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Peter Chatterjee in Conversation with Christian Baldini

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This season, the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra presents the world premiere of When the Alarm(s) Stopped by composer and conductor Peter Chatterjee, a graduate student in conducting at UC Davis. Peter’s work, written for the Taproot New Music Festival, reflects both his intellectual curiosity and emotional insight—qualities that also define his approach to conducting. This will be premiered on Saturday, October 25, 2025 at the Mondavi Center in Davis, in a program that also includes Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. We spoke about his creative process, the balance between composition and conducting, and his evolving artistic vision. Here is also a comment from my esteemed colleague, Professor Nicolás Dosman: “Peter, a gifted composer, began the master’s program in conducting two years ago. His experience was limited to instrumental works as a composer and conductor. Throughout his studies Peter has not only composed beautiful choral music but has grown into a conductor that can communicate effectively with choirs and orchestras with a composer’s insight.”

Christian Baldini: Peter, you wear two hats: composer and conductor. How do these two disciplines feed each other, and how do you balance them in your daily life?

Peter Chatterjee: I find that the two build on and inform one another quite well. As a composer, I find that having a background in communicating with ensembles, both in the written score and in person, has been extremely helpful. On the conducting side, knowing the types of behind-the-scenes work that composers put into their pieces helps me bring a unique perspective to the music that I wouldn’t have without that other side.

CB: Let’s talk about When the Alarm(s) Stopped. What inspired this piece, and how did your vision for it evolve during the writing process? In your program notes you indicate that “Throughout all of the circumstances of the piece — the building climactic points, uncanny recurring moments, and shifting, melting — the strings function as a sort of plane from which winds and brass emerge and come into conflict.” – How would you expand on the emotional, aesthetic and philosophical dimension of this work?

PC: I had originally started with this concept around the doomsday clock and how we have been nearing closer and closer to the midnight point, the point at which humans have induced an irreparable global catastrophe. Over the time I was working on the piece, my focus shifted a bit to the way in which certain warning systems for social and natural disasters have been eroded in recent decades.

CB: You conduct both orchestras and choirs at UC Davis. How would you describe the main differences between these two worlds? What do you find most rewarding—and most challenging—about working with these different ensembles?

PC: The two worlds are so different but equally rewarding. Overall, the similarities are the most important for me, developing community through music, experiencing what it’s like to learn and perform the standard repertoire, and exploring music of our own time. Most of what I have conducted with the UC Davis ensembles has been music by living composers, so bringing my own compositional perspective has been helpful at times, especially when working with composers in real time. This has been especially with the sinfonietta, premiering new works that don’t have recordings yet, and translating between a live composer and the ensemble.

CB: In your conducting studies, what have been some of the most transformative lessons or experiences?

PC: The idea of knowing a score down to the smallest detail and still being able to have an open mind to what an interpretation by another musician can bring. So much of large ensemble is finding this balance point between what you imagine while studying a score and what the musicians bring with them to the music in experience, personal sounds, etc.

CB: Who are some of the conductors you most admire, and what qualities in their leadership or musicianship resonate with you?

PC: There are so many that I admire, but most recently I’ve been finding most resonance with the work of Marin Alsop. Not only is she a fantastic and groundbreaking conductor, but one whose career has embraced the rich traditions of orchestral music alongside work raising the profiles of so many contemporary composers and young conductors. Salonen and Dudamel are also constant inspirations, especially with the degree to which they brought new music to Los Angeles and San Francisco during their tenures there.

CB: And on the composition side—who are your greatest musical influences, past or present? What draws you to their work?

PC: Color, both instrumental and vocal, is one of my biggest draws to composers like Messiaen and Ellington. The full list would take up way too much time, but when a composer can capture a certain space or color in a visceral way, I’m hooked.

CB: When you compose, what are you seeking to achieve? Is there a particular atmosphere, narrative, or emotional truth that you want your music to evoke?

PC: It very much depends on the piece. For a while I was relating most of my music to nature and the shifts between seasons or atmospheric phenomena. Lately I have been writing music that attempts to explore sonic spaces that relate to unsettled feelings and embracing the lack of clarity that manifests in such situations. I am actually working to push this as far as I can in a chamber opera I’m working on for my dissertation.

CB: Many young musicians today blur the lines between genres and disciplines. How do you see yourself within that landscape? Do you identify with any particular aesthetic, school, or movement?

PC: I’ve found myself traveling in and in between so many different types of musical practice, starting with jazz, then new music, now adding conducting formally into the mix. I think that the blending that’s happening can lead to many exciting places that we didn’t think were possible, and the encouragement that exists for the work right now is incredible.

CB: How has your time at UC Davis so far shaped you as an artist? Are there mentors, courses, or experiences that have been especially pivotal?

PC: On the compositional side, I could not have done as much as I have without the support and advice of the wonderful faculty here. They have all helped so much, but I would especially like to mention Kurt Rohde and Laurie San Martin for their support. On the conducting side, both you and Professor Dosman have been wonderful, as have the members of the choirs and orchestra. Additionally, the UCD choirs’ tour of Vienna and Salzburg in the summer of 2024 was a turning point for me, introducing a side of opera and of musical community that I had not experienced in that way before.

CB: What are your next steps after graduation? (NB: in addition to completing a Master’s in Conducting, Peter is also completing a Ph.D. in Composition) Are there particular projects, collaborations, or long-term goals you’re excited to pursue?

PC: Well, I still have almost two years left, so many paths may still show themselves that I haven’t yet come across, but my goal would be to continue working with ensembles as composer, conductor, or both, and continuing to teach music.

CB: What advice would you give to younger musicians, conductors or composers who are just starting to find their voice?

PC: I would encourage them to embrace their own curiosity and to follow where it leads. There are so many paths to building a life with music that finding a way to keep your own creativity and motivation will help lead to a successful path.

CB: Finally, how do you hope audiences will feel when they hear When the Alarms Stopped for the first time?

PC: There are certain moments of tension, others of release, but rarely if ever relaxation. I hope this comes through.

Peter Chatterjee is a Bay Area-based composer, arranger, and conductor.  He holds degrees from Berklee College of Music and California State University, Northridge. His primary composition mentors were Marti Epstein, Bob Pilkington, Ayn Inserto, Liviu Marinescu, and A.J. McCaffrey.

Peter’s recent compositions have included several works for orchestra, large jazz ensemble, and chamber ensembles centered around the ways that experience and memory and time are altered by heightened emotional contexts. His music has been performed by the Mojave Trio, Emily Thorner, Hrabba Atladottir, UC Davis Sinfonietta, UC Davis Chamber Singers, and the Esterhazy Quartet. His work has also been read and recorded by the Pacific Chamber Orchestra and by the SF Contemporary Music Players. Peter is currently a PhD candidate at UC Davis, studying composition with Mika Pelo and Kurt Rohde, orchestral conducting with Christian Baldini, and choral conducting with Nicolás Dosman.

Beauty, Experimental, Music, Nature, Symphony Orchestra

Maya Miro Johnson in Conversation with Christian Baldini

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On March 9, 2024, I will conduct a program featuring the world première of a new work by composer Maya Miro Johnson, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 at the Mondavi Center, UC Davis. Below is a conversation with Maya about her new piece.

Christian Baldini: Maya, welcome, I am delighted that you have composed “in the valley of the shadow” for the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, and that you will be in California with us for its world première, as well as running the video which will be projected with the piece. In a nutshell, I know the main source of inspiration for this piece comes from radiology/MRI images of your own body. Please tell us about this piece, how did you approach writing it, and what are the main musical sources for it? Also: how would you say you relate content from visual images to music in your own compositions? (and how does the video you created relate to the music?) What would you like people to listen for in this piece?

Maya Miro Johnson: This piece, in the valley of the shadow, is about revolving. Inspired by the structured approach of radiology, I split the orchestra into 6 layers of distinct musical ideas (each one I arbitrarily assigned to “musculoskeletal, cardiovascular/lymphatic, neurological, connective tissue, internal organs, keratin” slices, just as a helpful metaphor). Those 6 discrete blocks of sound then “rotate” around the orchestra in 3 different views of the exact same sonic material: coronal (from above), saggital (silhouette), and frontal (what it sounds like). Every time the view switches on the musical layers, the instrumentation of the ideas changes. So, for example, the “musculo-skeletal” layer might start out in the flutes and end up in the basses, for example, while the “neurological” layer could move around the percussion and celeste. Sometimes all the layers are present, like at the purposefully cacophonous beginning of the piece, and the colors sort of melt into a brown or sepia as they mix so broadly. Sometimes, especially by the end, there is only one layer present, with the “camera” of the listener’s eye and ear simply panning through the same soundworld of one idea. Accordingly, the structure of the piece is about thinning out the layers from all to just one… stripping the body down more and more, past skin and bones, guts and blood, to something more clinical and deindividualized, to literal bands of light and shape. I hope the piece evokes these endless rotations: static, floating, and organic, just like the decontextualized radiological images projected in the cyclical and continuous video art accompanying the music.

I am areligious, but the title comes from the famous Psalm 23:4, “though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death…”. I thought about the idea of living in a valley, always running to avoid the constant movement of shadows across the ground, spending life trying to escape the touch of death. This literal rotation of the sun across the sky and thus the shadows across the floor made me think very clearly of the constantly moving human body and served as an apt metaphor for all aspects of the piece.

CB: Your musical language seems like that of an omnivore. You explore sounds, you incorporate noise seamlessly into your language. There seems to be inspiration and influences from both American and European composers from different aesthetics. How would you describe your musical language, and does it vary much from piece to piece?

MMJ: My work has changed a lot in the last few years as I’ve grown, but I think I’m very contextually-driven. My work begins with a concept, and my journey with a piece is based around figuring out how to successfully connect that driving statement to engaging and sculpted content, which can be quite diverse (from indie songwriting to composed theater/performance art to intricate instrumental gestures to hardcore electronic noise music, maybe all in the same piece!). Right now, my work thematically orients around cyborgs and the idea of synthesis as using technology to be a prosthetic part of the body/ecosystem of a piece. I’m really interested in the politics of bodies (and how we treat/conceptualize embodiment) as metaphors.

CB: Tell me about your musical training. How did it all start? You are a fabulous performer on a few instruments, you compose and you conduct. What is ultimately the ideal “job” for you? What would you like to be doing in 10, or 20 years?

MMJ: Well, originally, I thought I might pursue contemporary dance professionally, but I had too many injuries (thanks, Hypermobile Spectrum Disorder!) and realized that would not be possible. I had always been interested in the choreography and semiotics of physical movement and proprioception in playing acoustic instruments. This interest sparked a questioning of how the conducting language might be related to dance. So, I started really practicing violin seriously and joined a youth orchestra, where I attended workshops for a Young Composers Project, led by the incredible Devin Maxwell, on a total lark. Devin was the first person who made me realize music is actively made in a process that involves struggle and failure, not just “taking dictation from God”, as the trope goes.  I realized I was “allowed” to write music too, and the rest is history! From there, I started studying conducting, violin, and composition with mentors who were enormously generous with their time. For college, I ended up at Curtis, where I’ve trained for my undergraduate degree in Music Composition for the past 5 years, primarily with Steve Mackey, Amy Beth Kirsten, David Ludwig, Nick DiBerardino, and Jonathan Bailey Holland. I’ve also worked privately with Chaya Czernowin at Harvard, who has been an invaluable mentor for me as well.

I imagine the best career for me would be grounded in exploring and reinvigorating The Practice (TM) by teaching, while still actively making work with collaborators all over the world in many different genres and settings. Yes, of course, I will always love writing (and directing) orchestra music, but I think my creativity most thrives in settings where I’m deeply involved in a risky experiment of a performance. I see myself exhibiting in museums, creating pieces in theaters, as well as presenting in concert halls. I hope to keep my performing life going as long as my body holds up!

CB: What are some challenges you’ve encountered as an artist, and as a human being (we can totally talk about health issues if you wish, or something else)?

MMJ: My biggest flaw as a person is being hyperfunctional. I’ve just been diagnosed with a genetic disorder that explains symptoms and comorbidities I’ve had for years, ranging from minor to life-threatening. Coming into my own as a hidden-disabled woman who also identifies as Jewish and queer has been a really difficult mental transition, perhaps even more difficult than the actual physical experiences of abuse and pain. I mask really well – too well – so I have this expectation to be hyperactive to “make up” for the ways that this identity’s experience disables me. I had normalized pain to the extent that I was able to work around it at really high levels before it worsened – I now find it really difficult to meter the pressure on me to return to that extreme and unhealthy level of production. Since I come from a lower-middle class background, I also tend to overcommit to unreasonable timeframes for fear of losing work, which can cause my body to crash, since it never gets a break. This can sometimes make my working sessions stressful and frenetic, which might negatively impact my writing. Things like this happen to everyone all the time, but I really admire and am impressed by people who can keep making and creating while also asserting their dignity by establishing boundaries of care and being confident in their (dis)abilities.

CB: Tell us about your graduation recital at Curtis, which took place very recently on January 30, 2024. What would you like people to take away from these kinds of performances?

MMJ: I wanted to showcase the full spectrum of the work I’ve pursued over the last five years at Curtis. It was also only my third performance in the legendary Field Concert Hall, because of pandemic disruptions and decisions the school made about that space, so it was also about finally making myself feel like I belonged there and owned that stage just as much as anyone else. I showcased a short film that’s a scene from a new opera-theater project with a close friend, Christina Herresthal; a world premiere of a percussion-theater work for Diego Alfonso; a new arrangement of my player piano concerto for live soloist, Katelyn Bouska; a string trio improvisation in which I played violin alongside my partner, Nico Hernandez, a bassist, and a dear friend, Sepehr Pirasteh, who plays Persian classical music on kamancheh; a large ensemble piece I conducted that was originally premiered in Paris a few years ago; and a new and very quirky arrangement of Laurie Anderson’s O Superman with good friends. As you can see, another big theme of the concert was celebrating all of the amazing people I’ve had the privilege of connecting with!

All in all, there were 20+ folks involved in the performance, and they represented over 10 countries and 9 US states. It felt amazing to be so supported by so many different people! The amazing Drew Schlegel also deserves a shoutout as the technical producer of the entire concert.

In terms of takeaway, I wanted there to be something for everyone on this concert, and I’m pretty sure I achieved that based on the amazing and kind feedback I’ve received! Yay!

CB: Lastly, what is your advice for young musicians? How do we prepare ourselves to deal with adversity, frustration, failure, as opposed to a curated Instagram looking life which is seemingly completely perfect?

MMJ: I don’t know if I’m in any position to be giving out advice! But, since you asked… honestly, just from my perspective, it seems to me that the best musicians are not those who are the most intensely expert in their craft – instead, I think they are those who are widely and genuinely interested beyond their craft. Having gone to conservatory, I’ve experienced how limiting a narrow focus from a very young age (I’ve been working professionally as a composer since I was 16) can be on one’s musicianship. Finding the right balance of integrity as a well-trained musician and curiosity as a well-educated artist has been the most important thing for me. It’s not for everyone – but exploring tangential arts, humanities, and sciences can be really critical.

CB: Thank you for your time, Maya, and for writing your wonderful music for our orchestra. I look forward to sharing it with our musicians and our audience!

MMJ: Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Christian.  I’m so excited to work with the members of this impressively accomplished student orchestra! My hope is that they will be just challenged enough to really enjoy the process of learning this piece alongside some other great repertoire.

Between American and European debuts with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Ensemble Intercontemporain in 2019 and 2022, respectively, Maya Miro Johnson (b. 2001)– a composer, conductor, instrumentalist, and interdisciplinary artist who considers her work experimental philosophy not constrained to logic and reason — has created works for violin/prerecorded Gaga class (Johnny Gandelsman of Brooklyn Rider and the Silk Road Ensemble); ensemble/shoes/silent film/bartered objects (loadbang); soprano/ensemble/radios (Toby Thatcher’s Zeitgeist, finalist in Beth Morrison Projects’ 2021 Next Gen Competition and winner of both Schuman and Surinach Prizes in the 2020 BMI Student Composer Awards in a historical first); electroacoustic metainstrument (with Mekhi Gladden & Drew Schlegel); chamber group/game show host (Sarasota Festival); and more…

Her work has also been featured on numerous recent and upcoming albums, including HOCKET’s #What2020LooksLike, Johnny Gandelsman’s acclaimed This Is America, Inna Faliks’ The Master and Margarita Project, Elena Cholakova’s upcoming CD of new piano music by female composers,  and the Minnesota Orchestra’s Mahler: Symphony No. 8 with Osmo Vänskä and BIS.

Currently in her fifth year of undergraduate studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, where her primary teachers have been Nick DiBerardino, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Amy Beth Kirsten, David Serkin Ludwig, and Steve Mackey. She has also studied privately with Chaya Czernowin at Harvard, with Missy Mazzoli and Kristin Kuster through Luna Composition Lab, and in high school with composer-percussionist-producer Devin Maxwell, her first mentor.  As a conductor, she has received instruction from Vänskä, Marin Alsop, Robert Spano, Lina Gonzalez-Granados, Hugh Wolff, James Ross, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Conner Gray Covington, and Cristian Măcelaru, among others. 

Recent work includes bruises; yellow, green, and purple, a concerto for Spirio | r player piano, video, and orchestra; in the valley of the shadow for the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra; Strange Father! for Xavier University Choir (as part of the Cincinnati May Festival in partnership with the Cincinnati Symphony); White Coat Syndrome for Mexican percussionist Diego Alfonso Jiménez; and a short experimental opera film as a study for a larger work titled Patience with Norwegian/Swedish soprano Christina Herresthal. In February of 2024, Dance Suite had its premiere by Johnny Gandelsman at Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center for Performing Arts. This year, she will also premiere a new violin concerto for Emma Meinrenken, a new work for the Penn Memory Center with Micah Gleason and Isza Wu, a site-specific commission on the Colorado River for the Moab Music Festival, a Yiddish art song in response to Schubert for Evan Gray, and an a short ballet for the Rock School of Dance, choreographed by Robert Weiss. Maya is slated to be a Composition Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in summer of 2024, studying with Osvaldo Golijov, George Lewis, Tania León, Steven Mackey, Joan Tower, and Michael Gandolfi.

She formed the performance art duo ~ [pronounced two] with Sarrah Bushara in 2020 and is published in the BabelScores Catalog, an online library based in Paris. Her favorite song is Rock’n’Roll Suicide by David Bowie, and in her pain-free spare time she studies Gaga, a movement language by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin.

Symbols she uses to represent her identity are the sunflower, the zebra, the bee, the שׂ, and any shade of purple.

~~~

Main Research Interests:

  • cyborgization
    • the construction and use of electroacoustic metainstruments
    • AI and the new futurism; grappling with apocalypse culture
    • (dis)ability and technology within humanity
  • embodiment and (body)(politics)
    • diverse experiences of alienation & viscerality in the human body projected onto societal bodies
    • Gaga movement language applications to instrumental playing
    • female/femme rage, pain, and bodily trauma
    • hereditary ghosts and epigenetic storytelling
  • interdisciplinary craft
    • expanding the tradition of composed theater and building on the performance art lineage of Fluxus
    • developing an artistic interlingua for collaborating and collating disciplines
    • developing a social networking platform for artists and scientists/researchers with similar interests to cross-pollinate whom they can reach with their work
    • auteurism and the intersection of the experimental with the populist
Beauty, Buenos Aires, California, Christian Baldini, composer, Compositor, Concert Hall, Conductor, Dance, Flamenco, folklore

Gabriel Bolaños in Conversation with Christian Baldini

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On May 20, 2023, we will perform “Ecosystem” by Gabriel Bolaños with the UC Davis Sinfonietta at the Ann E. Pitzer Center. Gabriel completed his Ph.D. in Composition at UC Davis, and used to be our Teaching Assistant with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, including our tour of Spain. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Arizona State University, where he teaches courses in composition, analysis, music technology, and acoustics, and co-directs the PRISMS contemporary music festival. Below is an interview with Gabriel.

Christian Baldini: Dear Gabriel, what a pleasure it is to bring your music back to our campus! I have such fond memories of having you here as our TA many moons ago. Tell us, you are now a Professor, what are some of your fondest memories of your time in Davis, as you were working to complete your Ph.D. in composition?

Gabriel Bolaños: Thank you so much, Christian! It’s an honor for me to stay connected both personally and musically with you and with UC Davis.

I actually have only fond memories of grad school. It was stressful and challenging, but also a period of extensive creative and personal growth for me. Some of my best memories (and greatest learning experiences) were working with the Empyrean Ensemble and with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra. I learned so much about my craft and how to communicate my musical intentions to performers through these opportunities.

CB: How has life changed for you since becoming a Professor?

GB: It feels very strange to have some stability in life! Growing up, I moved every 2-3 years (often internationally), and after grad school I was bouncing all around the US and Nicaragua with my wife Megan. We have been living in Phoenix since 2019 and finally feel stable. We’re now about to start a family together- our first son, Gabriel, is due any day now!

CB: Your music is very special. It deals with sonic objects, it is related to color, texture, and also to perception. How would you explain your music to someone who is not familiar with it?

GB: My music often treats color (timbre) as a structural parameter equal to harmony. I like to collaborate with performers (or even get my hands on instruments I’m writing for) to explore new sounds and playing styles. Once I discover some interesting or unusual structures, I attempt to build a musical narrative around a tight economy of these ideas. These narratives often play with perception, ambiguity, recognizability/unrecognizability, and processes of sudden changes vs. gradual transitions.

CB: Can you talk a little bit about “Ecosystem”?

GB: I wrote this piece in 2014 for AMF- a summer music festival. I spent a long time experimenting ways to create a highly unrecognizable timbre with just the acoustic instruments. In the end, I settled on this relatively unknown technique where you tie magnetic tape to a piano string, and gently pull on/rub the tape. This produces a very complex tone with rich, unpredictable partials that sounds like an electronically synthesized sound. This timbre is central to the piece, and is a “seed” from which many of the harmonies and textures were developed. At the time I was also very interested in exploring the intersections of music and language, and I incorporated lots of whispering of various tongue-twisters in the piece to add an additional palette of unpitched colors and textures.

CB: What are some of your strongest influences as a composer and performer, and why?

GB: I love composers that focus on timbre: Grisey, Murail, Saariaho, Harvey, Vivier, Cerha, Maiguashca, and Romitelli. I greatly admire Ligeti, not just for his impeccable craft, but also because he was non-dogmatic in the way he incorporated different styles into his music and made them his own.

I grew up playing guitar and studying flamenco music and Latin American folk music. I love Sabicas, Sanlucar, Peña, Yamandú Costa, Yupanqui, Os Mutantes, and Quinteto Contrapunto.

At ASU I also teach many electronic-music classes, and have grown to like Trevor Wishart, Suzanne Ciani and Morton Subotnick. I find lots of inspiration in their electroacoustic thinking.

CB: What is your advice for young composers? How can someone find their own individual voice?

GB: I always remember the advice that my old composition professor, Fabien Lévy, gave to me: “it is better not to study composition than to study with the wrong person.”

Composition lessons are very personal and can have a deep, sustained impact on your outlook. It’s important that the student trust the instructor’s intentions and also like the instructor’s music, or it could be very damaging. Studying with the wrong person is like learning an incorrect technique on an instrument: to correct this, you have to un-learn a bad habit, and then start all over with the correct way.

More practically, I think it’s important to sketch extensively, to take all of your ideas to the extreme while sketching, and to mercilessly discard something if it is not serving the piece. For every minute of music I write, there are probably 3 minutes of discarded music that didn’t make the cut. Composing is very difficult!

CB: Thank you for your time Gabriel, and welcome back to UC Davis, this will always be your home!

GB: Thank you, Christian! I really appreciate it.

Gabriel José Bolaños Chamorro (b. 1984 Bogotá, Colombia) is a Nicaraguan/American composer of solo, chamber, orchestral and electroacoustic music. He frequently collaborates closely with performers, and enjoys writing music that explores unusual techniques, structures, and timbres. He is interested in computer-assisted-composition, auditory perception, linguistics, graphic notation, improvisation, and modular synthesizers.

Bolaños is currently an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Arizona State University, where he teaches courses in composition, analysis, music technology, and acoustics, and co- directs the PRISMS contemporary music festival. He received a BA in music from Columbia University and a PhD in Composition and Theory from UC Davis. His music is published by BabelScores.

Bolaños has received numerous awards and grants for his work, including a Fulbright US Scholar Grant, the Suzanne & Lee Ettelson Composer’s Award, a Research & Development Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, a residency at CMMAS in Morelia, Mexico, a commission from Vertixe Sonora and Hong Kong Baptist University, and a commission from CIRM and Festival Manca in Nice, France.

Beyond his work as a composer and teacher, Bolaños has also written music for film, theater, and dance, has experience performing as a flamenco dance accompanist, and enjoys swimming, gardening, and playing folk music with his wife, Megan.

Ecosystem Program Notes – Ecosystem, as the title suggests, explores interactions between various acoustic objects within a closed system, and how these interact with each other and their environment (the performance/listening space). Perceptual ambiguity and “source recognition” -­ how easily a listener identifies the origins of a particular sound -­ play a very important structural role in the piece.

Beauty, Brazil, California, Christian Baldini, composer, Concert Hall, Concerto, Conductor, New York, Tango, Teatro Colón

Evandro Matté in Conversation with Christian Baldini

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Christian Baldini: Evandro, it is a pleasure to welcome you to California to work with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra as our guest conductor this week. You will be conducting a wonderful program infused by your native Brazil with works by Villa-Lobos, Nepomuceno, and also Gershwin, with the great Japanese/American pianist Natsuki Fukasawa. You started your musical career as a trumpet player. Can you share with us how you transitioned from the trumpet and ended up becoming a conductor?

Evandro Matté: Christian, I started very early on the trumpet, I was 7 years old. At the age of 19, I was already a professional musician. Playing in the orchestra, I always admired the work of the conductors, especially those who achieved different results with the orchestra, with beautiful interpretations. Over time, I began to have the desire to be able to conduct and contribute to the art of classical music. I always had a managerial side and I imagined that I could also contribute to the development of music in my country. These factors led me to pursue a career as a conductor.

CB: You are music director of two important orchestras in Porto Alegre (Brazil). How is the musical landscape there now, and which similarities or differences do you see with other countries?

EM: The classical music scene in Brazil is stable. It hasn’t grown in recent years. We’ve had the same number of orchestras for a long time. What has evolved are the social projects. Many young people in social vulnerability have had the opportunity to study music for free. And this has greatly raised the level of orchestra musicians in Brazil. We now need to create new orchestras to employ these young people.

CB: What are some of the favorite musical projects that you have conducted, and why?

EM: I created two social projects that serve 200 children with classes four times a week. At the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra I built the new concert hall. At Orquestra Theatro São Pedro I expanded the program by 50% and in both orchestras I have recorded contemporary Brazilian composers every year. It is important to record what is currently being done in music.

CB: What is your approach to programming? What do you take into account when coming up with seasons for your orchestras?

EM: For me the most important thing is diversification. We make the backbone with traditional concerts, mainly from the romantic and classical periods. But we are looking for different repertoires that suit all tastes: pop music with orchestra, music for children, film music, contemporary repertoire. Every year we perform two operas.

CB: Tell us about Villa-Lobos and Nepomuceno. What are some of the important aspects of their music that you find in these two works? What would you recommend for people who don’t know much about their music?

EM: Villa-Lobos was the most important Brazilian composer. His music has all elements of the diversification of Brazilian society, which has its strong point in mixing different races and ethnicities. There are many different cultures within a single country. He inserted sound and rhythmic elements and popular songs from all corners of Brazil into his work. What I can highlight in Nepomuceno is the beauty of the rhythmic elements of his work and the fight he took on for the nationalization of concert music in Brazil. At that time, only music from outside Brazil was valued.

CB: Lastly, what is your advice for young musicians? We all go through challenges in life. How do we overcome them?

EM: The most important thing is determination. When we want something, we get far. Not always where we would like, but the most important thing is to feel the feeling of having done everything in our power to achieve the goals. And be aware that music elevates the soul. That’s why we have to understand the importance of our profession.

CB: Thank you for your time. We are delighted that you are here to work with our orchestra.

EM: My pleasure. I am very happy to be here and to be able to make music at one of the most important universities in the world.

Performing a prominent role in classical music scenario, Evandro Matté holds the title of Artistic Director in the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra (OSPA), the SESC’s International Music Festival – Pelotas, the Theatro São Pedro Orchestra (OTSP) and the Zaffari Community Concerts (CCZ).

Recognized for leading projects with innovative results, he’s responsible for renovating orchestras, undertaking tours in Latin America and setting up social and academic programs. The development of the SESC’s International Music Festival – Pelotas and the renovation of the Music School of OSPA are some of these examples.

Furthermore, Evandro Matté has been fruitfully contributing to Brazilian culture for concepting new territories of classical music, including the construction of Teatro Unisinos and the OSPA House – the only one in South of Brazil designed to orchestral repertoire. While in discography production, his initiatives have been spotlighting national composers and performers throughout.

For his contributions, in 2019 was awarded by the Ministère de la Culture for the insignia of Chevalier de l´Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

He’s frequently invited to collaborate as a guest conductor with orchestras around the world, including recents works in Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, EUA, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia and China.

It was through the trumpet, at the age of 7, that Evandro Matté started his studies in music. When he was 15, he joined the professional orchestra of his hometown, the Symphonic Orchestra of Caxias do Sul. Settled in Porto Alegre, he started his studies at the Music School of OSPA. At the age of 19, he got the OSPA trumpeter chair and started his graduation at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Thereafter, he specialized at the University of Georgia (USA) and the Conservatoire de Bordeaux (FRA).

Attracted by the conducting, he started to perform as a conductor through festivals and masterclasses, being guided by prestigious maestros, such as the iconic Kurt Masur (ALE). In 2007 he took up the artistic director and conductor Unisinos Anchieta Orchestra as the. Along with the orchestra, he recorded albums emphasizing Latin American composers and performances by virtuous Brazilian musicians.

In 2011 he launched SESC’s International Music Festival – Pelotas, a project he designed in partnership with SESC. With Evandro as the artistic director, the festival has become known as one of the largest and most significant in Latin America. Besides its educational aspect, the festival also stands out for its unique role in fostering the culture of the region where it’s based.

After 25 years as a trumpeter, Evandro Matté took up the position of artistic director of OSPA. With tours, discography production, strengthening educational programs and increasing the technical and artistic level of the orchestra, his years in management are celebrated for putting OSPA back to its position of excellence among Latin American orchestras.

Further to his work ahead of OSPA, in 2013 Evandro Matté assumes the position of artistic director and conductor of the Zaffari Community Concerts (CCZ) and, in 2018, of Theatro São Pedro Orchestra (OTSP).

Beauty, Buenos Aires, California, Christian Baldini, Music, Singer, Soloist, soprano, Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Colón, tenor

Rising Star Soprano Mikayla Sager in Conversation with Christian Baldini

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On February 5, 2023, soprano Mikayla Sager will sing Mimì for our upcoming Barbara K. Jackson Rising Stars of Opera program at the Mondavi Center, in collaboration with the San Francisco Opera Center. Here is a conversation we had with Mikayla about Puccini, the prestigious Adler Fellowship, auditions, opera in general, and her advice for young singers.

Christian Baldini: What are some of your favorite operas, and why?

Mikayla Sager: Some of my favorite operas are Der Rosenkavalier, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Adriana Lecouvreur, Don Giovanni, and Eugene Onegin. I am typically drawn to operas with very fleshed out characters with interesting and dynamic relationships to one another. I love fiery, passionate roles, and have found I can either relate the role I sing/would sing from each of those operas listed. 

CB: Have you worked with living composers? If so, how was that experience? If not, what would you hope to gain from such a relationship?

MS: I don’t have extensive experience working with living composers, but I have greatly enjoyed the times that I have. When I have in the past, I found it very fun to watch the creativity of a composer unfold before me, and to see how flexible things can be to suit the particular singer they are writing for. It is much easier to deeply understand the character you are portraying when the composer is in the room, and you can consistently have conversations revolving around the creation of that role. 

CB: You are a part of one of the main young artist programs in the world, as an Adler Fellow for the San Francisco Opera Center. What are some of your favorite perks of this position? 

MS: The Adler fellowship is a particularly unique and special program, because we are given extensive performance experience on one of the largest operatic stages in the world. I think the greatest “perk” would be knowing that you will always be given the support you need to prepare your assigned roles at the highest level, as we have access to some of the greatest coaches and mentors in the world. There are of course other perks, such as having exposure to important people in the industry, but I would say the most important thing for me personally is knowing that I am constantly supported by people with extremely sharp ears!

CB: Tell us about the auditioning process. How was your preparation for it? Is it extremely competitive? How is the atmosphere once you are in the program?

MS: The first step is applying to the Merola opera program, which is a three month long summer festival that operates adjacently to the Adler fellowship. You apply online with audio samples, and from there you are either granted an audition or asked to apply again in the future. They usually receive over a thousand applicants. From there, you audition live, and then they on average accept 25 people. During your time at Merola, you audition for San Francisco opera on the war memorial stage, and that is when they make decisions as to who will be picked for the Adler Fellowship. At the end of the summer, they notify however many people they decide to pick for the coming Adler fellowship year. In my year they picked four singers, and one pianist. It is considered extremely competitive, and you are expected when you are in the program to be always prepared and extremely professional.

CB: Why is opera important to you? What does it mean in today’s world?

MS: Opera is important to me because I think it is an art form that can make us understand each other on a deeper level. Opera evokes big emotions and revolves around subject matter that we don’t typically encounter in everyday life. For me personally, I find it can make us relate to each other beyond surface level or superficial things. I think often we can learn a lot of life lessons through the vehicle that is opera.

CB: What would you say about La Bohème, and about Mimì (or Rodolfo) to someone who does not know the opera? What should people listen for in this kind of music?

MS: La Boheme is an opera full of luscious, gorgeous lines that are extremely pleasing for the listener. Mimi is a very pure character, with a big heart and a lot of love to give. Mimi and Rodolfo’s love story is extremely heartbreaking, and has to be taken in context of the period it was written in. I think it is important for the audience to remember that because of the lack of medicine to cure Mimi’s illness, that she is an extremely selfless character and despite having absolutely nothing and in need of some help. Because we are only doing Act I, this facet of her character won’t necessarily be seen, but I do think it is important should the audience then go and see to the rest of the opera. From a musical standpoint, I think the audience should let this extremely romantic music just wash over them, and leave the hall reminded of the feeling of falling in love.

CB: Do you have any suggestions or recommendations for young singers?

MS: my biggest piece of advice to young singers is to keep your blinders up and focus on your own progress. Try to not waste time thinking about what other people are doing and focus on how you can grow your artistry.

Canadian soprano Mikayla Sager is fascinated by the richly drawn, unapologetically intense characters of the verismo repertoire. Following her recent concert performance with San Francisco Opera, the Chronicle declared her “an extraordinarily gifted young soprano… Sager delivered Desdemona’s arias with a combination of intensity and hushed majesty.” When Sager is onstage, audiences are guaranteed a multidimensional portrayal that balances authentic vulnerability and full-blooded strength.

As a second-year Adler Fellow, Sager performs on stages across California this season. In San Francisco Opera’s centennial, she appears on the War Memorial mainstage as Sister Felicité in Dialogues des Carmélites, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Guardian of the Temple in Die Frau ohne Schatten, and as Image No. 1 in the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s El ultimo sueño de Frida y Diego. Elsewhere, she brings her Mimì to performances with Bohème out of the Box and the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra. Additional concert appearances include The Future is Now, the Adler Fellowship’s final concert, and Eun Sun Kim Conducts Verdi, under the baton of SFO’s new music director.

Sager has previously appeared as Violetta (La traviata), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Micäela(Carmen), and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), as well as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and The Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen) during her education at Manhattan School of Music. Following her debut as Norina (Don Pasquale) with Venture Opera, Opera Canada praised her “edgy intensity… she augmented her vocal prowess with enviable acting skills.” Concert highlights include a concert at Festival Napa Valley, conducted by James Conlon, a Hawaii International Music Festival tour, numerous recitals, including an appearance at Carnegie Hall, and a performance at David Geffen Hall with the New York Philharmonic.

Sager has earned recognition and support from the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonygne Foundation’s Elizabeth Connell Competition, Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (District Winner), Vienna International Music Competition, Festival Napa Valley’s Manetti Shrem Prize, National Opera Association’s Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Competition, and Gran Teatre del Liceu’s Tenor Viñas Competition in Barcelona.

Sager draws inspiration from many other art forms, include architecture and ceramics, as well as an unconventional childhood aboard a sailboat that traveled around the world. These days, her travel companion is her rescue dog Remy, whose fiery personality would suit any operatic stage.