David Bernard Conducts Massapequa Philharmonic in Season Finale with Violinist Ryu Goto Tonight

The Massapequa Philharmonic, under the direction of David Bernard, will complete its 2015-2016 season with a concert featuring spectacular Russian music including Borodin's Polovtsian Dances, Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.

The orchestra will be joined by noted violinist Ryu Goto as the soloist in the Prokofiev Violin Concerto and The Newburgh Free Academy's Troupe Advanced Dance who will bring colorful dances in front of the stage during the performance of Borodin's Polovtsian Dances.

"Each of the three works in this program represent distinct styles of Russian music." said Maestro David Bernard. "The alluring melodies and raw brilliance of Borodin's Polovtsian Dances will dazzle you, while the ethereal textures, playful writing and virtuoso passages in the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 will transport you to another time and place. Finally, the mastery, passion and excitement woven throughout Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony will grab you from the first note to the last. With the dancers and a world renowned soloist, this is a concert not to miss!"

The concert will take place this evening, May 7 at 8:00PM at Berner Auditorium, 50 Carman Mill Rd, Massapequa. This concert is free to the public. For additional information, visit www.massphil.org

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Conductor David Bernard has gained recognition for his dramatic and incisive conducting in the United Stated and in over 20 countries on four continents. A multiple First Prize Winner of the Orchestral Conducting Competition of The American Prize, David Bernard was described by the judges as "a first rate conductor. With no score, an animated and present Maestro Bernard led a phenomenal performance of incredibly difficult repertoire-masterly in shaping, phrasing, technique and expressivity". Alan Young of lucidculture praised Bernard's recent Lincoln Center performance of Stravinsky and Wagner: "Conducting from memory, David Bernard led a transcendent performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Segues were seamless, contrasts were vivid and Stravinsky's whirling exchanges of voices were expertly choreographed." David Bernard's discography includes 17 albums spanning music from Vivaldi to Copland, including a complete Beethoven symphony cycle praised for its "intensity, spontaneity, propulsive rhythm, textural clarity, dynamic control, and well-judged phrasing" (Fanfare).

David Bernard is an acclaimed orchestra builder and is sought after for his artistic leadership and innovation in community engagement. Under his leadership as Music Director of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony since 1999, the orchestra has thrived-expanding its audience, growing the ensemble and achieving critical acclaim. Bernard's approach to growing new audiences for classical music include engaging families in the community through schools, presenting multi-media presentations and InsideOut performances where audiences sit inside the orchestra during concerts.

Devoted to the music of our own time, Mr. Bernard has presented world premières of scores by Bruce Adolphe, Chris Caswell, John Mackey, and Ted Rosenthal, and distinguished concert collaborators have included Jeffrey Biegel, Carter Brey, David Chan, Catherine Cho, Pedro Díaz, Stanley Drucker, Bart Feller, Ryu Goto, Whoopi Goldberg, Sirena Huang, Judith Ingolfsson, Christina Jennings, Yevgeny Kutik, Anna Lee, Jessica Lee, Kristin Lee, Jon Manasse, Anthony McGill, Spencer Myer, Todd Phillips, and James Archie Worley.

An active guest conductor throughout the greater New York City area, David Bernard has appeared with the Brooklyn Symphony, the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Litha Symphony, the Massapequa Philharmonic, the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble, the Putnam Symphony and the South Shore Symphony. Mr. Bernard has previously served as Music Director of the Stony Brook University Orchestra, the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island, and Theater Three.

Violinist Ryu Goto has established himself as a significant voice in classical music, with a large and growing public in Asia, North America and Europe. Ryu's career began at age seven when he made his debut at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, playing Paganini's Violin Concerto No.1. Since then, Ryu has appeared as a soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras, including National Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Münchner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Sydney Symphony, Orchestre national de Lyon, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Hamburger Symphoniker and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with conductors Lorin Maazel, Tan Dun, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Fabio Luisi, Leonard Slatkin, Kent Nagano, Myung-Whun Chung and Jonathan Nott. Ryu has performed in many of the world's most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Tokyo Suntory Hall, Sydney Opera House, Shanghai Grand Theater, Taipei National Concert Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Munich's Herkulessaal and the Philharmonic Hall Gasteig.

In the 2015-2016 season, Ryu will make his debuts with the hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra) under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In addition, Ryu's 8th album, which includes Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, will be released in November 2015.

Ryu records for Deutsche Grammophon in collaboration with Universal Classics Japan. In May 2011 he graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Physics and is currently studying the violin with Prof. Ana Chumachenco. He is a member of US-Japan Council, and has accepted an award from the Japanese American Bar Association as a Japanese-American leader. He holds a 3rd degree black belt from the Japan Karate Association. He performs on the Stradivarius 1722 violin "Jupiter" on loan to him from Nippon Music Foundation.

Pictured: David Bernard. Photo by Christian Steiner.

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