Beethoven 8 + Haydn

Chilean-Italian conductor Paolo Bortolameolli has a bustling concert schedule across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, in addition to serving as Principal Guest Conductor at the Ópera Nacional de Chile.

Despite the devastating consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic to live performances across the globe, Paolo will conduct re-engagements with the LA Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, the Orchestra della Toscana (Florence) and will debut with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra later in the 2020–21 Season. Paolo will also appear at the famed Macerata Opera Festival for the 100th anniversary of the festival to conduct Verdi’s La Traviata.

In addition to the upcoming engagements named above, Paolo Bortolameolli’s recent guesting dates include the LA Philharmonic, where he previously held the position of ‘Associate Conductor’, Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar in Caracas, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires.

He is passionately committed to new music and audiences, having developed innovative projects such as RiteNow, a celebration of the centennial of “The Rite of Spring” and also as the creator of “Ponle Pausa”, a project that seeks to revolutionize the concept of music education through the implementation of short videos and concerts targeting social network users. Paolo conducted ATLAS, a landmark new production of Meredith Monk’s inventive opera, performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In 2019 he was invited as lecturer for a TED Talk in New York.

Having conducted every significant orchestra in his Chilean homeland, Paolo has been awarded prizes three times by the Arts Critics Association as Symphonic and Opera Conductor of the Year.

Paolo holds a Master of Music degree (Yale School of Music, 2013), a Graduate Performance Diploma (Peabody Institute, 2015), a Piano Performance Diploma (Universidad Católica de Chile, 2006), and a Conducting Diploma (Universidad de Chile, 2011). In 2020, he was elected as Corresponding Member of the Chilean Academy of Fine Arts.

Cellist Brinton Averil Smith continues to win rave reviews for virtuosic performances with musical ideals rooted in the golden age of string playing. His debut recording of Miklós Rózsa’s Cello Concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra won widespread international critical acclaim, with Gramophone praising Smith as a “hugely eloquent, impassioned soloist,” and his recording of the chamber music of Fauré with Gil Shaham was chosen by numerous critics as one of the year’s best albums. A passionate advocate of compelling unfamiliar repertoire, Smith recently gave the North American premieres of rediscovered works of Jean Sibelius and Alexander Zemlinsky. Smith’s performances, hailed as “stunningly beautiful” by the American Record Guide, have been broadcast on CBS’s Sunday Morning and on the radio throughout the United States, including American Public Media’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast.

Smith has appeared regularly as a soloist with the Houston Symphony since joining the orchestra as Principal Cellist in 2005. Prior to this appointment, he was the first musician chosen by Lorin Maazel to join the New York Philharmonic and was Principal Cellist of the San Diego and Fort Worth Symphonies. As a chamber musician, Smith has collaborated with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Sarah Chang, Dawn Upshaw, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Cleveland, and Berg quartets. Smith is also a faculty member of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Aspen Music Festival.

The son of a mathematician and a pianist, Smith was admitted to Arizona State University at age 10, where he took courses in mathematics, music, and German. At age 17, Smith completed a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He then became a student of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California, where he was also a teaching assistant in the mathematics department, and completed work for a Master of Arts in Mathematics at age 19. He subsequently studied with the renowned cellist Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School, where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts, disserting on the playing of Emanuel Feuermann. Smith resides in Houston with his wife, pianist Evelyn Chen, their daughter, Calista, and two slightly evil, but kind-hearted dogs. For further information, please visit www.brintonaverilsmith.com