In this episode, Carlos answers the question "What is an orchestra's role in serving the community it is in?" In my journey to find out why musicians think classical music is relevant and important, Carlos' answer provides some important insight and wisdom as to why a community should care about having a symphony orchestra as part of it's culture.

Mastering engineer - Brandon Jochum

Carlos' bio -

Carlos Izcaray is Music Director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and of the American Youth Symphony. Praised by the international press as inspiring, spirited and conducting with nuanced sensitivity, he has appeared with numerous ensembles across five continents and is now firmly established as one of the leading conductors of his generation. Throughout his career Izcaray has shown special interest and prowess in tackling some of the most complex scores in the symphonic repertoire, while also championing a historically informed approach.

On the symphonic platform he is leading ensembles such as the Pacific, St. Louis, North Carolina, Grand Rapids and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphonies, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Orchestra Regionale dell’Emilia-Romagna, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Macedonian Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfônica da Bahia, Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, among others. Izcaray’s latest recording, ‘Through the Lens of Time’, featuring Max Richter’s Recomposed: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and violinist Francisco Fullana, was released in March 2018 on the Orchid Classics label, and has garnered widespread attention and praise.

Izcaray is equally at home with opera repertoire, receiving rave reviews for his performances at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Utah Opera, Opera Omaha, International Opera Festival Alejandro Granda in Peru, and in particular at the Wexford Festival Opera, where he has led many productions since the opening of Ireland’s National Opera House. His 2010 performances of Virginia by Mercadante won the Best Opera prize at the Irish Theatre Awards.

A strong believer of supporting the younger generations, Izcaray has worked extensively with the world’s top talents and leading music institutions, including his country’s own El Sistema. In 2014 he led a tour of the Filarmónica Joven de Colombia, and he has additionally worked with the Fundación Batuta, Neojiba in Brazil, London Schools Symphony Orchestra, and Cambridge University Music Society, where he has also taught conducting workshops. Following a project at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in summer 2015 he returned there for a performance with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Building on his passion for music education, he became the Music Director of the American Youth Symphony in autumn 2016.

A distinguished instrumentalist himself, Izcaray has featured as concert soloist and chamber musician worldwide, and served as Principal Cello and Artistic President of the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra prior to dedicating his career fully to the podium. Increasingly active as a composer, Izcaray’s orchestral work Cota Mil was premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas. April 2018 saw the premiere of his Strike Fugaz by the American Youth Symphony, commissioned in association with the Human Rights Watch to commemorate, and celebrate, the campaign for worldwide social justice, equality and freedom - a cause for which Izcaray is a proud and committed advocate. Izcaray’s Cello Concerto receives its world premiere in Jan

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