2023-24 Season Overview
|
Affairs of the Heart
Saturday September 23, 2023, 7:30pm Hammer Theatre 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose Free Admission/Donations Accepted Suggested Donation $25 Per Adult Program Othello Suite - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Symphony No. 2 - Jean Sibelius Jelani Canser, conductor |
|
|
Jelani Canser began playing string bass at the age of eleven in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, performing through high school in various orchestras, as well as in band (on baritone horn and bass guitar) and in choir. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education at the University of Minnesota. In 2001 Jelani started his career as an elementary orchestra teacher in Mesa, Arizona. He earned his Master's degree in Music Education with a concentration in Jazz Studies at Arizona State University in 2007. In 2008 he moved to San Jose and continued his career teaching orchestra and band at Muwekma Ohlone Middle School. In 2015 Jelani was awarded Teacher of the Year for San Jose Unified School District. In 2022 he joined the faculty of Lincoln High School, teaching Orchestra and Mariachi.
|
|
The Nutcracker
Collaboration with the San José Dance Theatre December 8-10, 2023 San Jose Center for the Performing Arts 255 Almaden Blvd, San Jose The Nutcracker - Pyotr Tchaikovsky |
|
|
Lamentation and Joy
Saturday, February 3, 2024, 7:30 PM Hammer Theatre, San Jose 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose Free Admission/Donations Accepted Suggested Donation $25 Per Adult Program Escaramuza - Gabriela Lena Frank Estampas Nocturnas - Manuel Ponce Symphony No. 5 - Pyotr Tchaikovsky Catalina Barraza-Gerardino, conductor |
|
|
Catalina Barraza-Gerardino has extensive experience as a professional violinist, orchestral conductor, and pedagogue. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Violin/Viola at San José State University. She has recently served as Concertmaster of the New Ballet of San Jose Orchestra and has played with Symphony San Jose and San Jose Chamber Orchestra. An active pedagogue in the Bay Area, Catalina regularly coaches the San Jose Youth Orchestra and the San Jose Youth Chamber Orchestra. Catalina was a lead violin teacher in the Overture Program with the Sphinx Organization, whose mission is to empower black and Latinx communities through music. She holds a doctorate in violin performance from Michigan State University. She pursued her Master in Music at University of Arkansas and her bachelor in music at Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia.
|
|
Life Motifs: Music of the Movies
Saturday, April 13, 2024, 7:30 PM De Anza Visual and Performing Arts Center, Cupertino 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino Free Admission/Donations Accepted Suggested Donation $25 Per Adult Program "Sunrise" from Also sprach Zarathustra - Richard Strauss Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) - Richard Strauss End Titles from "Emma" - Rachel Portman Theme from "Jurassic Park" - John Williams Sayuri’s Theme from "Memoirs of a Geisha" - John Williams Adventures on Earth from "E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial)" - John Williams Thomas Alexander, conductor |
|
|
Thomas Alexander started the violin at the age of four after he was captivated by the magic and splendor of The Nutcracker. He studied violin performance at UCSD, then moved to San Francisco, and played with many community and professional orchestras near and around San Francisco. He spent 15 years working with the San Francisco Civic Symphony Association, serving on the board, playing concertmaster in multiple groups, and starting numerous ensembles including "Mozart to Mendelssohn,” "Civic Strings," and "Civic Pops." It was through this organization that he started conducting in earnest, leading Civic Strings and Mozart to Mendelssohn, and guest conducting the San Francisco Civic Symphony. Thomas also founded impromptuSF as Music Director. It was The Nutcracker, again, that brought him to Cambrian Symphony.
|
|
Soundscapes
Saturday, June 15, 2024, 7:30 PM Hammer Theatre, San Jose 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose Free Admission/Donations Accepted Suggested Donation $25 Per Adult Program Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture - Mikhail Glinka blue cathedral - Jennifer Higdon Concerto Nova - Erik Mychal Anderson Erik Anderson, electric cello Musica per Orchestra Sinfonica - Yasushi Akutagawa La Mer - Claude Debussy Scott Krijnen, conductor |
|
|
As a cellist, bassist, conductor and teacher, Erik Anderson’s charismatic personality and thoughtful approach to music engages audiences of all ages and musical tastes. Whether in pre-concert lectures for the Minot Symphony Orchestra, presentations in public school classrooms, or on stages from the Great Plains to Europe, he communicates an infectious curiosity and deep respect for the music he performs—from AC/DC to Zeppelin, Baroque to Contemporary—as well as a passion for education and exploration.
A native of Washington State, he began his cello studies at the age of three, earned his BM and MM from the University of Idaho, and completed his DMA at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers have been Wayne C. Smith, William Wharton, and Yehuda Hanani. In 2003, after seven years as a free-lance cellist, assistant conductor, and business owner in Cincinnati, OH, he joined the faculty at Minot State University (Minot, ND) where he currently resides with his wife and four sons as a Full Professor of Music and Chair of the Division. He plays on a modern Italian instrument, made by Riccardo Bergonzi in Cremona in 2006. Apart from music, Dr. Anderson loves to cook, golf, cross-country ski, play games with the family, and chase any type of ball as though his life depended on it. |