MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA David Lockington, Music Director

Contact: Caroline Nickel (209) 523‐4156 [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR COMPLETE ARTIST BIOS AND HI‐RES PHOTOS, PLEASE CLICK HERE

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH THE MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Holiday Pops! with Ryan Silverman – December 6th & 7th Holiday Candlelight Concert – December 17th

November 2019 ‐ The Modesto Symphony Orchestra’s (MSO) 2019 holiday concerts offer fun for the entire family. Complete with holiday décor and your favorite carols, the MSO’s holiday concerts have become community favorites. The MSO kicks off its holiday concerts with Holiday Pops! on Friday, December 6th at 7:30 pm and Saturday, December 7th at 2pm. Conducted by Associate Conductor Ryan Murray, this lively and festive concert features Broadway star Ryan Silverman, the MSO Chorus and the Modesto Symphony Youth Chorus. The Holiday Candlelight Concert will be held on December 17th at the St. Stanislaus Catholic Church. MSO Chorus Director, Daniel R. Afonso Jr., will return to conduct this traditional holiday concert and St. Stanislaus Church is the perfect setting for a more intimate concert that will also feature the MSO Chorus and Youth Chorus.

Holiday Pops headliner, Ryan Silverman, has performed with numerous major American orchestras including the Seattle Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and the New York Pops in Carnegie Hall with previous MSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke.

“The holiday season is always a special time for the MSO” says Caroline Nickel, President and CEO of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. “We hope that both our Holiday Pops and Holiday Candlelight Concert can bring a little extra warmth and festiveness to our community. It’s a special feeling being able to take the time to slow down and spend time with friends and family during the holiday season and each year we look forward to extending that feeling to our audiences.”

MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, HOLIDAY POPS! Friday, December 6, 2019 at 7:30 pm* and Saturday, December 7th at 2:00pm *Note the new 7:30 pm start time

Ryan Murray, conductor Ryan Silverman, vocalist Modesto Symphony Orchestra Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Daniel R. Afonso Jr., director Modesto Symphony Youth Chorus, Jennifer Grover, director

Gallo Center for the Arts, Mary Stuart Rogers Theater 1000 I Street, Modesto

TICKETS: Pricing: $19 / 39 / 54 / 71 / 94

Tickets are available through the Gallo Center for the Arts Ticket Office at (209) 338‐2100.

Group Prices available: Groups of 10+ receive a 15% discount on tickets. Call (209) 338‐5064 for more information.

Ticket Office Hours: Monday through Friday 10:00am‐6:00pm / Saturday 12:00pm‐6:00pm Tickets also available online at ModestoSymphony.org

ARTIST BIOS: RYAN MURRAY’s dynamic conducting, 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 Carnegie Hall 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 .

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.

RYAN SILVERMAN starred in Side Show on Broadway for which he received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actor. Other Broadway credits include star turns as Billy Flynn in Chicago and Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. Silverman received Drama Desk and Drama League nomination for his performance as Giorgio in CSC’s production of Passion. He has appeared at the Kennedy Center as Sir Lancelot in Camelot and as Terry Connor in Side Show. Internationally, Silverman has starred in the Theatre du Chatelet’s acclaimed production of Passion opposite Natalie Dessay and as Tony in the Olivier‐nominated 2008 West End production of West Side Story. Silverman also recently starred in the concert version of West Side Story with the Philadelphia Orchestra and in The Golden Apple at City Center Encores!

Other credits include Cry‐Baby on Broadway, Finian’s Rainbow (Irish Repertory Theater), and The Most Happy Fella at Opera. He recently made his debut at Papermill starring in Ken Ludwig’s play, “A Comedy of Tenors” and starred in the world premiere of the new musical, “A Sign Of The Times”, at The Delaware Theater Company. Silverman starred as Sky in the 1st National tour of Mamma Mia!, and Jose in the world premiere of the new musical Carmen at La Jolla Playhouse. Silverman played the role of Rapunzel’s Prince in Into The Woods at the MUNY. TV and film: Suits, Good Fight, Gossip Girl, The 5 Minarets Of New York, Sex and the City 2, True Blood.

Silverman has performed his club act the Café Carlyle (month long residency) and Feinstein’s at the Regency. Concert performances include: The New York Pops (Carnegie Hall), Seattle Symphony with Marvin Hamlisch, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philly Pops, Vancouver Symphony, The Cincinnati Pops, Symphony, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, among others.

CONCERT SPONSORED BY: Beard Land and Investment Co.

MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, HOLIDAY CANDLELIGHT CONCERT Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at 8:00 pm

Daniel R. Afonso Jr., conductor Modesto Symphony Orchestra Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Daniel R. Afonso Jr., director Modesto Symphony Youth Chorus, Jennifer Grover, director Opus Handbell Ensemble, Richard Colla, director

St. Stanislaus Catholic Church 1200 Maze Boulevard, Modesto

TICKETS: Pricing: Adult: $38 / 58 Youth: $10 / 20

Tickets are available through the Gallo Center for the Arts Ticket Office at (209) 338‐2100.

Group Prices available: Groups of 10+ receive a 15% discount on Standard Adult seating. Call (209) 338‐5064 for more information.

Ticket Office Hours: Monday through Friday 10:00am‐6:00pm / Saturday 12:00pm‐6:00pm Tickets also available online at ModestoSymphony.org

ARTIST BIOS: DANIEL R. AFONSO, JR. has served as conductor of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus since its foundation in 2001 and has prepared several choral works with the ensemble. He is also Coordinator of Vocal and Choral Studies at California State University, Stanislaus. Afonso received a B.M.E. degree from the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro (UNI ‐ Rio), a M.M. degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri‐Kansas City, and a D.M.A. degree in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa. Dr. Afonso is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and has studied conducting with Carlos Alberto Figueiredo, Cees Rotteveel, Eph Ehly, and William Hatcher.

Dr. Afonso has performed with choral groups in Brazil, U.S., and Europe, and has previously taught music at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música, Universidade do Rio de Janeiro (UNI‐Rio), and Doane College, Nebraska. In 1988, he won the first prize and the best performance of Villa‐Lobos work award at the Concurso Villa‐Lobos de Canto Coral, a national choral competition sponsored by the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Afonso is strongly committed to the performance of new music and has commissioned and premiered many new choral works in the last few years, including several of his own works as well as works by young composition students. He had his New York debut in 2012, conducting Mozart’s Requiem with members of the MSO Chorus and students from CSU Stanislaus at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

He is also a composer, arranger, and editor of choral music and has choral works published by earthsongs, Colla Voce, and Alliance Music Publications. He has served as composer‐in‐residence with the San Francisco Choral Artists (2014‐ 2015) and has also written works for the American Choral Directors Association, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Children’s Choir, and other choral ensembles in the US and abroad. One of his most recent works, La Vai Meu Bem (for youth chorus, , and percussion) received its world premiered in April 2019 at Carnegie Hall, in New York City. Afonso has written innumerous arrangements for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, including a new version of The Star‐Spangled Banner for chorus and orchestra. Dr. Afonso is widely recognized for his research and performance of Brazilian choral music and continues to frequently present workshops and lectures about the Latin American choral repertoire.

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The Modesto Symphony Orchestra is a resident company of the Gallo Center for the Arts. The DoubleTree Hotel is the official hotel of the MSO. Media Sponsor: iHeart Media & Sunny102.3