NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC SELECTS INSTRUMENTALISTS FROM MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST FOR THE INAUGURAL NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC GLOBAL ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Ten Instrumentalists To Train and Play With Philharmonic Musicians in New York As Zarin Mehta Fellows, January 3–14, 2015
Music Academy of the West is First American Partnership of New York Philharmonic Global Academy
The New York Philharmonic has selected ten outstanding young instrumentalists from the Music Academy of the West — one of the nation’s pre-eminent summer music schools and festivals — to come to New York City for a ten-day immersion amidst its musicians as Zarin Mehta Fellows, inaugurating the Philharmonic’s Global Academy Fellowship Program. Fellowship activities will begin on January 3 in New York and include coaching, chamber music, and other professional development activities with Alan Gilbert and New York Philharmonic musicians at Avery Fisher Hall. The January program is part of the two organizations’ innovative, four-year educational partnership announced in spring 2014, which includes training of Music Academy Fellows by Philharmonic musicians, biennial performances by Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic at the Music Academy’s Summer Festival in Santa Barbara, California, and Alan Gilbert conducting Academy Festival Orchestra performances at each Music Academy Summer Festival. A new group of Music Academy students will be selected to come to New York as Zarin Mehta Fellows in each year of the partnership.
The first class of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy Fellowship Program will include ten Zarin Mehta Fellows, selected by audition: Douglas Aliano, 20 (double bass); Anthony Bellino, 22 (trumpet), Matthew Cohen, 25 (viola), Sean Krissman, 24 (clarinet), Simon Michal, 21 (violin), Charlie Rosmarin, 22 (percussion), Michael Severance, 24 (bassoon), William Shaub, 22 (violin), Genevieve Tabby, 23 (cello), and Jennifer Zhou, 21 (flute). A total of 68 Music Academy of the West instrumentalists, all full-scholarship participants during the summer of 2014, auditioned for the program.
The New York Philharmonic’s extensive partnership with the Music Academy of the West also calls for Philharmonic conductors and musicians to be in residence in Santa Barbara for portions of Music Academy Summer Festivals through 2017, performing and taking part in master classes, chamber music coaching sessions, private lessons, and lectures. In August 2015 the New York Philharmonic will make its debut at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. In 2017 the orchestras will perform together under the baton of Mr. Gilbert in Santa Barbara to commemorate the Music Academy of the West’s 70th anniversary.
“I was truly impressed with the level of musicianship of the students at Music Academy of the West I worked with this past summer — it is absolutely one of the finest training institutions in the country and I’m pleased we’re able to work with them on a consistent basis through this partnership,” said Music Director Alan Gilbert. “I look forward both to having these select Fellows with us here in New York in January, and to continuing this work in beautiful Santa Barbara this summer.”
Music Academy President Scott Reed stated, “At the Music Academy of the West, we pride ourselves on providing training worthy of the classical music stars of tomorrow, including unique educational and performance opportunities to prepare them for successful careers as musicians. This historic collaboration with the New York Philharmonic is nothing less than a validation of our program, as the Philharmonic is similarly intent on providing the next generation of elite musicians with transformative educational and performance opportunities. We are enormously proud to be working so closely with this iconic musical institution.”
Matthew VanBesien, President and Executive Director of the New York Philharmonic said, “The opportunity to bring students to New York to train with Philharmonic musicians here in our hall is an important facet of our partnership with Music Academy of the West and of all current and future Global Academy partners. We are grateful to our donors who have supported the Global Fellowship Program in the name of my predecessor, Zarin Mehta, who has made the nurturing of young musicians a priority in his career.”
The Music Academy of the West is the first American partnership of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, a series of long-term, immersive partnerships with select cultural and music education institutions in New York, the United States and worldwide to offer intensive training of pre-professional musicians by Philharmonic members alongside regular performance residencies by the full Orchestra. The Global Academy Fellowship Program is a key component of the Global Academy, offering opportunities for Academy participants to travel to New York City to train and play with Philharmonic musicians in Avery Fisher Hall. The Fellowship Program has been made possible by gifts made in the name of Zarin Mehta, who served as Philharmonic President and Executive Director from 2000–2012. The Philharmonic has also created a four-year Global Academy partnership with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, launched in September 2014, which includes the establishment of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA), in partnership with the Shanghai Conservatory, and annual performance residencies by Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic in Shanghai. Students from the SOA will participate in the Global Academy Fellowship Program in New York in the 2015–16 season; further details will be announced at a later date.
Mr. Gilbert formally launched the Philharmonic’s partnership with Music Academy of the West in summer 2014, leading the young members of the Academy Festival Orchestra in a sold-out performance at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre on July 26. Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed called the concert “a notable occasion, not only because the program was sensationally well played … Gilbert looked as though nothing in the world was more enjoyable than making the academy ensemble look good, which is to say sound great…. There was a sheen to the Academy sound that was reminiscent of the New York Philharmonic, and an irresistible playfulness.” New York Philharmonic cellist Eric Bartlett, Principal Flute Robert Langevin, and Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi led training activities.
While this new collaboration has created the first official partnership between these two organizations, the Music Academy has long enjoyed an informal connection to the New York Philharmonic through its faculty and visiting artists. In the summer of 2014, Glenn Dicterow, who retired at the end of last season after 34 years as the Philharmonic’s Concertmaster, joined the Music Academy faculty, where he has been a visiting artist in previous summers. In addition to 12 New York Philharmonic musicians who are Music Academy alumni, past Music Academy faculty members have included former New York Philharmonic Principal Flute Jeanne Baxtresser, former Associate Principal Cello Alan Stepansky, and current Philharmonic trombonist David Finlayson. Philharmonic Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps, a Music Academy alumna (‘79 and ’83) and Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, also returned as a visiting artist this past summer.
New York Philharmonic Global Academy Fellowship Program — 2015 Zarin Mehta Fellows
Douglas Aliano (double bass), 20, born on Long Island, New York, is an undergraduate at The Juilliard School, where he studies with Albert Laszlo. Last year he attended the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, where he studied with Paul DeNola. In 2012 Mr. Aliano was awarded the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York’s Genelle B. Taney Memorial Scholarship, and won the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition. Mr. Aliano is an alumnus of the Juilliard Pre-College and Mannes Preparatory divisions. 2014 was his first summer at the Music Academy of the West.
Anthony Bellino (trumpet), 22, born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, is an undergraduate at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where he studies with Robert Sullivan. A recipient of the Wade Fetzer Scholarship at Northwestern for academic and musical achievement, he won the Northwestern Concerto Competition and performed as a soloist with the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra in April 2013. Mr. Bellino won the National Trumpet Competition, the Lois Lyman Concerto Competition, and the Anthony R. Stefan Competition in 2008. He has performed with the Orford Arts Orchestra, the Northwestern Orchestras and Wind Ensembles, and the World Youth Symphony Orchestra. He attended the Music Academy of the West in 2013 and 2014.
Matthew Cohen (viola), 25, born in Santa Monica, California, received his bachelor’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music following two years of study at The Juilliard School. He has performed alongside artists such as Arnold Steinhardt, Daniel Hope, Paul Coletti, Ronald Leonard, Clive Greensmith, James Buswell, Grigory Kalinovsky, and Amit Peled. Mr. Cohen has performed solo recitals on both coasts of the United States, and as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada and Germany. He is an artist diploma candidate at the Colburn Conservatory, where he studies with Paul Coletti. 2014 was his first summer at the Music Academy of the West.
Sean Krissman (clarinet), 24, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a graduate student at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studies with Richie Hawley. An alumnus of numerous music festivals, he has appeared as a soloist with various orchestras as a competition winner. Also an avid chamber musician, Mr. Krissman is a member of Aperio: Music of the Americas and a young artist with Da Camera of Houston. Mr. Krissman was recently named Principal Clarinet of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra. 2014 was his first summer at the Music Academy of the West.
Simon Michal (violin), 21, born in Nachod, the Czech Republic, is an undergraduate at The Juilliard School, where he studies with Glenn Dicterow and Sylvia Rosenberg. The winner of numerous national and international competitions, Mr. Michal won grand prizes at the Kocian International Violin Competition and the International Radio Competition for Young Musicians “Concertino Praga,” both in 2009. As a soloist, Mr. Michal has appeared with the Santa Fe Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic, the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, and the Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He attended the Music Academy of the West in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Charlie Rosmarin (percussion), 22, born in Milton, Massachusetts, recently completed his undergraduate studies at The Juilliard School. He has performed a wide variety of repertoire with the Axiom and New Juilliard ensembles, and has appeared regularly with the historical performance group Juilliard415. Mr. Rosmarin recently performed Bach’s Mass in B minor with J415 in Japan and Singapore. His teachers have included Dan Druckman, Markus Rhoten, and Sal Rabbio. 2014 was his first summer at the Music Academy of the West.
Michael Severance (bassoon), 24, born in San Francisco, California, recently completed his master’s degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. He has performed with the Houston Symphony, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and last year gave the World Premiere of Alain Bernaud’s Bassoon Concerto at Rice. Mr. Severance earned his bachelor of music degree at the University of Texas, where he studied with Kristin Wolfe Jensen. He attended the Music Academy of the West in 2012 and 2014.
William Shaub (violin), 22, born in Canton, Ohio, made his concerto debut at age 12 and has since performed in Severance Hall and Weill Recital Hall, among others. He is an undergraduate at The Juilliard School, where he studies with Cho-Liang Lin and Masao Kawasaki. Mr. Shaub has taken part in Encore School for Strings and the Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies at Juilliard. He regularly organizes benefit concerts for his hometown’s community centers and the United Nations Foundation’s Adopt-a-Minefield Campaign. 2014 was his first summer at the Music Academy of the West.
Genevieve Tabby (cello), 23, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a graduate student at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where she studies with Hans Jorgen Jensen. She has performed on From the Top and was a semifinalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Ms. Tabby completed her undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Stephen Geber and Melissa Kraut, and took part in the prestigious Intensive String Quartet Seminar. 2014 was her first summer at the Music Academy of the West.
Jennifer Zhou (flute), 21, born in Shanghai, China, began her flute studies at age six. She has appeared as a soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, “The President’s Own” Marine Band, and the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Zhou, who made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2010, was a member of the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra and has been a substitute with the New World Symphony since 2012. She was the only U.S. representative among six finalists in the 18th Jeunesses International Flute Competition in Bucharest, Romania. Ms. Zhou recently completed her bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music. She attended the Music Academy in 2013 and 2014.
More extensive information and photos of the Zarin Mehta Fellows are available at www.musicacademy.org.
About Music Academy of the West
Founded in 1947 by a group of Southern California arts patrons and musicians that included Lotte Lehmann and Otto Klemperer, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation’s preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit-based, and Fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts;; and a fully staged opera. The Music Academy of the West’s 2015 Summer School and Festival will take place from June 15 to August 8, 2015, with events by distinguished guest performers, faculty and Fellows at the Academy’s scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
About the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic continues to play a leading cultural role in New York City, the United States, and the world. This season’s projects will connect the Philharmonic with up to 50 million music lovers through live concerts in New York City and on its worldwide tours; digital downloads; international broadcasts on television, radio, and online; and as a resource through its wide range of education programs. The Orchestra has commissioned and/or premiered works by leading composers from every era since its founding in 1842 — including Dvořák’s New World Symphony, Copland’s Connotations, and John Adams’s Pulitzer Prize–winning On the Transmigration of Souls, dedicated to the victims of 9/11. Renowned around the globe, the Philharmonic has appeared in 432 cities in 63 countries — including the groundbreaking 1930 tour of Europe; the unprecedented 1959 tour to the USSR; the historic 2008 visit to Pyongyang, D.P.R.K., the first there by an American orchestra; and the Orchestra’s debut in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2009. The New York Philharmonic serves as a resource for its community and the world. It complements its annual free concerts across the city with a wide range of education programs — among them the famed, long-running Young People’s Concerts and Philharmonic Schools, an immersive classroom program that reaches thousands of New York City students. Committed to developing tomorrow’s leading orchestral musicians, the Philharmonic has partnered with cultural institutions at home and abroad to create projects that combine performance with intensive training by Philharmonic musicians. These include collaborations with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Conservatory of Music as well as Santa Barbara’s Music Academy of the West. The oldest American symphony orchestra and one of the oldest in the world, the New York Philharmonic has made almost 2,000 recordings since 1917, including several Grammy Award winners, and its self-produced download series continues in the 2014–15 season. Music Director Alan Gilbert began his tenure in September 2009, succeeding a distinguished line of 20th-century musical giants that includes Leonard Bernstein, Arturo Toscanini, and Gustav Mahler.
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The Global Academy Fellowship Program, in association with the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, is supported in part by The Alec Baldwin Foundation, Inc. and an anonymous donor, and other gifts made towards the Zarin Mehta Fund.
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The Music Academy of the West partnership with the New York Philharmonic has been made possible through the generosity of lead sponsors Linda and Michael Keston.
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The Starr International Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Residency Partnership.
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