The concert features Nielsen’s delightful Flute Concerto, with Katrina King Nicholson as soloist, and selections from Dvořák’s lively Symphony No. 8.
The concert also includes the US premiere of “Toranj” by Iranian composer Aftab Darvishi. HAO Director Evan Meccarello tells us he became familiar with Darvishi’s music through pieces she wrote for the Kronos Quartet. Toranj means bergamot and is also an ancient Persian motif used widely in weaving carpets and rugs. This is her interpretation of the mathematical pattern in musical form. She also incorporates fragments of Persian folk music to give it an Iranian flavor.
Click here to read the program.
Created in 2010 as a reunion of musicians with connections to Hochstein, the Hochstein Alumni Orchestra has reunited each year to present free, high-quality concerts. Members of the HAO have gone on to win international contests, have received mention by music critic Alex Ross in The New Yorker magazine, and earned opportunities to play in professional orchestras including the Detroit Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Fort Worth Symphony.
The concert is free, with donations accepted to benefit Hochstein's Tuition Assistance Program.
This concert will be livestreamed, on Hochstein’s YouTube channel, for those not able to attend the concert in person. Watch at https://youtu.be/l6oK_jSaCFM.
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Katrina King Nicholson is a native of Marion, NY, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a doctorate from the Shenandoah Conservatory. She is the winner of numerous competitions in the Rochester and Cleveland areas and has performed as soloist with groups including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Finger Lakes Symphony Orchestra, Case Baroque Orchestra, and Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra. She has a special interest in music theory and historical performance, holding a music theory minor from CIM and Early Music Performers’ Certificates from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Nicholson is an active flute teacher and freelancer in the greater Washington, DC area and currently serves on the faculties of the International School of Music and the Sharyn Byer Institute of Fine Arts. In her spare time, she enjoys trail runs, classic literature, and experiments in the kitchen.
Conductor Evan Meccarello is founder and director of the Hochstein Alumni Orchestra. Since 2010, he has led the group in world-premiere performances of Rochester composers and showcased talented musicians in a concert tour of the region. He was a member of the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra in high school, serving as Co-Concertmaster and Apprentice Conductor. Meccarello is currently Music Director of the Binghamton Community Orchestra and Artistic Director of Cordancia Chamber Orchestra. When many musicians could not play together during the pandemic, he developed and led Music Outside the Box, an all-online festival for high school musicians that featured live virtual ensemble rehearsal and performance. The program was a National Finalist for The American Prize in virtual performance. Meccarello’s conducting experience spans professional, collegiate, youth, and community ensembles. This season includes work as cover conductor for the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (Wheeling, WV) and teaching conducting at Nazareth College. Uptown Tango is his ongoing project playing violin in an Argentine tango duo for dancers and listeners.