UTAH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR NAMED MUSIC DIRECTOR IN LUBBOCK, WILL OFFER FAREWELL CONCERT TO UTAH COMMUNITY (SLC: Aug 17)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2011

UTAH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR NAMED MUSIC DIRECTOR IN LUBBOCK, WILL OFFER FAREWELL CONCERT TO UTAH COMMUNITY


SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Symphony will bid farewell to Associate Conductor David In-Jae Cho this summer and welcome Vladimir Kulenovic in his place as new Assistant Conductor of the orchestra.

The Lubbock Symphony Orchestra announced in a press conference Wednesday that Cho will take over as their Music Director, beginning his tenure in July of 2012. Prior to that, he will spend a year in Houston as Associate Conductor of the Shepherd School at Rice University in Houston, and finish his tenure in Utah conducting concerts for Utah Symphony | Utah Opera’s Deer Valley® Music Festival this summer.

The Utah Symphony will present a special concert led by Cho in his farewell performance as Associate Conductor Wednesday, August 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Abravanel Hall.

The event will honor Cho’s five years of dedication to the Utah Symphony and the hundreds of music education concerts he has conducted throughout Utah. It will feature Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3 and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Sirhiy Salov, Silver Medal winner of the 2010 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.

Tickets to the performance will be offered at family-friendly prices – $15 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets can be purchased in person at any ArtTix location, by calling 801-355-ARTS (2787), or online at www.ArtTix.org starting Tuesday, May 17 at 10 a.m. USUO subscribers and donors can purchase $10 discounted tickets by calling 801-533-NOTE (6683).

Kulenovic’s selection as Cho’s replacement was an enthusiastic agreement among Utah Symphony musicians and staff, following a series of auditions in December 2010 and January 2011 under the supervision of Music Director Thierry Fischer. Kulenovic’s tenure will be effective September 1, 2011 for an initial two seasons with an option for a third season. Pending his schedule after graduation from the master’s program at the Juilliard School, he hopes to arrive in Utah this July to observe the Utah Symphony’s 2011 summer rehearsals and concerts.

Information about August 17 guest artist Serhiy Salov can be found at http://www.serhiysalov.com/ and www.bachauer.com.

ABOUT DAVID CHO

During his five seasons with the Utah Symphony, David Cho has conducted many education, pops, outreach, and tour concerts. In September of 2007, he was the recipient of the First Prize at the Eduardo Mata International Conducting Competition. Cho attended the Tanglewood Music Center as a conducting fellow in 1999, followed by conducting studies under Larry Rachleff at the prestigious Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. After a year-long conducting fellowship at the New World Symphony, Cho was chosen as the Karajan Fellow in 2003 at the renowned Salzburg Festival, where he worked with the Vienna Philharmonic. The same year, Leonard Slatkin selected Cho to participate in the National Conducting Institute, where he debuted with the National Symphony at the John F. Kennedy Center. Cho served as the Resident Conductor of the San Antonio Symphony from 2004–07. In his last season there, Cho held the prestigious Bruno Walter Conductor Chair.

David Cho first worked with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra in March of 2007, and then again in October of 2009 as a guest conductor for the second masterworks concert of the season in addition to a Family Concert. Cho was immediately highly esteemed by the orchestra and the arts community for his outstanding success, and was a finalist in the LSO’s 2006-2007 season’s “search year” for a new Music Director

Some of Cho’s “Memorable Moments” with the Utah Symphony

- “Most exciting Performances:” Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in Lander, WY (January 2009); Dvorak Symphony No. 8 in Cedar City, UT (Jan 2008)
- Proposing to his girlfriend, Gloria, during “Oz with Orchestra” (November 2010)
- “Embarrassing on-stage moments:” Thanking the audience at a local school outreach concert for their “ attentiveness and wonderful… ness” (December 2008); Introducing “Rhapsody in Blue” as “one of America’s popular tunes until now” (July 2009)
- Saving the day by packing extra scores and a baton on a run-out concert trip to Helper, UT, when the guest conductor had forgotten his own (2007)

Utah Symphony Tenure Information

From September 2006 through August 2008, served as Assistant Conductor
2006-2007, conducted 100 concerts and covered(assisted) 24 programs
2007-2008, conducted 103 concerts and covered 26 program

From September 2008 through August 2011, served as Associate Conductor
2008-2009, conducted 94 concerts and covered 19 programs
2009-2010, conducted 71 concerts and covered 21 programs
By the end of 2010-2011, conducted 80 concerts and covered 20 programs

ABOUT VLADIMIR KULENOVIC

Recent Conducting Engagements
National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, Canada):
Performance at the Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on 7/29/2006.
Aspen Music Festival AACA Orchestra (Aspen, Colorado):
Performances at the Benedict Music Tent in Aspen on 7/13, 8/3 and 8/10, 2010.
Verbier Festival Orchestra (Verbier, Switzerland):
Performances at Salle Médran in Verbier, on 7/31, and 8/2/09, broadcast on Medici TV.
Beethoven-Orchester (Bonn, Germany):
Performance at the Beethovenhalle Bonn, on 10/30/2009.
Cabrillo Festival Orchestra (Santa Cruz, CA):
Performance at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on 7/29/2008.
Deutsche Kammerakademie (Neuss am Rhein, Germany):
Performance at the Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria on 8/19/2008.
Indian Hill Orchestra (Littleton, MA):
Youth Concert at the Indian Hill Music Center on 11/19/2006.
Juilliard Orchestra (New York, NY):
Performances at the Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, on 11/18/2009 and 4/28/2010.
Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra (New York, NY):
Performances at the Park Avenue Armory on 4/25/2009, and the Borden Auditorium of the Manhattan School of Music on 3/28/2008.
Peabody Symphony Orchestra (Baltimore, MD):
Performance at the Friedberg Hall of the Peabody Institute of Music on 10/17/2008.
The Boston Conservatory Orchestra (Boston, MA):
Performance at the Harvard University Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA on 10/08/ 2006.
Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra (Hartford, CT):
Performances at the Trinity Episcopal Church, on 4/28/2005 and 4/18/2004.

Assistantships
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore, MD. Cover Conductor (2008 - 2009)
Baltimore Opera Company, Baltimore, MD. Assistant Conductor (2007-2008)
Peabody Institute Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore, MD. Assistant Conductor (2008 - 2009)
The Boston Conservatory Orchestra. Boston, MA. Assistant Conductor (2006 - 2007)
Indian Hill Orchestra, Littleton, MA. Assistant Conductor (2006 - 2007)
Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra, Hartford, CT. Assistant Conductor (2003 - 2005)

Education
The Juilliard School (2009-2011)
Graduate Diploma in Conducting under the tutelage of maestro James DePreist, masterclasses with guest conductors Alan Gilbert Leonard Slatkin and John Keenan.
Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (2007-09)
Graduate Diploma in Conducting under the tutelage of maestri Gustav Meier, Marin Alsop and Markand Thakar.
Boston Conservatory (2001-2007)
Master of Music in Conducting, under the tutelage of Bruce Hangen. (2005 - 2007) Bachelor in Music (Summa cum Laude, Valedictorian) in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Janice Weber and Michael Lewin. (2001 - 2005).

Awards
Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. (The Juilliard School, 2009.)
Second Prize at the Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Paris, France. (1996)
First Prize at the 2005 Churchill Piano Competition (Boston Conservatory)
First Prize at the 2004 Alfred Lee Piano Competition (Boston Conservatory)
Alfred B. Whitney Award for the Highest Scholastic Achievement (Boston Conservatory)


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