Jan. 19, 2014
Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island presents “Brahms #1” the second concert of the “Season of Discovery” at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26, at South Whidbey High School in Langley.
The orchestra will welcome conductor Chao Li and violin soloist Gloria Ferry-Brennan in a program featuring Giacomo Puccini’s “Sinfonico Preludio,” Ernest Chausson’s “Poème” for violin and orchestra, and “Symphony #1, Op.68 in C minor” by Johannes Brahms.
Li is one of three finalists for the position of music director and conductor of the Saratoga Orchestra. He has held positions as Assistant Conductor of the Lewisville Lake Symphony Orchestra in Lewisville, Texas and Music Director of the Dallas Asian American Youth Orchestra.
Born in China, Mr. Li has had the opportunity to work with renowned musicians such as Zubin Mehta, Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern, among others. Li is currently completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at University of North Texas, with a focus in orchestral conducting.
Gloria Ferry-Brennan began playing the violin at age 4 and is currently a student of Simon James of the Seattle Symphony. Gloria has performed as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Saratoga Orchestra, Ottawa Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Festival Orchestra and Sammamish Symphony Orchestra as well as the Seattle and the Everett Youth Symphony Orchestras. She was the national winner of the Music Teachers National Association Junior Strings Competition, appeared on NPR’s “From the Top” and received 3rd place at the Johansen International Competition for Young String Players in Washington DC. In the summer of 2013, Gloria was one of 10 exceptional student artists to participate in the Starling-DeLay Symposium for Violin Studies at The Juilliard School and will be competing in February in the Senior Finalist category at the prestigious Menuhin Competition in Austin, Texas.
General Admission tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for seniors/military. Students 18 and younger are admitted free (14 and younger must be accompanied by a paying adult).
Tickets are available at Moonraker Books in Langley, Vino Amore in Freeland, bayleaf in Coupeville, and Click Music in Oak Harbor. Cash/check and credit cards are accepted at the door.
For more information and online tickets please visit the Saratoga Orchestra website.
(Pictured at top, Violinist Gloria Ferry-Brennan onstage. / Photo by Michael Stadler)