Aleko, Francesca da Rimini, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Un Ballo in Maschera, Idomeneo, Madama Butterfly, Werther, Don Carlos, including the American premieres of Enescu’s Oedipe and Glanert’s Caligula, and several symphonic programs. He previously served as Music Director and Artistic Director of the Teatro Municipal in Sao Paulo (2002-2005) and of the National Theater of Brazil, in Brasilia (2007-2010), bringing both international acclaim. He introduced several important works by Mahler, Janacek, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Busoni, Enescu, Schoenberg, Schnittke, Corigliano and many others to Brazil. He held posts as assistant conductor at the Frankfurt Opera (1985-88), principal conductor of the Bremen Opera (1988-1996) and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf-Duisburg (1996-2002) and as the principal guest conductor of the Kassel Opera (1994-1998). He has performed with many orchestras and at opera houses throughout the world including the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra, the Düsseldorfer Symphony, the Duisburg Philharmonic, the Hannover State Orchestra of Lower Saxony, the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz, the Badische Staatskapelle of Karlsruhe, the Bremen Philharmonic, the Dublin Opera, the Montpellier Opera, the Norske Opera in Oslo, the Norrlands Opera in Umea, Sweden, the Cape Town Opera, the National Portuguese Symphony Orchestra in Lisbon, the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and all of the major orchestras in Brazil.
Ira Levin gave his highly successful debut in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall in November 2013 with the Berlin Symphony, conducting his orchestration of Busoni’s Fantasia Contrappuntistica and Schumann’s Fourth Symphony as well as playing a Mozart piano concerto. His two CDs with the London Symphony of works by American composer Michael Colina on the Fleur deSon/Naxos label were received with glowing reviews and his 2014 recording of Colina’s Requiem, “Requinauts”, with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus was released on the same label at the end of 2014, also to critical acclaim. His recording of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony with the Symphony Orchestra of Norrlands Opera, the first since 1952, will be followed by the release in 2017 of the world premiere recording of the 1892 edition of the Second Symphony with the same forces.
His 2010 orchestration of Busoni’s monumental Fantasia Contrappuntistica was included on the program of his extremely successful debut as conductor, pianist and arranger in Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall in November of 2013 with the Berlin Symphony. An orchestration of Liszt’s Fantasia and Fugue on the theme BACH followed in 2011. These works have been performed in Germany, Finland, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. His 2012 orchestration of Franck’s Piano Quintet had it’s successful world premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic under the direction of Leif Segerstam in October, 2014. His 2014 orchestrations of five Rachmaninoff works were successfully performed by the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Porto Alegre Symphony and the orchestra of the SODRE, Montevideo and his 2015 orchestration of Reger’s piano masterpiece, the Variations and Fugue on a theme by J.S. Bach, received it’s successful world premiere in Turku, Finland in February 2016, also under the direction of Leif Segerstam. Ira Levin conducted it and other works by Reger with the Brandenburg State Orchestra for a new multi-DVD documentary by “Fugue State Films” in honor of the 2016 centenary of Reger’s death, which was released in March 2017 and also performed it with the Malaga Philharmonic in October of 2016. All of these works have been published by “Edition Tilli” of Finland. His new orchestration of Respighi’s violin and piano sonata in b-minor was published in February 2017 by Tilli as “Concerto in b-minor”.
“Edition Tilli” completed publishing in 2016 the large series of his transcriptions for piano solo of works by Bach, Gluck, Schubert, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Villa-Lobos and cadenzas to several Mozart concertos. Levin’s recordings of many his piano works can now be heard on You Tube, along with the scores. An accomplished pianist, Ira Levin was the first-prize winner of the American National Chopin Competition in 1980. He studied for eight years with the legendary Jorge Bolet at the Curtis Institute, later becoming his assistant, while also studying conducting with Max Rudolf. He has performed throughout the United States, South America, and Europe and continues to appear in recital and concert, often leading concertos from the keyboard as well, including works by Mozart, Weber, Bach and even Brahms’s second concerto, which he conducted and played after a major soloist cancelled on short notice.
