VSOI Faculty 2020
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OTTO TAUSK Music Director, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director, VSO Institute Dutch conductor Otto Tausk is the Music Director of the Vancouver Susan Graham, Alina Ibragimova, Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Symphony Orchestra, now in his second season, and serves as Artistic Daniil Trifonov and Dawn Upshaw. Advisor of the VSO School of Music. Until spring 2018, Tausk was Music Director of the Opera Theatre and Tonhalle orchestra St Gallen. He Tausk has recorded with the Concertgebouw Orchestra (Luc Brewaeys, appears as a guest with such orchestras as Concertgebouw Orchestra, and an animated version of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf), Tonhalle Rotterdam Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Orchestra St Gallen (Korngold and Diepenbrock), BBC Scottish Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Melbourne (Mendelssohn) and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Gavin Symphony, the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, the orchestras of Perth, Bryars) amongst others. His Prokofiev disc with Rosanne Philippens also Tasmania, Auckland, BBC Scottish Symphony and BBC National Orchestra received BBC Music Magazine Concerto Disc of the Month (2018). of Wales, with whom he made his BBC Proms debut last season. Born in Utrecht, Otto Tausk initially studied violin and then conducting Tausk is a hugely respected musical personality in his native Holland, with Jonas Aleksa. Between 2004 and 2006, Tausk was assistant conductor working with all its major orchestras and composers. In the 2019/2020 to Valery Gergiev with the Rotterdam Philharmonic a period of study that season, Tausk continues guesting relationships with Lahti Symphony, had a profound impact on him. In 2011 Tausk was presented with the ‘de Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Olifant’ prize by the City of Haarlem. He received this prestigious award Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, and makes debut appearances with for his contribution to the Arts in the Netherlands, in particular his Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Québec and extensive work with Holland Symfonia serving as Music Director 2007 to Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. 2012. In reflecting on their work together in The Netherlands, Valery Gergiev paid particular tribute to Tausk on this occasion. In Vancouver, programming highlights include celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday with BeethovenFest in spring 2020, and soloists such as www.ottotausk.nl JONATHAN GIRARD Assistant Conductor, VSO Institute Artistic Director, UBC Chamber Orchestra Festival American-born conductor Jonathan Girard is one of the rising stars of his Shostakovich. The 2014-2015 season featured Bartok’s Concerto for generation. A passionate musician committed to engaging audiences Orchestra and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, and culminated in two with thrilling performances, he continues to gain a reputation as a performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with 300 musicians on stage. musical force equally versed in Highlights of 2013-2014 season included a landmark performance of Le symphonic repertoire, opera, and new music. As the Director of Sacre du printemps to mark the 100th anniversary of the work’s Orchestras at the University of British Columbia School of Music, Mr. première, and a tour of Western Canada with Canadian violinist David Girard dedicates himself to raising the standard of orchestral training in Gillham, featuring the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Beethoven’s Western Canada. Symphony No. 5 and Strauss’ Don Juan. The UBC Symphony’s 2015-2016 season celebrated the University https://www.jonathangirard.com centennial year with a world première by Jared Miller, Soundscape for a https://music.ubc.ca Century Past, and the ninth symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert, and https://music.ubc.ca/chamber-orchestra-festival NICHOLAS WRIGHT Concertmaster, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Wright addition collaborated with film composers John Williams and Alexandre is a native of England. His engagements as soloist, chamber and Desplat. orchestral musician have taken him to most of the major concert halls in As a chamber musician Nicholas regularly takes part in series such as the Europe, Asia and North America. He has performed concertos with Mainly Mozart Festival, Ribble Valley Festival, LSO and VSO chamber orchestras worldwide including the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Royal players and Vancouver's Music on Main. He has performed in venues Oman Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. His such as LSO St Luke's and has collaborated with many renowned artists repertoire spans works from Handel to premieres by composers such as including Martin Roscoe and Simon Wright. Prior to his appointment as Kelly-Marie Murphy and Jocelyn Morlock, whose works he recently concertmaster of the VSO, he was first violinist of the critically acclaimed recorded for the Naxos label. He made his solo debut with the York Vancouver based Koerner Quartet. Guildhall Orchestra playing the Dvořák Romance, which was recorded for BBC Radio 3. His concerts and recordings have also been featured on Nicholas received his training as a scholar at the Royal College of Music CBC Radio (Canada) and Radio 4 (Hong Kong). in London, studying with Itzhak Rashkovsky and Rodney Friend. In addition to winning prizes at the Royal College, Nicholas has been As an orchestral musician, Nicholas has worked with the world's most generously supported by grants from the Martin Musical Fund, the renowned conductors including Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Craxton Memorial Fund and the Royal Overseas League. This has Gergiev and Mstislav Rostropovich. He has performed extensively with enabled him to study with many eminent musicians including Ruggiero the major chamber and symphony orchestras in London including the Ricci and Gil Shaham. Nicholas enjoys teaching and has given many English Chamber and London Philharmonic Orchestras, and has masterclasses internationally. He is on the faculty of the VSO School of appeared as guest concertmaster with orchestras such as the Music. Nicholas plays on a violin by Stefan-Peter Greiner. Bournemouth Symphony, BBC Concert and Ulster Orchestras. In 2003, he was appointed as the youngest member of the London Symphony ' wonderfully judged with seemingly effortless projection of tone…..It Orchestra where he held the first violin sub-principal position, and in was a triumph. ‘ ~ The York Press KAREN GERBRECHT Associate Principal Second Violin, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Karen began playing the violin at the age of three, influenced by four After settling in Vancouver, Karen was appointed to the faculty of the generations of musicians in her family. She studied at the Vancouver Vancouver Academy of Music, and taught there from 1990 - 2002. As Academy of Music until leaving BC to pursue a post-secondary both a chamber musician and an orchestral player, Karen has education at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Graduating first in performed throughout Europe, Canada, the US and Asia, and she her university class, Karen was awarded the single highest scholarship continues to count traveling as one of her favorite pursuits. Since awarded by NCSA; the Sarah Graham Kenan Scholarship. joining the VSO, Karen has been named a McBride Scholar at Bryn Mawr in Philadelphia and has twice attended the Banff Centre for the After graduation, while performing as Associate Concertmaster of the Arts as an Artist-in-Residence. In 2012, Karen is delighted to appear as a Spoleto Festival Opera Orchestra (Spoleto, Italy) Karen was named member of the Nomidi Trio, and is particularly honoured to be working Director of Chamber Music at Davidson College, (Davidson, NC) and and performing with Nomidi and the iconic Canadian dancer Margie remained in that post for two years until winning a position in the Gillis. Vancouver Symphony, where she is Associate Principal Second. Karen is very good at making her son laugh. EMILIE GRIMES Associate Principal Viola, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Originally from Ottawa, Emilie Grimes holds a Master of Music degree Vancouver, including the VSO Chamber Players, UBC’s Wednesdays at from the Juilliard School, where the studied with Michael Tree and Noon, Classics at the Gordon Smith Gallery, the Vancouver Chamber Steven Tenenbom. She completed her Undergraduate degree at the Music Society, and has performed as a guest with the NU:BC new music University of Montreal under the tutelage of Neal Gripp. ensemble. She was appointed Adjunct Professor of Viola at the University of British Columbia from 2017 to 2019. As an orchestral and chamber musician, Emilie has performed in venues worldwide. She toured with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Emilie joined the viola section of the Vancouver Symphony in 2012, and Orchestra in Germany, and appeared on Hong Kong’s Radio 4 with the was recently appointed Assistant Principal Viola. She currently holds the Vancouver based Koerner Quartet. She has also appeared on WQXR in position of Acting Associate Principal Viola. New York, playing baroque viola with Juilliard’s historical performance ensemble, and was featured in the National Arts Centre’s “My First NAC” showcase concert series. She regularly takes part in series around ZOLTAN ROZSNYAI Associate Principal Cello, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Zoltan Rozsnyai was born into a musical family. Both his parents and many years in the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet grandparents were