| Nicholas McGegan
Nicholas McGegan is an “international” conductor. Based in the San Francisco Bay area where he is Music Director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO), he is called upon by orchestras across the globe to conduct not only classical, baroque, and early romantic repertoire but also works by various special favorites including Elgar and Britten.
His 2007 schedule is typical, showing him constantly on the move in a year full of wonderful orchestras and great repertoire. Beginning in Glasgow with the BBC Scottish Symphony, he also conducts the Atlanta Symphony in an all-Mendelssohn program, debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra conducting Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, and appears with The Fort Worth Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, closing out April with Handel’s Belshazzar with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.
McGegan was in Germany earlier this year for the 87th season of the International Handel-Festival Göttingen, of which he has been Artistic Director since 1991. This year he also conducted the Handel Festival Orchestra in fully staged performances of Handel’s Giulio Cesare and concert performances of Solomon including one in Dresden’s recently restored Frauenkirche. During the summer he had performances at the Ravinia Festival with Patti Lupone; a week at the Aspen Music Festival; and four programs at the Hollywood Bowl; followed by Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and a Salieri opera at the Edinburgh International Festival.
Born in England and educated at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, McGegan has an honorary degree from London’s Royal College of Music and was elected an Honorary Professor of Philosophy at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in 2006. His hobbies include food, wine, crossword puzzles, travel, tending roses in his garden in Berkeley, California and furnishing his 19th century flat in Scotland.
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Jennifer Koh
Violinist Jennifer Koh continues to dazzle audiences with her ability to fuse intensity of temperament with a classical poise and elegance. In the words of The New York Times, she is a “fearless soloist,” who has a formidable capacity for “living through” the music she performs on stage.
As a virtuoso whose natural flair is combined with an intellectual acuity, Koh is committed to exploring connections between the pieces she plays, searching for similarities of voice between different composers, as well as within the works of a single composer. Accordingly, her programs often present rare and revealing juxtapositions, offering works by composers as divergent as Mozart and Ornette Coleman, Schubert and Wuorinen. Having received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Oberlin College and a performance diploma in music from the Oberlin Conservatory, Koh maintains a lively interest in writing and literature. Her innovative outreach ideas and her approach to the study of the composers are enriched by a broad educational background.
The 2006-07 season found Koh in demand as a guest soloist with important American orchestras and in recital at several of the country’s most prestigious venues. She was heard as soloist with the Oregon Symphony, Marin (Calif.) Symphony, Spokane Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Whatcom (Wash.) Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Orchestra 2001, Greenwich Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, and Annapolis Symphony. Her recital engagements include performances in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center, San Francisco at the Herbst Theater, San Juan (Puerto Rico), at Oberlin College and in New York at the 92nd Street Y.
Born in Chicago of Korean parents, Koh currently resides in New York City. In addition to her undergraduate studies at Oberlin, she is also an alumna of the Curtis Institute, where she worked extensively with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir.
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