American conductor of Hong Kong origin Perry So has been appointed as the new Musical and Artistic Director of the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, a position in which he succeeds Manuel Hernández-Silva. With an initial three-year contract, which will be effective from September 1, 2022, maestro Perry So has been the orchestra’s favorite in the polls. According to the statement from the orchestra itself, the choice of Maestro So has been the product of a rigorous participatory process that has lasted for several months. It began last year with a first phase of consultations and proposals submitted for consideration by the Orchestra, after whose decision the Board of Trustees of Fundación Baluarte proceeded to approve the candidacy… in the choice of maestro So “other criteria have also weighed in addition to his talent as a director, such as his wide and varied curriculum, his international projection and his artistic concerns”.
Conductor Perry So was born in Hong Kong in 1982, where he received early musical training in piano, organ, violin, viola, and composition. He later earned a BA in Comparative Literature from Yale University with a specialization in 20th-century Central European music and literature. During that period he founded an academic orchestra and conducted lyrical productions with the graduates. In 2008 he studied conducting at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore under the tutelage of Maestro Gustav Meier, receiving the First Prize and the Special Prize at the 5th Edition of the St. Petersburg Prokofiev International Conducting Competition. After this recognition he was appointed Assistant Director and then Associate Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and later he will be invited to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra.
Having already consolidated his presence on five continents, Perry So has recently debuted with the San Francisco Symphony and has occupied the pits of the Royal Danish Opera -The Magic Flute- and the Yale Opera -Eugene Onegin- as opera director. Among the latest milestones in his career, three important tours stand out: a tour of Milan conducting the Nuremberg Symphony, another through the Balkans in 2013 with the Zagreb Philharmonic, and a third seven-week tour of South Africa conducting three orchestras in which he performed Verdi’s Requiem in the framework of the South African National Arts Festival.
Besides these projects and invitations, Perry So has conducted more than 30 orchestras around the world, including the San Francisco Symphony, the National Orchestra of Wales, the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, the New Zealand Symphony, the Shanghai Symphony, the Residentie Orkest of The Hague or the London Philharmonic, as well as half a dozen Spanish orchestras. He has also served as assistant to such renowned teachers as Edo de Waart, Esa Pekka-Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel and John Adams.
Perry So is a member of the Music Conducting faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and also has a large body of recordings to his credit leading the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Concert Orchestra, repeatedly earning recognition from the criticism and being laureate in 2021 with the Diapason d’Or.
Manuel Hernández-Silva and Serbian violinist Robert Lakatoš meet again, this time with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, to offer Wieniawski’s Concerto No. 1 along with the overture A Life for the Tsar, by Glinka, and Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1. The concerts will take place at the Centro Cultural Abanca in Vigo and the Auditorio de Galicia in Santiago de Compostela on March 16 and 17, respectively. Hernández-Silva and Lakatoš had already performed Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 together with the Navarre Symphony Orchestra and the Malaga Philharmonic. Other visits by Lakatoš to Spain involved James Judd and the RTVE Orchestra with Korngold’s violin concert, and Nicholas Milton and the Navarra Symphony with the Serenade for violin, strings and percussion by Leonard Bernstein.
Robert Lakatoš has won numerous international awards, including first prizes at the Pablo Sarasate Competition (Pamplona, Spain, 2015), Mary Smart Concerto Competition (New York, 2013), and Societe Generale Serbia (Belgrade, 2009), as well as second prizes at Jeunesses Musicales Romania (Bucharest, 2012) and Andrea Postacchini (Fermo, Italy, 2012). Robert Lakatoš develops his concert career as a soloist and chamber musician performing in Europe, Israel and the United States. As a soloist, he has appeared with numerous orchestras including the Spanish RTVE Orchestra, Navarra Symphony Orchestra, Malaga Philharmonic, Minas Gerais Philharmonic, Krakow Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de la UAN (Mexico), Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, New York Summit Festival Orchestra, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra and the Janáček Camerata. So far, he has collaborated with conductors such as Philip Greenberg, Fabio Mechetti, Gabriel Feltz, Manuel Hernández-Silva, Nicholas Milton, James Judd, James Tuggle, Lior Shambadal and Antoni Wit. He has made recordings for radio and television in his country and abroad and holds the position of Violin Professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, where he studied and was awarded as Best Young Artist in 2016 by the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the Vojvodina Academy of Arts and Sciences. Robert plays on a 1709 Stradivari violin from the collection of bow maker Vladimir Radosavljevic, whose bow he also uses.
Maestro Christian Vásquez will be conducting in Italy and Poland for the next two weeks: in Italy, he will lead the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra on November 26 and 27 at the Politeama Garibaldi Theater, in a program that includes concerts for saxophone and orchestra by Glazunov and Pierre-Philippe Bauzin, with saxophonist Alex Sebastianutto, and Symphony No. 8 by Dvořák. In Poland, he will conduct the National Music Forum Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra (NFM Filharmonia Wrocławska) on December 3. The program includes Vaughan Williams’s Suite for Viola and Orchestra, with Artur Tokarek as soloist, and Bizet’s Symphony in C. Immediately afterwards, Christian will travel to Paris to assist Gustavo Dudamel in the production of Le nozze di Figaro at the National Opera of Paris, whose performances will take place throughout the months of January and February, just before returning to Spain to lead the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, in a program that includes the Concerto-Capriccio for harp and orchestra by Xavier Montsalvatge with the harpist Cristina Montes, and Brahms’ 3rd Symphony.
Christian Vásquez was Music Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, leading them on an important tour around Europe which took them to perform in London, Lisbon, Toulouse, Munich, Stockholm and Istanbul. Vásquez has also been Principal Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra between 2013 and 2019, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest from 2015 till 2020, a tenure he started with a tour around The Netherlands featuring an all-Latin programme.
Following his debut with the Gävle Symfoniorkester in October 2009, one of his first appearances in Europe, Christian was appointed Principal Guest Conductor between 2010 and 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 Program.
Since then he has conducted orchestras in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Estonia, Ireland, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Korea, etc. Christian’s first opera engagement in Europe was at the Norwegian Opera with Carmen. Christian Vásquez started playing the violin at the age of 8, in the city of San Sebastián de los Reyes (Aragua State). In 2006 he began his studies of orchestral conducting under maestro José Antonio Abreu, and that same year he was appointed musical director of the José Félix Ribas Youth Symphony Orchestra, in the Aragua State.
Christian Vásquez will conduct the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra at the LVI Bratislava Music Festival in a program consisting of El Salón México, by Aaron Copland; Symphonie Espagnole, by Edouard Lalo, with the violinist Ivan Zenaty; and La noche de los Mayas, by Silvestre Revueltas. Vásquez, who has just returned from a long stay in Colombia with the Medellin Philharmonic, which he conducted in four different programs throughout the month of September, will travel to Israel and Poland to lead the Haifa Symphony Orchestra and the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic after the concerts at the Bratislava Festival with the Slovak Philharmonic, before joining the production of Le Nozze di Figaro at the Opéra National de Paris in which he will be assistant conductor to Gustavo Dudamel, the new musical director of the institution.
Christian Vásquez will also visit Spain a couple of times this season to conduct the Navarre and Tenerife symphony orchestras. In Pamplona, he will conduct a program that includes the Concierto-Capricho for harp and orchestra by Xavier Montsalvatge, with the Sevillian harpist Cristina Montes Mateo, and the Symphony No. 3 in F major, op. 90 by Johannes Brahms. In Tenerife he will lead his compatriot and friend, the great trumpeter Pacho Flores, in a program consisting of Danzas Latinas, by Efraín Oscher, Concierto para fliscorno, by Pacho Flores himself, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 e E minor, op. 64. Before the end of the season, he will also pay a visit to the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, where he was principal conductor for six seasons between 2013 and 2019.
Christian Vásquez is currently Musical Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. In addition to his tenure in Stavanger, he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest between 2015 and 2020, and of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra between 2010 and 2013. He has conducted orchestras such as the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Beethoven Festival Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Poznan Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Estonian National Orchestra, Danish Royal Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, RTE National Orchestra from Ireland, Philharmonia Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Camerata, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa) or Los Angeles Philharmonic. In Spain he has worked with the Galician Symphony Orchestra, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Sinfónica de Castilla y León or Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias.
Christian Vásquez opens the Tongyeong Festival in South Korea on March 26 with a program that includes Fanfare & Memorial (1979), by Korean composer Isang Yung, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, with Bomsori Kim as soloist, and Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 by Dmitri Shostakovich. Two days later, on March 28, he will conduct again the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra in a program that includes the Asian premiere of Fazil Say’s Cello Concerto Never Give Up, with Camille Thomas as soloist, and the Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 by Antonin Dvořâk. Christian Vásquez has recently conducted two great concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, and upon his return from Korea he will once again conduct the Stavanger Symphony in Norway.
Christian Vásquez is Musical Director of the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, which he conducted on a remarkable European tour that took them to London, Lisbon, Toulouse, Munich, Stockholm and Istanbul. He was Principal Conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra from 2013 to 2019 and Principal Guest Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest from 2015 to 2020, a position that he began with a Latin program on a tour around The Netherlands. Following his debut with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra in October 2009, one of his first appearances in Europe, Christian Vásquez was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra (2010-2013). He has worked with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Camerata, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic or Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In North America he has conducted the National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, during his participation in their Young Artist Fellowship program.
He has conducted orchestras such as the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Sinfónica de Galicia, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Beethoven Festival Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague, Poznan Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Mexican National Symphony Orchestra, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Gran Canaria Philharmonic and the Estonian National Orchestra. His first operatic engagement in Europe was at the Norwegian Opera with Carmen.
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