The San Luis Obispo Symphony (SLO Symphony) will host for the first time in its 62-year history a woman conductor. Laura Jackson, Music Director of the Reno Philharmonic, will take the baton and lead the orchestra through Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose–Five Children’s Pieces: Suite, Zhou Tian’s Violin Concerto: The Infinite Dance with virtuoso soloist Caroline Goulding and Beethoven’s Symphony
No. 7, op. 92 in A Major (many will recognize this piece as the seminal music that paces King George’s first war-time speech in the Academy Award-winning film, The King’s Speech). The concert takes place Saturday, February 6, 2016 at 8 p.m.
“The SLO Symphony is very excited to have two extremely talented and dynamic women for our third Classics in the Cohan concert,” said Francie Levy, Symphony General Manager. “Each is a rising star in the industry, known for bringing new and unique music to the forefront. This is going to be one of the most exciting concerts in this organization’s history.”
Laura Jackson, in her seventh season as musical director of the Reno Philharmonic, continues to win praise for her artistry, leadership and innovative programming. In addition to concerts with the Reno Philharmonic, Ms. Jackson conducts nationally and internationally.
In May 2013, at the invitation of the State Department, she became the first-ever American to lead the Algerian National Orchestra. Other recent engagements include a tour of Brittany with L’Orchestre de Bretagne and the Philippine Philharmonic. In North America, she has performed with the symphonies of Alabama, Atlanta, Baltimore, Berkeley, Detroit, Phoenix, San Antonio, Toledo, Toronto, Windsor and Winnipeg.
Ms. Jackson served as the Assistant Conductor/American Conducting Fellow with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano from 2004 to 2007. Prior to her appointment in Atlanta, Ms. Jackson studied conducting at the University of Michigan with Kenneth Kiesler and spent summers at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Music Center in 2002 and 2003. As the Seiji Ozawa Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood, she conducted numerous concerts featuring both traditional and contemporary repertoire.
“I am delighted and honored to be the Symphony’s first woman conductor. I have been first in many instances,” says Jackson. “But, I am not a pioneer. The path that women before me have forged has made it easier for me. The industry is changing before our eyes. I used to be one of a handful and that handful is opening up. What is good to see is that women are conducting at the highest orchestra level.”
Caroline Goulding comes to Classic at the Cohan playing Zhou Tian’s Violin Concerto: The Infinite Dance, a piece commissioned in 2015 by the Atlantic Classical Orchestra specifically for Ms. Goulding. The young virtuoso, just 23, debuted the concerto to high praise. Tian’s composition comes from his love of dance music around the world. As he was composing this concerto, two categories of dance pieces surfaced from memory and inspired him: Bach’s Partitas and traditional Erhu (a two-stringed instrument also known as the Chinese violin) music created for Chinese folk dances. Additionally, Tian’s other inspiration comes from the violin itself. Although, like many composers, he was trained first as a pianist and uses the piano to compose, it is violin that is closest to his heart. It was the first instrument he learned under the guidance of his father, who is a violinist and a composer, and Tian is now married to a violinist as well. He has always loved the sound of the instrument, and composing this piece felt like a release of that love.
Goulding has appeared as a soloist with many of the world’s premier orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Berlin’s ensemblemini, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, the Tonhalle-Zurich, the Louvre Museum, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Currently studying with Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy, Caroline splits her time between Kronberg, Germany, and Boston, Massachusetts. A past member of the Stradivari Society, Caroline currently plays the General Kyd Stradivarius (c 1720), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.
Mini Subscription Packages for Remaining Three Classics in the Cohan On-Sale
There are three Classics in the Cohan concerts remaining in the 2015-2016 season. For the first time, the SLO Symphony is offering a Mini-Subscription package for the remaining events on February 6th, March 12th and May 7th. Series ticket price ranges from $54-$216 and can be purchased through the PAC box office or by calling (805) 756-4849. Individual tickets are also available.