Pacific Symphony and Chapman University Join Forces for Global Arts Festival 2014: “Decoding Shostakovich” — Exploring Iconic Composer through Variety of Events, Now through Feb. 8

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Mary Platt
Director of Communications and Media Relations
Chapman University
platt@chapman.edu

Jayce Keane
Director of Public Relations
Pacific Symphony
714-876-2383
jkeane@pacificsymphony.org

Chapman and Symphony concerts and programs together explore in-depth
one of Russia’s most fascinating and intriguing composer—his life and music

Events include concerts, discussions, film, dance, lecture, piano recital,
theater, symposium, book club and master classes

Orange County, Calif.—One of Russia’s most fascinating and complex composers—Dmitri Shostakovich—goes under the magnifying glass when Pacific Symphony partners with Chapman University’s Global Arts Program to present the Global Arts Festival 2014: “Decoding Shostakovich,” a festival dedicated to the iconic composer, whose life unfolded under the Soviet system. There are myriad reasons for a festival devoted to this fascinating man, beginning with the tremendous impact he had on classical music in Russia and beyond. Through classical concerts and a wide array of presentations (discussions, film, dance, lecture, piano recital, theater, symposium, book club and master classes), “Decoding Shostakovich” probes deeply into the man to reveal the composer’s relationship to his home country, its culture and politics and the effects these had on his music. The festival, which began in November, continues into February 2014. For more information about “Decoding Shostakovich,” visit: http://www.pacificsymphony.org/shostakovich_festival. (See the complete festival schedule below.)

“I am so very excited about our ever developing partnership with Chapman University,” says the Symphony’s Music Director Carl St.Clair.  “We are uniting our two worlds and are creating some incredible new projects. Our Shostakovich festival is just one powerful example.  Through this collaboration we are able to explore the rich and compelling story of Dimitri Shostakovich and his gripping music with profound depth.”

“This series of events—including performances of Shostakovich’s work, as well as panels, exhibits, and films—is a wonderful beginning for what we believe will be a very successful partnership between Chapman University and Pacific Symphony,” said Daniele Struppa, Ph.D., chancellor of Chapman University.  “Music is indeed a vital part of the history of ideas, and the nature of our partnership is to bring to light such interplay in ways that will indelibly connect music to history and to other forms of art.  We are grateful to the Kay Family Foundation, whose support for the newly created Global Arts Program at Chapman will make it possible for creative events and partnerships of this nature to continue far into our future.”

In addition to St.Clair and Struppa, key individuals behind the festival include Symphony Artistic Advisor Joseph Horowitz and Russian pianist Alexander Toradze. Also making a rare public appearance at this festival is Russian journalist and musicologist Solomon Volkov who wrote “Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich.”  When first published in 1979, “Testimony” became an international bestseller

Volkov’s powerful memoir, which an ailing Shostakovich (1906-76) dictated to the young Russian musicologist, dramatically changed the perception of Shostakovich’s life and work and influenced innumerable performances of his music. It also reveals that the greatest influence on Shostakovich and the Russians of his generation was the Soviet culture (1930-53), which included the reign of Stalin, the impact of Hitler and decades defined by the horrors of war. It was a time that left people craving an outlet for their fear and grief. But the state-sponsored arts—symphonies, novels, dances and films, etc.—imposed cheer and optimism, and therefore didn’t follow the Soviet aesthetics of “Socialist Realism,” the sole purpose of which was to further the goals of socialism and communism. With the Nazi invasion came a desperate need by the Russian people to express emotions of fear, sadness and mourning, and the arts became an imperative means of escape. This festival explores how that happened and how Shostakovich was an integral part of it all.

Over the course of the 20^th-century, the symphony was thought by some in America and Europe to be virtually extinct as a genre. But this was not the case in Soviet Russia, where

Shostakovich and fellow composer Sergei Prokofiev produced symphonies that swiftly entered the standard repertoire—and filled the great societal need.

“What finally impresses is the pact that Shostakovich forged with a mass of listeners,” says Horowitz, the festival’s artistic advisor. “His music resonated with the needs and aspirations of a great public. It performed a therapy.”

When the composer died, The New York Times obituary called him a faithful member of the Communist Party—a “loyal Communist.” No one would say that today, says Volkov, who at the end of “Testimony,” quotes Shostakovich as saying: “I can’t go on describing my unhappy life. There were no particularly happy moments in my life, no great joys. It was gray and dull and it makes me sad to think about it. It saddens me to admit it, but it’s the truth, the unhappy truth.”

Adds Volkov: “He was a broken man when he talked to me. Physically—he couldn’t even put on his coat by himself. He would complain to me of his difficulty in walking, that he felt he was made of glass.”

His music, however, reveals something else entirely.

A Glance at the Festival

Exploring the complex composer throughout his emotional turmoil and creative genius, the festival opened on Nov. 15 with a performance by the Chapman Orchestra at Fish Interfaith Center on the Chapman campus. The program included Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto for Strings and Trumpet.

This prelude performance paved the way for the festival to heat up, beginning in January with a variety of offerings open to the public (unless otherwise noted), including an art exhibition, co-curated by Wendy Salmond and Mark Konecny, in the Argyros Forum exhibition cases, called “Everyday Stalinism”—ephemera and material culture from the Ferris

Collection of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture at the University of Southern California (USC). The exhibition, which continues through February, depicts ordinary life in extraordinary times—the era of Soviet Russia under the regime of Joseph Stalin—through rare books, periodicals, photographs, posters and artifacts connected to this era.

An accompanying exhibition in the Leatherby Libraries, called “American Tourists in Stalin’s Russia,” contains memoirs by American visitors to Soviet Russia circa 1930-1953, from the collection of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture at USC—Stalinist Russia in American press coverage (Time, Life Magazine).

A “Presentation on Shostakovich,” with Volkov and Horowitz, takes place on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, 2-3:30 p.m. in Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, at Chapman University. This interview and presentation aims to uncover what lies beneath the surface of Shostakovich’s music and also examines the composer’s belief that an artist is a moral spokesperson.

Recognized as a masterful virtuoso with deep lyricism and intense emotion, powerhouse pianist Toradze joins Maestro St.Clair and Pacific Symphony, along with guests Volkov and Horowitz, to introduce a journey into the music of Shostakovich on Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2014, at 8 p.m., in the Reneé and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The first half of the concert is a dramatic presentation by Horowitz that includes St.Clair, actor David Prather portraying Shostakovich, music and historical film clips, providing insight into Shostakovich the man. For the second half of the evening, the orchestra delves into Symphony No. 10, perhaps the composer’s best work, at once melancholy and intense. It’s a piece that Horowitz calls “monumental…of a different, darker cast, a work many consider his supreme—his most humbling, most necessary—symphonic achievement.” The program also includes excerpts from “Lady Macbeth of Mtsenk”; excerpts from Symphony No. 5; and Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Toradze.

Upon first entering the concert hall lobby, patrons find themselves taken back to the time of Stalin’s Soviet Union—the oppressive environment Shostakovich endured. Additionally, a student quartet comprised of Chapman music students performs Shostakovich’s String Quartet

No. 8. A pre-concert presentation takes place at 7 p.m., led by Horowitz, with Volkov, Prather and film. The Symphony’s Classical series performances are made possible by the Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation with additional support from American Airlines, The Westin South Coast Plaza, KUSC and PBS SoCal. The Jan. 30 performance is sponsored by Catherine and James Emmi. Tickets are $25-$185; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

Pacific Symphony’s Book Club focuses on Volkov’s “Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich”—the seminal study of Stalin’s cultural dictatorship and its harrowing impact on Russia’s most famous 20^th-century composer. The manuscript was smuggled out of the Soviet Union and has to this day never been published in Russia. The book club meets for a discussion of “Testimony” led by Volkov and Horowitz on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014, at 1 p.m., in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, preceding the Sunday Connections concert (see more below). To take part in the Book Club, contact facilitator Susan Key, Ph.D, at susan.key01@gmail.

Then, for the Symphony’s Sunday Connections concert on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014, at 3 p.m., in the Reneé and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the spotlight shines solely on Shostakovich’s 10^th Symphony, as St.Clair and the orchestra showcase and dissect the composer’s greatest work. Full of tragedy, terror and, ultimately, triumph, Shostakovich’s electrifying symphony is also full of memorable musical ideas. Tickets are $25-$95; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit www.PacificSymphony.org.

“A work such as the 10^th Symphony is a communal rite,” says Horowitz. “In the wake of Stalin’s death, it charts a trajectory evolving from pain and terror to giddy release. Its first performances were an act of purgation. Counteracting the ‘music lovers’ Hitler and Stalin, it redeems music as a moral factor in the tortuous annals of 20^th-century culture.

“Whatever one makes of the possible extra-musical content of Shostakovich’s 10^th

Symphony—whatever the pertinence of Stalin’s terror—it is a symphony that begins with an avalanche of grief,” he continues. “The avalanche takes the form of a massive, 20-minute first movement that slowly and inexorably heaves to an anguished climax, recedes and then attains an even higher climax, inhumanly sustained.”

A special Master Class for Chapman orchestra students on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, 7:30-9:30 p.m., in Crean Hall, Oliphant Hall, at Chapman University, is available to Chapman Orchestra students only and focuses on specific Shostakovich pieces. The instructors—Volkov,  Robert Becker, Pacific Symphony’s principal violist and Chapman University professor, and pianist Toradze—guide and mentor students in order for them to take their musical talent to a higher level. The master class includes discussion of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1; Viola Sonata; and “Scherzo” from Symphony No. 10.

A special Master Class for Chapman dance Students” takes place Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, 4:15-5:30 p.m. in the Partridge Dance Center at Chapman University, when  artistic director of the Los Angeles Ballet, Colleen Neary, and dancers from the Los Angeles Ballet, present a lecture/demonstration on the Balanchine Technique. Neary also speaks about her years working as a dancer with Balanchine.

A “Shostakovich Concert”—on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014, at 7 p.m., at Memorial Hall at Chapman University—is an evening hosted by Chapman University’s Chancellor Daniele Struppa. This multi-media presentation with dialogue between Chancellor Struppa and Volka is followed by a performance of Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata by pianist Toradze and Symphony violist Becker. Following the performance, Struppa engages in a discussion with Becker and Toradze. A reception takes place at the conclusion.

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, from 7-9 p.m., Chapman’s Hall-Musco Conservatory presents “Soviet Film Music by Shostakovich” and his contemporaries in Bertea Hall, Room 109, at Chapman University. Open to the public, attendees watch and discuss excerpts from “Alexander Nevsky,” scores by Prokofiev; “Hamlet” and “King Lear,” scores by Shostakovich; and other films. Presents include Amy Graziano(Hall-Musco Conservatory of

Music, Chapman Unviersity) and Roger Hickman (Rick Cole Conservatory of Music, Califronia State University, Long Beach.

“Shostakovich: the Arranger and the Arranged” is the title of “Music Around Noon,” a lecture by Chapman composer Vera Ivanova, who discusses compositions from the early period of the composer’s life, when some of his writing was influenced by stylistic and orchestral features of popular music of the time. This presentation features popular excerpts from Shostakovich’s ballet “The Golden Age” in various arrangements by the composer himself and others. This lecture takes place Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., in Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, at Chapman University.

Also on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, at 7:30 p.m., in Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, at Chapman University is a President’s Piano Series recital—a night filled with the harmonious melodies of Prokofiev and Shostakovich performed by two prestigious pianists. The masterful virtuoso Toradze, known for his deep, poetic lyricism and intense emotional involvement, joins forces with Vakho Kodanashvili, who has received numerous awards and has been a soloist at major music festivals and symphony orchestras around the world. The program includes: Prokofiev: Sonata No. 6 and Sonata No. 7 and Visions Fugitives; and Shostakovich: Concertino.

A master class for conservatory voice students focuses on Soviet Russian literature and features Vladimir Chernov, baritone, instructing students in order to improve their musical ability and take their performance to a higher level. This event takes place Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, noon-2 p.m., at Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, at Chapman University.

Russian influence on American acting, theatre and film is the topic of a lecture scheduled for Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, at 3-4:30 p.m., in Argyros Forum 209C. Led by John B. Benitz, Thomas Bradac and Michael E. Nehring, from Chapman University’s Department of Theatre, this event discusses Russia’s influence (Stanislavsky and others) on American acting, theatre and film.

The ideology of Stalinism is the subject of a symposium called “Ideology and Culture in Russia (1930-1953),” taking place on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., in Argyros Forum 207, at Chapman University. The symposium explores how Stalin’s ideology shaped every sphere of life and mentality in Russia between 1930 and 1953. These spheres included: music, art, film, sports, law, religion, education and childhood. Experts from the United States—Andrew Jenks, J. Arch Getty, Katerina Clark, Lilya Kaganovskaya and Randi K. Barnes-Cox—explore the power of ideology to shape both public culture and private experience.

SHOSTAKOVICH FESTIVAL CALENDAR
PACIFIC SYMPHONY AND THE CHAPMAN GLOBAL ARTS PROGRAM

SHOSTAKOVICH PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1
Friday, Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m.
Fish Interfaith Center, Chapman University

Chapman Orchestra

Chapman Orchestra kicks off the first event of the Shostakovich Festival with his Piano Concerto No.1 for the orchestra’s strings and trumpet section. Open to the public.

Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.1

ART EXHIBITION: EVERYDAY STALINISM
Opens in January (date TBD) through February, 2014
Argyros Forum, Chapman University

Wendy Salmond, co-curator
Mark Konecny, co-curator

This exhibition depicts ordinary life in extraordinary times: the era of Soviet Russia under the regime of Joseph Stalin. The exhibition includes rare books, periodicals, photographs, posters and artifacts connected to this era. Open to the public.

LIBRARY EXHIBITION: AMERICAN TOURISTS IN STALIN’S RUSSIA
January through February, 2014
Leatherby Libraries, Chapman University

“American Tourists in Stalin’s Russia,” contains memoirs by American visitors to Soviet Russia circa 1930-1953, from the collection of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture at USC—Stalinist Russia in American press coverage (Time, Life Magazine).

BOOK CLUB: “TESTIMONY: THE MEMOIRS OF DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH”
Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014, 1 p.m.
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Solomon Volkov, musicologist
Joseph Horowitz, artistic advisor

Pacific Symphony’s Book Club focuses on Volkov’s “Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich”—the seminal study of Stalin’s cultural dictatorship and its harrowing impact on Shostakovich. On Feb. 2, the discussion with Volkov and Horowitz precedes the Sunday Connections concert. To take part in the Book Club, contact facilitator Susan Key at susan.key01@gmail.

TORADZE PLAYS SHOSTAKOVICH
Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2014, 8 p.m.
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Pacific Symphony
Carl St.Clair, conductor
Alexander Toradze, piano
Solomon Volkov, musicologist
Joseph Horowitz, artistic advisor

Recognized as a masterful virtuoso with deep lyricism and intense emotion, Russian pianist Alexander Toradze joins Pacific Symphony to introduce a journey into the music of Shostakovich and cultural policy under Stalin. Music Director Carl St.Clair dives into Symphony No. 10, perhaps the composer’s best work, at once melancholy and intense. This is a Music Unwound* program and the first half of the concert includes a multi-media presentation including an actor playing Shostakovich and audio-visuals plus, a lobby transformed to resemble the time of Stalin’s Soviet Union. For more information or tickets, call: (714) 755-5799.

Program includes:
Shostakovich: Excerpts from “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”
Shostakovich: Excerpts from Symphony No. 5
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

*Music Unwound: Five seasons ago, the Symphony introduced unique formatting, multi-media and other enhancements to allow deeper insight, better understanding and­ a richer enjoyment of its concerts.

PRESENTATION ON SHOSTAKOVICH
Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, 2-3:30 p.m.
Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, Chapman University

Solomon Volkov, presenter
Joseph Horowitz, presenter

This interview and presentation focuses on understanding Shostakovich to better understand what’s behind his music. Guests include Chapman orchestra students, as well as various music societies. The event is open to the public.

SHOSTAKOVICH’S SYMPHONY NO. 10
Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014, 3 p.m.
Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Pacific Symphony
Carl St.Clair, conductor and host

Pacific Symphony brings a Sunday Connections concert full of tragedy, terror and—ultimately—triumph in Shostakovich’s electrifying Symphony No. 10. Event includes discussion with Music Director Carl St.Clair. For more information or tickets, call: (714) 755-5799.

Program includes:
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

MASTER CLASS FOR CHAPMAN ORCHESTRA STUDENTS
Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Crean Hall in Oliphant Hall, Chapman University

Solomon Volkov, musicologist
Robert Becker, violist
Alexander Toradze, pianist

The Master Class is available to Chapman orchestra students and focuses on specific Shostakovich pieces. The instructors—Volkov, Becker and Toradze, from Pacific Symphony’s recent concert—guide and mentor students to take their musical talent to the next level.

Discussion includes:
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Viola Sonata
Shostakovich: “Scherzo” from Symphony No. 10

DANCE MASTER CLASS
Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, 4:15-5:30 p.m.
Partridge Dance Cneter, Chapman University

Colleen Neary, artistic director, Los Angeles Ballet
Los Angeles Ballet dancers

Colleen Neary presents a lecture and demonstration on the Balanchine Technique, and also speaks about her years as a dancer working with Balanchine.

SHOSTAKOVICH CONCERT
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014, 7 p.m.
Memorial Hall, Chapman University

Daniele Struppa, host
Robert Becker, viola
Alexander Toradze, piano

An evening filled with discussion and multi-media presentations followed by a performance of the Viola Sonata by Pacific Symphony principal violist and Chapman University professor Robert Becker, and pianist Alexander Toradze. At the conclusion of the performance, Toradze, Becker and Volkov provide commentary on the piece. The event is open to the public.

SOVIET FILM MUSIC BY SHOSTAKOVICH
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, 7-9 p.m.
Bertea Hall Room 109, Chapman University

Amy Graziano, Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, Chapman Unversity
Roger Hickman, Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, California State University, Long Beach

Explore Soviet film music by Shostakovich and his contemporaries. Guests watch excerpts from “Alexander Nevsky,” scores by Prokofiev; “Hamlet” and “King Lear,” scores by Shostakovich and other films. The event includes a discussion with the audience. Open to the public.

LECTURE: “SHOSTAKOVICH: THE ARRANGER AND THE ARRANGED”
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, Chapman University

Vera Ivanova, lecturer

Ivanova discusses compositions from the early period of Shostakovich, when some of his writing was influenced by stylistic and orchestral features of popular music of the time. This presentation features popular excerpts from Shostakovich’s ballet “The Golden Age” in various arrangements by the composer himself and others. The lecture is open to the public.

RECITAL
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, Chapman University

Alexander Toradze, piano
Vakho Kodanashvili, piano

A night filled with the harmonious melodies of Shostakovich and Prokofiev performed by two prestigious pianists, Alexander Toradze and Vakho Kodanashvili. Toradze is masterful virtuoso known for his deep, poetic lyricism and intense emotional involvement. Kodanashvili has received numerous awards and has been a soloist at major music festivals and symphony orchestras around the world. Open to the public; contact Chapman for ticket information.

Program includes:
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 6
Shostakovich: Concertino
Prokofiev: Visions Fugitives
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 7

MASTER CLASS FOR CONSERVATORY VOICE STUDENTS
Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, noon-2 p.m.
Salmon Recital Hall, Bertea Hall, Chapman University

Vladimir Chernov, baritone

Focusing on Soviet Russian literature, students will be instructed by Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov in order to improve their musical ability and take their performance to a higher level. Open to the public.

LECTURE: RUSSIAN INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN ACTING, THEATRE AND FILM
Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, 3-4:30 p.m.
Argyros Forum 209C

John B. Benitz, lecturer
Thomas Bradac, lecturer
Michael E. Nehring, lecturer

Chapman University’s Department of Theatre discusses Russia’s influence (Stanislavsky and others) on American acting, theatre and film. This event is open to the public.

SYMPOSIUM: IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE IN RUSSIA (1930-153)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Argyros Forum 207, Chapman University

Andrew Jenks, California State University, Long Beach
J. Arch Getty, University of California, Los Angeles
Katerina Clark, Yale University
Lilya Kaganovsky, University of Illinois
RandiK. Barnes-Cox, Stephen F. Austin College

The ideology of Stalinism shaped every sphere of life and mentality in Russia between 1930 and 1953. These spheres included: music, art, film, sports, law, religion,science, education and childhood. This symposium explores the power of ideology to shape both public culture and private experience. Open to the public.

SPEAKERS/PERFORMERS

Alexander Toradze is universally recognized as a masterful virtuoso in the grand Romantic tradition.  With his deep, poetic lyricism and intense emotional involvement, he clearly places his personal stamp among the linage of great Russian pianists.

Solomon Volkov is a Russian journalist and musicologist. He is particularly an authority on Soviet Russian culture.  He has portrayed Shostakovich as a truth-speaker who dared to challenge supreme powers. Volkov is best known for his ground-breaking book, “Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich”—powerful memoirs in which the ailing composer dictated to Volkov.

Joseph Horowitz has worn many hats as a concert producer, musicologist, music critic, American cultural historian and author.  Locally, he is well known in his capacity as artistic advisor to Pacific Symphony.  He has also served in similar fashion for a number of other prominent arts organizations and engineered a unique role as a promoter of thematic programming and new concert formats. He is considered a valuable cultural icon whose presentations receive national attention.

Vakhtang (Vakho) Kodanashvili is a native of Tbilisi, Georgia. He began his musical education at The Georgian Special School of Music. In 1995, Kodanashvili moved to the United States after being accepted to the prestigious Alexander Toradze Piano Studio at Indiana University South Bend. During his studies at the Toradze Studio, Kodanashvili received numerous achievement awards. He eventually went on to perform frequently as a soloist at major music festivals and symphony orchestras around the world.

Dr. Roger Hickman was raised in Fullerton and attended college at University of California, Irvine, and University of California, Berkeley. He is currently the director of musicology at California State University, Long Beach, and has completed two books on film music, “Reel Music: Exploring 100 Years of Film Music” and “Miklós Rózsa’s Ben-Hur. Also active as a conductor, he is the music director of the Long Beach Ballet and the Four Seasons Youth Orchestras.

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