Seattle Orchestra Kicks Off Holidays Season

Performances will take place on Thursday, November 29, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 30, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, December 2, at 2 p.m.

The Holiday Special for Kids is a Discover Music! concert designed specifically for children ages 5 to12 and their families. The program will take place on Saturday, December 1, at 11 a.m. and feature Rossen Milanov, Seattle Symphony, Joshua Roman, and Julian Schwarz performing an abbreviated version of the above program.

The Chicago Tribune hailed Rossen Milanov as “one who bears watching by anyone who cares about the future of music.” His professional appointments include Associate Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Artistic Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center; Music Director of the Haddonfield Symphony (New Jersey), the New Symphony Orchestra—Eastern Europe’s first privately funded orchestra—in his native Bulgaria; Chief Conductor of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra; and Music Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony. Milanov received the Extraordinary Contribution to Bulgarian Culture award, given by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture and, in 2005, was chosen as Bulgaria’s Musician of the Year. Milanov studied conducting at The Juilliard School (recipient of the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship), the Curtis Institute of Music, Duquesne University and the Bulgarian National Academy of Music.

Joshua Roman, 23-year-old Principal Cellist with Seattle Symphony, regularly appears in venues in the Seattle area as well as cities across the globe, where performances range from collaborations with rock groups and singers to solo performances of sonatas by Kodály and J.S. Bach. In spring 2007, he was appointed Artistic Director of TownMusic, a recital series at Town Hall in Seattle. As a concerto soloist, he has performed with Seattle Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Northwest Sinfonietta, Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra and the Wyoming Symphony. Roman has collaborated with musicians such as Sergei Babayan, Earl Carlyss, Franklin Cohen, Desmond Hoebig, Paul Kantor, William Preucil, Lynn Ramsey, Marta Garcia Renart, Ann Schein, Joaquin Valdepenas, Virginia Weckstrom and Christian Zacharias. He has won top prizes in many competitions, including the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto Competitions, Cleveland Cello Society and National Federation of Music Clubs. Roman received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Cello Performance in 2004 from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), where he studied with Richard Aaron. In 2005, he earned his master’s degree at CIM with Desmond Hoebig, Principal Cellist of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Critics have praised Julian Schwarz as “…destined to rank among the major cellists of the 21st century” (Music Web International). At age 11, Schwarz debuted with Seattle Symphony, performing Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto in A minor and has since served as Assistant Principal Cello and First Assistant Conductor of the Lake Union Civic Orchestra. He has routinely appeared as a soloist with the Sammamish and Seattle symphonies and debuted with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra (Cleveland), Port Angeles Symphony and Lake Union Civic Orchestra. Additional performance credits include The California Summer Music program; Encore School for Strings; National Orchestral Institute at the Aspen Music Festival; Music of Remembrance; Northwest Sinfonietta; and on NPR’s “From the Top.” A recipient of numerous awards, Schwarz has been honored with the David Tonkonogui Memorial Award, the Linda Sandell Chamber Music Award and the Merle P. Griffe Award for Cello Performance, in addition to others. Born in 1991 to a family of musicians, Schwarz began his studies with David Tonkonogui before going on to The Academy of Music Northwest, where he is currently a student. -- www.seattlesymphony.org