Overture Magazine 2019-20 BSO_Overture_Jan Feb | Page 12

MOVIE WITH ORCHESTRA:
AMADEUS
JOSEPH MEYERHOFF SYMPHONY HALL
Friday, January 3, 2020, 8 pm
Sunday, January 5, 2020, 3 pm
MUSIC CENTER AT STRATHMORE
Saturday, January 4, 2020, 8 pm
Nicholas Hersh, conductor
Lura Johnson, piano
BSO Symphonic Chorale, Edward Polochick, director
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Amadeus: In Concert
Antonio Salieri
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Music Editor Mark Adler

Part I
INTERMISSION

Part II
The intermission will last 20 minutes. The concert will end at approximately
11 pm on Friday and Saturday and 6 pm on Sunday.
AMADEUS LIVE IS A PRODUCTION OF AVEX CLASSICS INTERNATIONAL
About the Artists
Nicholas Hersh
Named a “versatile and
energetic conductor”
by The Baltimore
Sun, Nicholas Hersh
continues to earn
acclaim for his innovative programming
and natural ability to connect with
musicians and audiences alike. As
Associate Conductor of the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra (BSO), Hersh
strives to expand the reach of orchestral
music—most notably through BSO
Pulse, a concert series that brings
together indie bands and symphony
musicians in unique collaborations.
Hersh conducts the BSO in a set
of subscription concerts each season,
utilizing the Off The Cuff format to
familiarize new concertgoers with the
orchestral repertoire. A regular guest
of the National Symphony Orchestra,
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OV E R T U R E / BSOmusic.org
he made his subscription debut in
2019, stepping in last minute for an
indisposed Yan Pascal Tortelier. Other
guest conducting appearances have
included the Houston, New Jersey,
Phoenix, North Carolina and New
World symphonies, as well as the
Rochester Philharmonic. Debuts in the
2019–20 season include the Atlanta
and Virginia symphony orchestras; the
Sarasota Orchestra; and the Louisiana
Philharmonic Orchestra.
An avid educator, Hersh serves as
the Artistic Director of the Baltimore
Symphony Youth Orchestras and directs
the BSO’s educational and family
programming, including the celebrated
Academy for adult-amateur musicians.
He is a frequent collaborator and guest
faculty at the Peabody Institute and the
BSO’s OrchKids program for Baltimore
City schoolchildren.
Hersh grew up in Evanston, IL and
started his musical training on the cello.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in music
from Stanford University and a master’s
degree in conducting from the Indiana
University Jacobs School of Music,
studying with David Effron and Arthur
Fagen. In 2011 and 2012 he was a
Conducting Fellow of the prestigious
Aspen Conducting Academy at Aspen
Music Festival and School, studying
with Robert Spano, Hugh Wolff and
Larry Rachleff and has participated in
masterclasses with Bernard Haitink and
Michael Tilson Thomas. Hersh is also a
two-time recipient of the Solti Foundation
Career Assistance Award.
Hersh is frequently in demand as
an arranger, taking on anything from
classical solo and chamber music to
popular songs—adapting them for
orchestra in an idiosyncratic, playable
style. His symphonic arrangement of
Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” continues
to see worldwide success as a viral
YouTube hit, and he has had his work
performed by orchestras around the globe.
Hersh lives in Baltimore with his wife
Caitlin and their two cats and, in his
free time, enjoys baking (and eating)
sourdough bread.
Nicholas Hersh last appeared with
the BSO in December 2019, conducting
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker featuring
cirque artists Troupe Vertigo.
Lura Johnson
Pianist Lura Johnson is
a Steinway Artist and
the Second Prizewinner,
as a member of Duo
Baltinati with cellist Ilya
Finkelshteyn, of the 2015 International
Johannes Brahms Competition Chamber
Music Division. Hailed as “brilliant” by
The Washington Post, she is celebrated
for her passionate and insightful
interpretations of the standard repertoire
and esteemed by colleagues for her
uncommon sensitivity as a collaborative
partner. Equally comfortable as a soloist,
chamber musician and orchestral
musician, she is the Principal Pianist of the
Delaware Symphony and has performed
extensively as the pianist of choice for the