Artistic Staff
Ryan Murray
Ryan Murray, Principal Pops Conductor
Ryan Murray, Principal Pops Conductor
Guest Artists
Ashlyn Einhell
Terron Brooks, guest vocalist
Terron Brooks, guest vocalist
Guest Artists
Ashlyn Einhell
Shayna Steele, guest vocalist
Shayna Steele, guest vocalist
Guest Artists
Ashlyn Einhell
Chester Gregory, guest vocalist
Chester Gregory, guest vocalist
Guest Artists
Ashlyn Einhell
Audrey Wright, violin
Audrey Wright, violin

piano

Alessio Bax, piano

Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on five continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but also as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 150 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the New York, Boston, Dallas, Cincinnati, Seattle, Sydney, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Fabio Luisi, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden.

Bax constantly explores many facets of his career. He released his eleventh Signum Classics album, Italian Inspirations, whose program was also the vehicle for his solo recital debut at New York’s 92nd Street Y as well as on tour. He recently debuted with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, playing Schumann Concerto and the Seattle Symphony with Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto and embarked on a trio tour of Spain with violinist Joshua Bell and cellist Steven Isserlis. Bax and his regular piano duo partner, Lucille Chung, gave recitals at New York’s Lincoln Center and were featured with the St. Louis Symphony and Stéphane Denève. He has also toured extensively with Joshua Bell and presented the complete works of Beethoven for cello and piano with cellist Paul Watkins in New York City.

Bax revisited Mozart’s K. 491 and K. 595 concertos, as heard on Alessio Bax Plays Mozart, for his recent debuts with the Boston and Melbourne Symphonies, both with Sir Andrew Davis, and with the Sydney Symphony, which he led himself from the keyboard. In addition, Bax made his solo recital debut at London’s Wigmore Hall, and give concerts at L.A.’s Disney Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. As a renowned chamber musician, he recently collaborated with Joshua Bell, Ian Bostridge, Lucille Chung, Steven Isserlis, Daishin Kashimoto, Sergei Nakariakov, Emmanuel Pahud, Lawrence Power, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Paul Watkins and Tabea Zimmermann. Since 2017 he has been the Artistic Director of the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival, a Summer Music Festival in the Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany. He appears regularly in festivals such as Seattle, Bravo Vail, Salon-de-Provence, Le Pont in Japan, Great Lakes, Verbier, Ravinia and Music@Menlo. In 2009, he was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and four years later he received both the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists.

Bax’s celebrated Signum Classics discography includes Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” and “Moonlight” Sonatas (a Gramophone “Editor’s Choice”); Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto; Bax & Chung, a duo disc with Lucille Chung; Alessio Bax plays Mozart, recorded with London’s Southbank Sinfonia; Alessio Bax: Scriabin & Mussorgsky (named “Recording of the Month … and quite possibly … of the year” by MusicWeb International); Alessio Bax plays Brahms (a Gramophone “Critics’ Choice”); Bach Transcribed; and Rachmaninov: Preludes & Melodies (an American Record Guide “Critics’ Choice 2011”). Recorded for Warner Classics, his Baroque Reflections album was also a Gramophone “Editor’s Choice.” He performed Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata for Daniel Barenboim in the PBS-TV documentary Barenboim on Beethoven: Masterclass, available on DVD from EMI.

At the record age of 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the United States in 1994. A Steinway artist, he lives in New York City with pianist Lucille Chung and their daughter, Mila. He was invited to join the piano faculty of Boston’s New England Conservatory in the fall of 2019.

Upcoming Performances

Calendar
September 7 / Picnic at the Pops! Dancing in the Street: The Music of Motown
September 7 / Picnic at the Pops! Dancing in the Street: The Music of Motown

Ryan Murray, conductor
Sat. Sept. 7, 2024 at 7:30pm
GALLO grounds

Gabriela Martinez, piano

Versatile, daring, and insightful, Venezuelan-born pianist Gabriela Martinez is establishing a reputation both nationally and internationally for the lyricism of her playing, her compelling interpretations, and her elegant stage presence.

Since making her orchestral debut at age 7, Ms. Martinez has played with such distinguished orchestras as the San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, New Jersey, Tucson, West Michigan, Pacific and Fort Worth symphonies; the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Germany’s Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, MDR Rundfunkorchester, Nürnberger Philharmoniker, and MDR Leipzig Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; Canada’s Victoria Symphony Orchestra; the Costa Rica National Symphony; and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. In the past four seasons she has appeared with the Knoxville, Pacific, Richmond, Charlotte, Grand Rapids, Pasadena, Billings, Richardson, Springfield, Wichita, and Waco symphony orchestras; the Orlando, Boise, and Dayton philharmonics; the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia; the Atlantic Classical Orchestra; and the Symphony of Southeast Texas. Orchestral engagements in the 2021-22 season include the Omaha, Hartford, Texarkana, and San Antonio symphony orchestras.

She has performed with conductors Gustavo Dudamel, James Gaffigan, James Conlon, Marcelo Lehninger and Guillermo Figueroa, among many others, and at such esteemed venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Merkin Hall, and Alice Tully Hall; the Broad Stage in Santa Monica; the El Paso Pro Musica and Kansas City Harriman-Jewell series; Canada’s Glenn Gould Studio; Salzburg’s Grosses Festspielhaus; Dresden’s Semperoper; Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens; and Paris’s Palace of Versailles. Her festival credits include the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, and Rockport festivals in the United States; Italy’s Festival dei Due Mondi (Spoleto); Switzerland’s Verbier Festival; the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier; and Japan’s Tokyo International Music Festival.

Amplified Soul, her debut solo album released in 2016 by Delos Records, features a wide-ranging program including works by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Szymanowski. The album also pays homage to acclaimed composers Mason Bates and Dan Visconti, whose title selection Amplified Soul (world premiere recording), was written for Ms. Martinez. She collaborated with Grammy Award-winning producer David Frost on the album. A music video of Visconti's Amplified Soul can be found on Ms. Martinez's YouTube Channel.

Her wide-ranging career includes world premieres of new music, live performance broadcasts, and interviews on TV and radio. Ms. Martinez’s performances have been featured on National Public Radio, CNN, PBS, 60 Minutes, ABC, From the Top, Radio France, WQXR and WNYC (New York), MDR Kultur and Deutsche Welle (Germany), NHK (Japan), RAI (Italy), and on numerous television and radio stations in Venezuela.

Ms. Martinez was the First Prize winner of the Anton G. Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Dresden, and a semifinalist at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where she also received the Jury Discretionary Award. She began her piano studies in Caracas with her mother, Alicia Gaggioni, and attended The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees as a full scholarship student of Yoheved Kaplinsky. Ms. Martinez was a fellow of Carnegie Hall’s The Academy, and a member of Ensemble Connect (formerly known as Ensemble ACJW), while concurrently working on her doctoral studies with Marco Antonio de Almeida in Halle, Germany.

Read our exclusive interview with Gabriela!

Upcoming Performances

George Li, piano

Praised by The Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command, and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses  brilliant virtuosity and effortless grace far beyond his years. Since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition and being named the recipient of the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Li has rapidly established a major international reputation as he performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, such as Gustavo Dudamel, James Gaffigan, Valery Gergiev, Gustavo Gimeno, Manfred Honeck, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Kirill Petrenko, David Robertson, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Temirkanov, Vladimir Spivakov, Michael Tilson Thomas, Long Yu, and Xian Zhang.

Highlights of the 2021–22 season include orchestral engagements with the Nashville, San Diego, New World, North Carolina, Pacific, and Valencia Symphonies, as well as the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. In addition, Mr. Li will perform recitals presented by the Chicago Symphony, University of Washington in Seattle, The Cliburn Foundation in Ft. Worth, Emory University in Atlanta, and StuttgartKonzert in Germany.

Recent concerto highlights include performances with the Los Angeles, New York, London, Rotterdam, Oslo, St. Petersburg, and Buffalo Philharmonics; the San Francisco, Tokyo, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, Montreal, Baltimore, Utah, and Pittsburgh Symphonies; as well as the Philharmonia, DSO Berlin, and Orchestra National de Lyon.  His eight-concert tour of Germany with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra included performances at the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie am Gasteig Munich, and the Stuttgart Liederhalle. Mr. Li frequently appears with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra, including performances at the Paris Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music, Verbier Festival, Grafenegg Festival, and in various venues, such as the Mariinsky Concert Hall, and others throughout Russia. Li has also performed with major Chinese orchestras, such as the NCPA, China Philharmonia, and Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestras, under the baton of Long Yu and Xian Zhang.

“A bracing, fearless account…Mr. Li’s playing combined youthful abandon with utter command.”
— New York Times

In recital, Li performs at venues including Carnegie Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, the Mariinsky Theatre, Elbphilharmonie, Munich’s Gasteig, the Louvre, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo’s Asahi Hall and Musashino Hall, NCPA Beijing, Shanghai Poly Theater, and Amici della Musica Firenze, as well as appearances at major festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Vail Festival, Seattle Music Festival, La Jolla Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence Festival, Colmar Festival, and Montreux Festival.

An active chamber musician, Li has performed alongside Benjamin Beilman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, Daniel Hope, Pinchas Zukerman, Amanda Forsythe,  Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Kian Soltani, Pablo Ferrandez, and Daniel Lozakovich.

George Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinert Hall at the age of 10. In 2011, he performed for President Obama at the White House in an evening honoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among George Li’s many prizes and awards, he was the First Prize winner of the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the inaugural Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, and the Grand Prix Animato, as well as a recipient of the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award and the 2018 Arthur Waser Prize.

George is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist. His debut album, “Live at Mariinsky,” which was recorded live at the Mariinsky Concert Hall, won an Opus Klassik award for Soloist Recording of the Year in 2018. His second recording for the label features Liszt solo works and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, which was recorded live with Vasily Petrenko and the London Philharmonic, and released in October 2019.

George began his piano studies at age 4 with Dorothy Shi, before continuing with Wha Kyung Byun at New England Conservatory beginning at age 12. In 2019, he completed the Harvard/New England Conservatory dual degree program, with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Music. He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory. When not playing piano, George is an avid reader and photographer, as well as a sports fanatic.

Upcoming Performances

Stephen Hough, piano

hough16_print.jpg
“The most perfect piano playing conceivable.”
— The Guardian
“A virtuoso who begins where others leave off”
— Washington Post

Combining a distinguished career as a pianist with those of composer and writer, Stephen Hough is regarded as a Renaissance man of his time. The first classical pianist to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), his mastery of the instrument as well as an individual and inquisitive mind has earned him a multitude of prestigious awards and a longstanding international following.

Since taking first prize at the 1983 Naumburg Competition in New York, Mr. Hough has performed with the world’s major orchestras and given recitals at the most prestigious concert halls. His recent and upcoming North American engagements include performances with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras, and the San Francisco, Montreal, St. Louis, Cincinnati, National, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Dallas and Detroit symphonies among many others; recitals in New York at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the 92nd St. Y, the Kennedy Center and in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Toronto; and festival appearances at Aspen, Blossom, the Hollywood Bowl, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Tanglewood. Internationally, he appears with orchestras and in recital in major music centers such as London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki, Zurich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne.

On June 1, 2020, Stephen Hough re-opened London’s Wigmore Hall, performing the UK’s first live classical music concert in a major venue since the nationwide lockdown in March. Later in the summer he made his 29th appearance at the BBC Proms performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. During the 19/20 season, he also curated a five concert Brahms series at Wigmore Hall, performing with Renaud Capucon and Steven Isserlis among others.

Mr. Hough’s extensive discography of over 60 CDs has garnered international awards including the Diapason d’Or de l’Année, several Grammy nominations, and eight Gramophone Awards including Record of the Year and the Gold Disc. Recent releases include solo piano works by Debussy, the ‘Dream Album’, a compilation of Mr. Hough’s favorite short works, and a live recording of Schumann and Dvořák’s piano concertos with Andris Nelsons and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, all for Hyperion Records. In May 2020, Mr. Hough celebrated the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth with a three-disc recording cycle of the composer’s five piano concertos, recorded with Hannu Lintu and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra for Hyperion Records. Mr. Hough has performed the Beethoven piano concertos numerous times with the world's leading orchestras throughout his 30-year career, including in recent seasons with the New York Philharmonic and St. Louis Symphony. Mr. Hough’s next recording, Vida, featuring his Vida Breve sonata and works by Chopin, Liszt, Busoni, and Bach/Gounod, is due to be released in January 2021.

As a composer, Mr. Hough has written for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble and solo piano. He has been commissioned by Wigmore Hall, Musée du Louvre, London’s National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, the Genesis Foundation, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Indianapolis Symphony, the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, the Cliburn Foundation and the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet. His music is published by Josef Weinberger Ltd.

A noted writer, Mr. Hough has written articles for the New York Times, The Guardian, The Times (UK), The Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Tablet, Gramophone, and BBC Magazine. From 2010 until 2016 he wrote more than six hundred articles on his blog for The Telegraph, which became one of the most popular and influential forums for cultural discussion. A major anthology of essays by Mr. Hough on music, cultural, lifestyle and spiritual subjects – titled Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More – was published by Faber & Faber (UK) in 2019 and by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (US) in 2020. This follows his first novel, The Final Retreat, published by Sylph Editions in March 2018. Also an avid painter, Mr. Hough gave his first exhibition of nearly twenty abstract acrylic paintings in London in 2012.

Stephen Hough is an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, a Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York.

Upcoming Performances

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