MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Contact: Caroline Nickel [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / OCTOBER 14, 2020

​ ​ (From left to right: Julian Schwarz (Matt Dine), Schwarz performing with the MSO in 2014 (Diane Moody)) Download photos and bios from MSO’s Press Room

MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO PRESENT VIRTUAL CELLO RECITAL OCTOBER 21 Cellist Julian Schwarz in Recital, hosted by Ryan Murray

MODESTO, CA - The Modesto Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will present a virtual recital featuring cellist Julian ​ ​ ​ Schwarz with pianist Marika Bournaki and hosted by Associate Conductor Ryan Murray on Wednesday, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ October 21 at 7:00 pm. The virtual performance will feature a variety of works for cello by Beethoven, Brahms, ​ Korngold and more.

“October usually marks the start of our Classics series, so we wanted to bring a guest artist to our virtual MSO at Home series,” said Caroline Nickel, President and CEO of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. “Julian Schwarz is a fantastic cellist and he performed with the MSO back in 2014. We’re so excited to have him perform in recital for our community and we can’t wait to see him again!”

This will be the MSO’s fourth free virtual event in its MSO at Home series. This recital will be shown live on the MSO’s YouTube channel. Recordings of this event and other past events are available to watch at ModestoSymphony.org. The MSO’s virtual events are free of charge to help bring music to everyone in the ​ community.

The MSO’s Conductor’s Circle donors are invited to a virtual Post-Concert Reception following Julian Schwarz’s recital. For more information on the reception, please contact Carole Richard, Director of Development at [email protected] or 209-523-4156 x107.

MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, MSO at Home: Julian Schwarz in Recital Hosted by Ryan Murray Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 7:00 pm on the Modesto Symphony’s YouTube channel ​

Julian Schwarz, violin ​ Marika Bournaki, piano ​ Ryan Murray, host ​

PROGRAM : Cello Sonata in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2, I. Allegro con brio ​ ​ ​ Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Much Ado about Nothing, Op. 11 (arr. J. Schwarz), III. Scene in the Garden, IV. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Masquerade: Hornpipe ​ Ernest Bloch: Méditation Hébraïque ​ ​ : Scherzo (“Sonatensatz”) ​ Claude Debussy: Sonata in D minor, II. Sérénade, III. Finale ​ Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: African Dance #2 from 4 African Dances, Op. 58 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Streaming for free on the Modesto Symphony’s YouTube channel - Click here for the direct link ​ A recording of the virtual recital will be available from the same link following the performance.

ARTIST BIOS: Julian Schwarz was born to a multigenerational musical family in 1991. Heralded from a young age as a cellist ​ destined to rank among the best of the 21st century, his powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palate are hallmarks of his style.

After making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the with his father, , on the podium, Mr. Schwarz made his US touring debut with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Since being awarded first prize at the inaugural Schoenfeld International String Competition in 2013, he has led an active career as a soloist, performing with the symphony orchestras of Annapolis, Boise, Buffalo, Charlotte, Columbus, Des Moines, Hartford, Jacksonville, Louisville, Memphis, Modesto, Omaha, Puerto Rico, Richmond, Rochester, San Antonio, Sarasota, Seattle, Syracuse, Toledo, Tucson, Virginia, West Virginia, Wichita, and Winston-Salem, among others. Internationally, he made his Australian debut with the Queensland Symphony, his Mexican debuts with the Boca del Rio Philharmonic in Veracruz, and the Mexico City Philharmonic with frequent collaborator Jorge Mester, and his Hong Kong debut at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival. He has also appeared at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Schwarz performs extensively in recital with pianist Marika Bournaki. In 2016 the Schwarz-Bournaki duo was awarded first prize at the inaugural Boulder International String Competition’s “The Art of Duo”, and subsequently embarked on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in March 2017. Mr. Schwarz is a founding member of the based Frisson Ensemble (a mixed nonet of winds and strings), and the Mile-End Trio with violinist Jeff Multer and Ms. Bournaki. He performs frequently at Bargemusic in with violinist Mark Peskanov, on the Frankly Music Series in Milwaukee with violinist Frank Almond, as a member of the Palladium Chamber Players in St. Petersburg FL, and has appeared at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival and the Seattle Chamber Music Festival. In addition, he is the co-coordinator of chamber music at Eastern Music Festival, programming the repertoire for the Tuesday evening chamber music series.

Julian Schwarz is an ardent supporter of new music and has premiered concertos by and ; the Jones concerto was recorded with the All Star Orchestra for public television in 2012 and subsequently released as a DVD on Naxos. In the 17-18 season, he gave the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s first Cello Concerto with the Toledo Symphony and a consortium of five other orchestras. Additional premieres include recital works by Paul Frucht, Scott Ordway, Jonathan Cziner, Gavin Fraser, Alex Weiser, Ofer Ben-Amots, and the US Premiere of Dobrinka Tabakova’s Cello Concerto. No stranger to the recording studio, he has recorded Bright Sheng’s “Northern Lights” for Naxos, the complete cello/piano works by Ernest Bloch for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, and an album of concertos with the Seattle Symphony.

A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Asst. Professor of Cello at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University (Winchester, VA) and on the artist faculty of New York University (NYU Steinhardt). He spends his summers teaching and performing at the Eastern Music Festival (Greensboro, NC). Past faculty appointments include artist-in-residence at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (Nova Scotia, Canada), faculty teaching assistant to at The , and Artist-In-Residence at the pianoSonoma Festival.

Born in Seattle, WA, Julian Schwarz studied at the Academy of Music Northwest and the Lakeside School. His studies continued at the Colburn School in Los Angeles under Ronald Leonard, and he then moved to New York City to study with mentor Joel Krosnick at The Juilliard School, earning his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in 2014 and 2016 respectively. Other influential teachers include the late David Tonkonogui, , Lynn Harrell, Neal Cary, and chamber music mentors Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, Jonathan Feldman, Toby Appel, and Paul Coletti. Mr. Schwarz plays a Neapolitan cello made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1743 and uses an American bow made by Paul Martin Siefried. He is an active contributor to Strings Magazine’s Artist Blog and sits on the music committee of the National Arts Club. A Pirastro artist, he endorses and plays the "Perpetual" medium and edition sets of cello strings as well as Melos Rosin.

For more information, go to www.julianschwarz.com.

Ryan Murray's dynamic , natural musicality and deeply held passion for the arts have allowed him ​ to steadily build a robust career since his professional debut at the age of just 22. Ryan is currently the Associate Conductor for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra and Music Director for the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra; with whom he made his conducting debut at in 2014. Since his appointment in 2013, Ryan has consistently worked to improve the quality, skill, and prominence of the youth orchestra, and now leads an ensemble that features over 60 students from the greater Modesto area. He is also Music Director of Opera Modesto and Artistic Director and Conductor of Music in the Mountains. Ryan is the newly appointed Director of Orchestras and Opera at California State University, Sacramento, and also directs the orchestra at CSU Stanislaus. He previously served as Music Director for Fresno Grand Opera and as a staff conductor for the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute (BASOTI) and The Opera Academy of California in San Francisco. Effortlessly moving between genres, Ryan currently enjoys a wide range of performance genres & platforms, including traditional orchestral and operatic repertoire, pops performances, and a notable emphasis on contemporary American operatic works.

Ryan has recently garnered national recognition for his dynamic, compelling performances of contemporary opera and is the current winner of the 2016/17 American Prize in Opera Conducting for his highly lauded production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He was a 2016 semi-finalist for the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for ​ ​ the Performance of American Music and received honorary mention for the American Prize in Youth Orchestra Conducting. Ryan is also a past winner of the Vienna Philharmonic’s prestigious Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors and spent the summer in residence alongside the Vienna Philharmonic at the 2014 Salzburg Festival.

Driven by a lifelong passion for learning, Ryan has attended masterclasses and seminars around the world including the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music's Conductors Workshop, the Musikin Aika Summer Festival Masterclass in Finland, the Aurora Chamber Festival in Sweden, the Lucerne Festival Academy’s Conducting Masterclass in Switzerland, and the Eastman School of Music’s Summer Conducting Institute featuring the Rochester Philharmonic. Ryan holds degrees, summa cum laude, in Bassoon Performance and Voice Performance from California State University, Sacramento. Widely praised for his tireless work ethic, natural poise, and impassioned, inspired performances, Ryan continues to connect deeply with orchestras and audiences alike and has proven to be a formidable presence on the podium.

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The Modesto Symphony Orchestra is a resident company of the Gallo Center for the Arts

The Modesto Symphony Orchestra’s 90th season is generously supported by E. & J. Gallo Winery John & June Rogers Porges Family Foundation Boyett Petroleum Beard Land and Investment Co. Atticus, LLP