Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Summer 2015 Artist Biographies

Nicholas Hersh, conductor
Star-Spangled Spectacular

Recently appointed Assistant Conductor with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conductor Nicholas Hersh has served as Music Director of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in Indiana and Assistant Conductor with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado. He has appeared in concert with the New World Symphony in Miami and the Southern Great Lakes Symphony in Detroit, and he has served as cover conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival. In 2011 and 2012, he was a Conducting Fellow at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, and he is a recipient of the Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.

Mr. Hersh grew up in Evanston, Illinois and started his musical training with the cello. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Stanford University and a master’s degree in conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with David Effron and Arthur Fagen. He also counts Robert Spano, Hugh Wolff and Larry Rachleff among his conducting mentors, and he has participated in master classes with Bernard Haitink and Michael Tilson Thomas.

Mr. Hersh’s performance credits span a diverse range of genres beyond the traditional concert canon, including opera, Broadway, pops, choral, Viennese dance, ballet and film music. An avid performer of new music, he has conducted world premieres of two silent film scores live with pit orchestra and projection, as well as an opera, a symphony and numerous concert pieces. He also continues to earn acclaim for his skill as an arranger and orchestrator. Mr. Hersh’s arrangements include commissions from the Cleveland Pops, the National Repertory Orchestra and the Jackson Symphony, and in 2013 his orchestral arrangement of Queen’s famous “Bohemian Rhapsody” saw worldwide success after the video of its premiere went viral on the Internet.

Seth MacFarlane

At 25, Seth MacFarlane became the youngest showrunner in television history when his animated series “Family Guy” aired on FOX. Now in its 13th season, “Family Guy” has garnered MacFarlane Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and Outstanding Music and Lyrics. In addition to “Family Guy,” MacFarlane serves as co-creator, executive producer and voice actor on “American Dad!” He also executive produced the 21st -century version of “Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey,” which premiered last March on ten US networks, simultaneously across FOX and National Geographic platforms, making it the largest television premiere event of all time.

MacFarlane made his feature film directorial debut in 2012 with the highest-grossing original R-rated film of all time, Ted. This buddy comedy starred Mark Wahlberg and MacFarlane as the voice of the lovable foul-mouthed teddy bear. The film made over $545 million worldwide and was also co-written and produced by MacFarlane. Fresh off the success of Ted, MacFarlane hosted the 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and was also nominated for the film that same year. He was nominated in the Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song category for “Everybody Needs a Best Friend.” The sequel is currently in post-production and is set for release on June 26, 2015.

MacFarlane’s debut album Music is Better Than Words, debuted at #1 on the iTunes jazz charts in 2011 and went on to receive two Grammy nominations, including “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.” Released by Universal Republic, the album celebrates the classic, sophisticated sound of the lush swing orchestras of the ‘40s and ‘50s with MacFarlane singing some of the hidden gems of that era. Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles collaborated with MacFarlane on two duets on the album. In 2014, MacFarlane released his first-ever Christmas album, Holiday for Swing, that debuted at #1 on the iTunes holiday album charts. The album features timeless holiday songs accompanied by a 52-piece orchestra.

In August of 2014, MacFarlane performed with the world-renowned John Williams Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, lending his baritone voice to renditions of “Luck Be a Lady” and “You’re Sensational” to rave reviews. MacFarlane also recently performed sold-out shows with the San Francisco Symphony on New Year’s Eve and the National Symphony Orchestra on Valentine’s Day.

Jonathan Carney, leader and violin
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

BSO Concertmaster Jonathan Carney is in his 13th season with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, after 12 seasons in the same position with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born in New Jersey, Mr. Carney hails from a musical family with all six members having graduated from The Juilliard School. After completing his studies with Ivan Galamian and Christine Dethier, he was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship to continue his studies in London at the Royal College of Music.

After enjoying critically acclaimed international tours as both concertmaster and soloist with numerous ensembles, Mr. Carney was invited by Vladimir Ashkenazy to become concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991. He was also appointed concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and the Basque National Orchestra in 1996. Recent solo performances have included concertos by Bruch, Korngold, Khatchaturian, Sibelius, Nielsen, the Brahms Double Concerto and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which was featured as a live BBC broadcast from London’s Barbican Hall. He has made a number of recordings, including concertos by Mozart, Vivaldi and Nielsen, sonatas by Brahms, Beethoven and Franck, and a disc of virtuoso works of by Sarasate and Kreisler with his mother Gloria Carney as pianist. New releases include Beethoven’s “Archduke” and “Ghost” trios, the cello quintet of Schubert and a Dvořák disc with the Terzetto and four Romantic pieces for violin.

Mr. Carney is passionate about music education and currently serves as artistic advisor for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras. He is also an artist in residence at the Baltimore School for the Arts, one of the country’s premier high schools and also serves on its Board of Directors.

Tito Muñoz, conductor
Dvořák’s New World Symphony

Mr. Muñoz’s 2014-2015 season includes guest appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, and the Manhattan School of Music. In Canada, he makes appearances with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Toronto’s Royal Conservatory Orchestra and the Calgary Philharmonic. Additional international engagements will take place with the Sao Paolo State Symphony. Past notable engagements include the orchestras of Alabama, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Hawaii, Houston, Indianapolis, Louisville, Milwaukee, Naples, Rochester, San Antonio, Sarasota, and Westchester, among others. Summer festival engagements have included the Chautauqua Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra and the Chicago Philharmonic at the Ravinia Festival. Previous international engagements include the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Opéra de Rennes, Danish Radio Sinfonietta, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Auckland Philharmonia, and Sydney Symphony.

An accomplished violinist, Mr. Muñoz began his musical training in the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, continuing studies in violin and composition at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. He attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and participated in the InterSchool Orchestras of New York and New York Youth Symphony. He furthered his training at Queens College (CUNY) as a violin student of Daniel Phillips.

Ariel Horowitz, violin
Dvořák’s New World Symphony

Violinist Ariel Horowitz cannot remember life before loving music. Winner of the Silver Medal and Audience Choice Award at the 2013 Stulberg International String Competition, The Violin Channel praised Ms. Horowitz’s artistic philosophy, “If they gave out prizes for attitude … we think we may have found the Olympic champion.” Ms. Horowitz studies with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho at The Juilliard School as a recipient of the Dorothy Starling and Arnold R. Deutsch/Dorothy Delay Scholarships. She has performed as a soloist with the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, the Western Michigan University Symphony Orchestra, the Carmel Symphony Orchestra, and the New Albany Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Horowitz has appeared as a soloist in the US, China, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Brazil and Argentina. In the 2012- 2013 season, Ariel was chosen as a Junior Division competitor of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, where she received the Morningside Music Bridge Young Artist Award and was featured in the Gala Finale Concert Hand-Over Ceremony at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China. She performed as a soloist and chamber musician with the Indiana University Virtuosi on a ten-city tour of Argentina and Brazil and at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, she collaborated with Maestro Raymond Harvey at the Stulberg International String Competition’s Midsummer Night’s Gala Concert and twice with pianist Christopher O’Riley, live on National Public Radio’s “From the Top” and in concert at the 2014 gala concert at MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Mass.

Ms. Horowitz has participated and performed in summer music festivals such as The Perlman Music Program, Keshet Eilon International String Mastercourse, Mozarteum Salzburg Summer Academy, Morningside Music Bridge, Orford Music Festival, Indiana University Summer String Academy, and Ferme de Villefavard. Her previous teachers include Mauricio Fuks, Mimi Zweig, and Li Lin, and she has received additional instruction from artists such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Ivry Gitlis, Vadim Gluzman, Joshua Bell, Edward Auer, Mark Kaplan, Miriam Fried, Karen Gomyo and Jaime Laredo.

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The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is funded by an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County government and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is also supported by the Citizens of Baltimore County and Baltimore City.

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