TSO Music Director Search—Meet the Finalists
Announcing Our
Music Director Finalists
Eight months and 247 applications later, the TSO Music Director Search Committee is proud to introduce our five conductor finalists. Each of these extremely gifted musicians will conduct the TSO during the 2012-13 season, so there will be ample opportunity for everyone to meet each candidate and see him in action on the podium.
We hope you enjoy getting to know these candidates as much as we have!
* To learn more about each conductor, click on the picture above.
*Tell about your concert experience by sending a note to MusicDirectorSearch@tallahasseesymphony.org
Conducting schedule
Robert Treviño Conducts September 15, 2012
Yaniv Dinur Conducts October 20, 2012
Matthew Kraemer Conducts January 19, 2013
Jacomo Bairos Conducts March 9, 2013
Darko Butorac Conducts May 4, 2013
Meet Our Music Director Finalists
Recently praised by the Tanjug News Agency for his "exceptional energy and musicianship," Maestro Darko Butorac is quickly establishing himself as one of the world's most sought-after young conductors. Following his debut with the Belgrade Philharmonic in January of 2011 he was invited to both close the 2011 and open the 2012 concert season. In addition to his activities in Belgrade, upcoming concerts this season include debuts with the Tallin Sinfonietta and the Georgisches Kammerorchester in Ingolstadt, as well as return engagements with the Charleston Symphony and Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers.
Within North America, Butorac has been featured as a guest conductor with such orchestras as the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Charleston Symphony, the Canton Symphony, the Montana Lyric Opera and as the Principal Conductor of the Northwest Mahler Festival in Seattle. Highlights of his guest conducting engagements abroad include the Trondheim Symphony in Norway, the Mendoza and Neuquen Symphonies in Argentina, the Xiamen Philharmonic in China, the Slobozhansky Orchestra and the Kharkov Philharmonic in the Ukraine, and annual visits with Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra of Parma as the principal conductor of the Fidenza Opera Festival in Italy.
Butorac was the 2004 Grand Prix laureate of the Fourth Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition, where he was selected out of 24 competitors from 17 countries. In March 2005, he was invited by the League of American Orchestras to participate in the prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2007, Maestro Butorac has served as the music director of the Missoula Symphony and has propelled the orchestra to a new level of musical achievement, with an expanded repertoire and local premieres of works by established and emerging composers. Butorac and the orchestra have shared the stage with renowned guest artists, including Grammy-nominated violinist Robert McDuffie, pianists Stewart Goodyear and Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and clarinetist Jon Manasse. The Symphony’s growing popularity has ignited concert sales and established Butorac as a cultural icon within the community. An enthusiastic ambassador for classical music, he also produces the award-winning “DownBeat DownLow” podcast with radio personality Leah Lewis.
In 2003, Butorac was awarded a fellowship by David Zinman to study at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival. Upon his return to the festival in 2004, Butorac was named Assistant Conductor of the Aspen Opera Theater Center and worked with Julius Rudel and Arnold Oestman. He has also worked extensively at the Brevard Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Indiana University and the University of Toronto. His principal mentors are David Effron, Jorma Panula and David Zinman.
Visit Darko Butorac’s website at http://www.darkobutorac.com
Described as “expressive and passionate” [Malaysian Straits Times], and lauded by the Leipziger Volkszeitung as an “impressive conductor… who was elegantly demanding” with Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony, Jacomo Bairos enjoys a rising international career as conductor, champion of new music and dedicated educator. Recently concluding a two-year post as Associate Conductor for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Mr. Bairos regularly works with some of America’s finest orchestras and ensembles.
2012/13 season highlights include return engagements with the Symphony Orchestras of Atlanta and Charleston, as well as debuts with the Leipzig (Germany), North Carolina, Amarillo, and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras. He will also continue his work as guest conductor with the CSO through the 2012/13 season, programming and conducting a variety of concerts to include subscriptions on the heralded Knight Sounds and Pops series.
Previous seasons include return engagements with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta National do Porto (ONP) and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra as well as debuts with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Malaysia Philharmonic and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Bairos has worked with an array of distinguished artists such as Shlomo Mintz, Latin-Grammy winner, Nestor Torres, the crossover group Project Trio, and Cuban Band Tiempo Libre to name a few.
Met with critical acclaim from Fanfare Magazine, his debut recording in 2009 of Raw Emotions and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra featured late 20th century concertos by North American Composers. Firmly committed to the performance and commissioning of living American composers, he regularly conducts the music of Mason Bates, Adam Schoenberg, Christopher Theofanidis, Michale Torke, and Paul Dooley respectively. From 2005-2007 Mr. Bairos was the Artistic Director for the Singapore Symphony's Chamber Music Series where his adventurous programming garnered consistent audience praise and a doubling in attendance during his tenure.
A passionate educator, Mr. Bairos regularly visits local schools and has developed concerts for youth that have reached thousands of kids across the Carolinas. In his native homeland of Portugal he led concerts for some 2300 kids with the ONP and was Music Director for the 2010 National Youth Orchestra Festival of Portugal. As former Director of Orchestras with the renowned Baltimore School for the Arts, he worked closely with the Baltimore Symphony’s “OrchKids”, creating side-by-sides and education workshops for children in underserved urban communities.
Awarded the prestigious 2012 Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship by Maestro Kurt Masur, he traveled to Leipzig Germany to share concerts with the LSO, assist at the Gewandhaus Orchestra and further his studies and mentorship with Mo. Masur.
Discovered by eminent teacher Gustav Meier, he was invited to attend the Peabody Conservatory where he also became conducting assistant to Leon Fleisher. Mr. Bairos primary conducting mentors are Gustav Meier, Robert Spano and Kurt Masur. He also has participated in master classes with Jorma Punula, Marin Alsop, Edward Polochick, Hugh Wolff, and Larry Rachleff.
Mr. Bairos furthered his studies at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen in 2012 and 2010, the 2011 Cabrillo Music Festival and with the 2012 Kurt Masur conductors seminar in New York where Mo. Masur invited him to perform together in concert. Mr. Bairos was also semi-finalist for both the 2010 Sir George Solti International Conductors Competition, and 2009 Eduardo Mata Conductors Competition.
As an accomplished and award winning tubist, Mr. Bairos has given master classes and performed with festivals and orchestras around the world. New York Magazine praised his solo performances in the Juilliard Focus Festival of 1998 as one of the “instrumental highs of the festival” and at age 18, he was the first tubist in the history of the Aspen Music Festival to win the festival wide concerto competition. He has performed, toured and recorded with the Symphony Orchestras of Chicago, Cincinnati, Seattle and with the New York Philharmonic. He has held principal posts with orchestras in America, Spain, China, and most recently was principal tuba for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Born and raised in Lisbon to both American and Portuguese parents, he holds Portuguese (EU) and US citizenship and currently divides his time between Miami, FL, and Charlotte, NC.
Yaniv Dinur is the winner of numerous international conducting competitions. In September 2009, he won a special Second Prize – an award the jury created especially for him – in the International Eduardo Mata Conducting Competition in Mexico City. In 2005, he won the Yuri Ahronovitch First Prize in the inaugural Aviv Conducting Competition that was held in Tel Aviv. He was chosen to be a featured conductor for the 2011 Bruno Walter National Conducting Preview with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra by the League of American Orchestras, and he is also a grant recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and The Zubin Mehta Scholarship Endowment.
Yaniv Dinur started his conducting career at the age of 19 when he was invited to conduct the Israel Camerata Orchestra in Jerusalem, making him the youngest conductor ever invited to conduct an orchestra in Israel. Since then, he has conducted orchestras in Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Russia, Poland, the United States, Mexico and Canada. Yaniv Dinur has worked closely with such world-class conductors as Lorin Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Pinchas Zukerman, Kurt Masur, Kenneth Kiesler, Jorma Panula and Gerhard Markson.
Born in Jerusalem in 1981, Yaniv Dinur began studying the piano at the age of 6 with his aunt, Olga Shachar and later with Prof. Alexander Tamir, Tatiana Alexanderov and Mark Dukelsky. At the age of 16, he began to study conducting with Dr. Evgeny Zirlin. While still in high school, Dinur began his formal studies with Dr. Zirlin at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. After graduating from the Jerusalem Academy, he studied privately with conductor Mendi Rodan.
Yaniv Dinur holds a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance where he studied with Prof. Kenneth Kiesler.
Visit Yaniv Dinur’s website at www.yanivdinur.com
Recognized for his “musical sensitivity” and “energized sense of interpretation,” conductor Matthew Kraemer is quickly gaining notice for his inspired performances and innovative programming. Herman Trotter of the Buffalo News recently wrote, “He presents a tall, dignified and stately podium presence with a quite clear beat, a good sense of shaping melodic lines, and an all business attitude that focused on the music without any histrionics.” Mr. Kraemer currently holds the Montante Family Endowed Associate Conductor’s Chair with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and in this role appears on each of the orchestra’s major series, including subscription weeks, Pops, Family, and summer concerts. He plays a vital role in designing and conducting the orchestra’s award-winning education and community engagement programs, as well as assisting Music Director JoAnn Falletta during recording sessions and on tour.
Upcoming season highlights include performances with fiddler Mark O’Connor, banjo player Bela Fleck, jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, and tour performances with Tony Award winner Idina Menzel. Mr. Kraemer’s future guest conducting appearances include the Elgin Symphony, the Tallahassee Symphony, the Butler County Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Hamilton Philharmonic (ON), and return engagements with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
Recipient of the distinguished Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship and the Bruno Walter Career Development Grant, Mr. Kraemer served a residency with the Vienna Philharmonic at the 2006 Salzburg Music Festival. His numerous guest conducting engagements have included appearances with the symphony orchestras of Akron, Asheville, Atlanta, Baltimore, Canton, Cincinnati, Hartford, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Mississauga (ON), Nashville, North Carolina, Spokane, St. Louis, and Virginia, the Reno Chamber Orchestra, and in Europe with the Vidin Philharmonic and the Orquesta de Cadaqués. Equally at home in the ballet pit, he has led fully-staged productions with Virginia Ballet Theatre, Ohio Ballet, Neglia Ballet Artists, and Todd Rosenlieb Dance. He has served as conductor for Broadway superstar Idina Menzel’s numerous symphony engagements nationwide and he has also collaborated with many other leading artists, including Awadagin Pratt, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Philippe Quint, Jennifer Koh, Ben Folds, Chris Botti, and Richard Stolzman, among many others. He recently conducted the BPO to considerable acclaim when internationally renowned superstar Lang Lang performed Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at Kleinhans Music Hall.
Prior to his appointment in Buffalo, Mr. Kraemer completed a highly successful, three-year tenure as associate conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra where he led the orchestra in over 200 performances throughout the state of Virginia. He has held positions with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and the Akron Youth Symphony, having led the AYS into its 50th anniversary season with a performance in Carnegie Hall.
Mr. Kraemer is a passionate advocate for new music and has performed the works of many living composers during his career. He has led composer readings and workshops with several orchestras in the United States and will continue to lead the BPO’s Earshot partnership with the American Composers Orchestra’s in Buffalo this season. Also increasingly recognized for his committed advocacy of music education and his devotion to young audiences, he has created numerous arts education programs and has taught at several music festivals both in the US and abroad. The Buffalo Philharmonic’s extensive education concerts have grown exponentially under his leadership, expanding to reach over 40,000 students throughout western New York. An Indiana native, Mr. Kraemer studied conducting in Vienna, Austria with Salvador Mas Conde and was twice a fellowship conductor at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. He has additionally participated in the National Arts Center Conductor’s Program in Ottawa, Canada. His conducting teachers include David Zinman, Robert Spano, Stanley DeRusha, and Jorma Panula. Mr. Kraemer is a graduate of Butler University and the University of Nevada, Reno, where he assisted former Cincinnati Symphony concertmaster Phillip Ruder. An accomplished violinist in his own right, he was a member of the Nightingale String Quartet. Fluent in German and French, his principal violin teachers include Phillip Ruder, Herbert Greenberg, and Larry Shapiro. When he is not performing, Mr. Kraemer enjoys cooking, running, and reading. He and his wife Megan reside in Buffalo, NY.
Visit Matthew Kraemer’s website at www.matthewkraemer.com
Since his professional debut in 2003 at the age of 20, Robert Treviño has become an emerging force on the international music scene and is currently the Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony. He has conducted numerous orchestras across North America, Europe, and Asia including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York City Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, New World Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Chicago Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Napa Valley Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic of South Korea, Wuppertal Symphony of Germany, Montpellier National Orchestra of France and Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico Philharmonic of Mexico.
Formerly the Associate Conductor and Guest Conductor for the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, Robert Treviño has led the world premieres of five operas as part of the annual VOX: American Opera Series. Recent and upcoming highlights include a production of Tosca at the Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow, Russia), Music Director Candidacy with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Macon Symphony, and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, and performances with the Ensemble Modern Academy Orchestra at the Klangspuren Festival (Schwaz, Austria), the Millennium Chamber Players at the Jusqu’aux Oreilles Festival in Montreal, and a month-long residency with the Helsinki Philharmonic where he has assisted Music Director Leif Segerstam on the complete symphonic works of Sibelius. This past summer, Mr. Treviño was selected by James Levine to be one of three conducting fellows at the Tanglewood Music Festival where he worked with artists such as Mark Morris, Kurt Masur, and Emanuel Ax.
Robert Treviño is a laureate of the 2010 Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition and was awarded the 2010 James Conlon Prize for Excellence in Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He also won a 2010 Career Assistance Award from the Sir George Solti Foundation, and was a featured conductor at the 2011 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview. As an avid advocate and performer of contemporary music, the artist has worked closely with many leading composers and has been the recipient of numerous grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Art.
Mr. Treviño has studied with Maestros David Zinman, Leif Segerstam, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Kurt Masur. He is managed by IMG Artists Managers Aimee Chow and Bill Palant.
Visit Robert Treviño’s website at www.roberttrevino.org