Program Notes: The Sneetches

APRIL 23

DR. SEUSS’ THE SNEETCHES SUNDAY April 23, 2017 – 2:00pm A FAMILY SERIES CONCERT

conductor Sameer Patel

Performance at the Jacobs Music Center's Copley Symphony Hall

PROGRAM JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH / Orch. by Leopold Stokowski

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (Excerpts)

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

Allegro (Excerpt)

PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy (Excerpt)

PAUL DUKAS IGOR STRAVINSKY

LORENZO PALOMO

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"Fanfare" from La Péri Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)

Dance of the Earth (Excerpt) The Sneetches

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ABOUT THE CONDUCTOR

DR. SEUSS’ THE SNEETCHES – APRIL 23

SAMEER PATEL, ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

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ncreasingly recognized by audiences and musicians for his musicality and passionate communication, SAMEER PAT EL is one of America's most exciting young conductors. A winner of a Solti Foundation U.S. 2016 Career Assistance Award, Mr. Patel is beginning his second season as Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony after serving one year as Assistant Conductor. In the summer of 2016 Mr. Patel was selected out of a field of more than 120 conductors to study at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy with Daniele Gatti, Chief Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Immediately following his participation in the masterclass, Mr. Patel was recommended by Maestro Gatti for future guest conducting engagements in Europe, and returned to Italy in September 2016 to lead two programs with the

Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo. In 2013 Mr. Patel was one of only six conductors selected by the League of American Orchestras for the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, an event that showcases emerging conductors to orchestra industry professionals and which led to subsequent, multiple engagements with that orchestra.

He was also a Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholar, an honor given to him by former New York Philharmonic Music Director Kurt Masur. As part of this award, Mr. Patel traveled to Europe to study with and assist Maestro Masur with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Additional recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis

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Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Reading Symphony Orchestra, Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Leipziger Sinfonieorchester, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Additionally, Mr. Patel has worked with the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Lucerne Festival Strings, Orchestra da Camera di Trento, the Ensemble Zandonai, the Festival Orchestra of Sofia, the Oslo Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Northern College of Music Orchestra at the Stresa Festival. He has also conducted at the David Oistrakh Festival and the Leigo Music Days Festival in Estonia in appearances with the Estonian National Youth Symphony and the St. Petersburg Festival Orchestra.

Sameer Patel began his musical training as a pianist and received both his graduate and undergraduate degrees at the University of Michigan. He furthered his training internationally with acclaimed conductors Gianandrea Noseda, Daniele Gatti, the late Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink, David Zinman and Neeme and Paavo Järvi. He has held prestigious conducting fellowships with the Boston Philharmonic and the Chicago Sinfonietta, and credits his time with these organizations for developing his passionate approach to engaging with audiences. Also an enthusiastic advocate for music education, Mr. Patel has worked with school and youth orchestras in North America, South America and Europe. n

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