About

Musique Royale is delighted to welcome Symphony Nova Scotia back to historic St John’s Anglican Church, joined by guitarist Daniel Bolshoy, conducted by Earl Lee. After his triumphant solo performance with Symphony Nova Scotia in 2016, Israeli-Canadian guitarist Daniel Bolshoy returns for two virtuoso guitar showpieces, including a reprisal of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, which “gave Bolshoy a chance to show his impressively clean technique” (The Chronicle Herald).

Having performed as a soloist with over 60 orchestras across the globe, Daniel has been praised the world over as a musician of “accomplished intelligence and technical skill” (Toronto Star) who can coax “utter magic from his guitar” (Port Hope Evening Guide). The orchestra will also perform Beethoven’s cheerful and energetic Symphony No. 2 – a delightful departure from his earlier works, each movement takes you on a journey from its vigorous opening through the lushly beautiful, almost Schubertian slow movement to an explosive and powerful finale. Join us on Saturday March 29 at 7:30 pm at St John’s Anglican Church in Lunenburg!

Program

On the program
Carlos Simon: Fate Now Conquers
Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Chris Brubeck: Affinity: Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 2

About the Artists

Daniel Bolshoy – guitar

Daniel Bolshoy is a Senior Lecturer in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia, where he directs the guitar program. An Israeli-Canadian guitarist, he has performed as a soloist with over sixty orchestras internationally including the Mexico City Philharmonic, the Volgograd Symphony (Russia), and the symphony orchestras of New Mexico, Modesto, Fresno, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Kingston, Victoria, Okanagan, Saskatoon, Nova Scotia, as well as the Chamber Orchestras of Israel, Pennsylvania, Manitoba, Ottawa, The Northwest Sinfonietta, and many others.

An avid chamber musician, he has performed at numerous chamber music festival and concert series throughout North America, Europe, Russia, Asia and the Middle East. Daniel Bolshoy appears on seven commercial recordings and two documentary films on the Bravo! TV network. His recordings and live performances are often broadcast on CBC Radio, NPR and various classical music stations.

He has recently completed a tour of concerts and master classes in China, including a residency at the Beijing central conservatory. Similarly, he has been invited as faculty in residence at the Federal University of Goias in Goiania, Brazil, the Rubin Academy of Music in Israel, the conservatories of Alessandria, Milan and Turin in Italy.

This Season, Bolshoy performs in several guitar festivals in the United States and Canada, as well as in Shanghai and Moscow. He performs concerti by Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Podgaits in Bellingham, WA, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow (Russia), and solo recitals across North America as well as in Europe and Asia.

Daniel Bolshoy has adjudicated many international music competitions, including the Guitar Foundation of America, the Guitar-Gems festival in Israel, the Tabula Rasa festival and Time of Guitar festivals in Russia, the National Finals of the Canadian Music Competitions, the Canadian Federation of Music Festivals and others.

Dr. Bolshoy holds a D.M. Degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. He earned his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees at the University of Denver, where he studied with GFA hall of fame artist Ricardo Iznaola.

Earl Lee – conductor

Winner of the 2022 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Earl Lee is a renowned Korean-Canadian conductor who has captivated audiences worldwide. Earl is in his second season as Music Director of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and in his third season as Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he has led in subscription concerts both at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood.

In addition to a full season of concerts with the Ann Arbor Symphony and subscription concerts with the Boston Symphony in Boston and at Tanglewood, Earl’s 23/24 season includes guest conducting engagements with the Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Toronto. Previous seasons have seen subscription debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Hawaii Symphony, and Edmonton Symphony; leading the Lunar New Year galas of both the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony; and concerts with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and with Sejong Soloists in both New York and Seoul.

Earl previously held positions as Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and as the Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony. In 2022, he appeared with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam as a participant in the Ammodo masterclasses led by Fabio Luisi.

Earl’s 23/24 programs with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra include contemporary works by John Adams, Brian Raphael Nabors, Joan Towers, Gala Flagello, Jessie Montgomery, and Zhou Tian as well as the first installment of a multi-year Beethoven cycle with Symphonies Nos. 2, 5 and 9. He leads the orchestra in its Detroit Orchestra Hall debut in January 2024 in a concert during the Sphinx Organizations’s annual SphinxConnect convention.

In all of his professional activities, Earl seeks ways to connect with fellow musicians and audiences on a personal level. He has taken great pleasure in mentoring young musicians as former Artistic Director and Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and is a regular guest conductor with the orchestras of North America’s top music schools such as Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School, and the New England, San Francisco, and Royal Conservatories.

As a cellist, Earl has performed at festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Caramoor Rising Stars, and Ravinia’s Steans Institute and has toured as a member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO), with Musicians from Marlboro, and with Gary Burton & Chick Corea as a guest member of the Harlem String Quartet.

Earl was the recipient of the 50th Anniversary Heinz Unger Award from the Ontario Arts Council in 2018, of a Solti Career Assistance Award in 2021 and has been awarded a Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship by Kurt Masur and the Ansbacher Fellowship by the American Austrian Foundation and members of the Vienna Philharmonic. He studied cello at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School and conducting at Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory. He lives in New York City with his wife and their daughter.

Symphony Nova Scotia

Symphony Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia’s professional orchestra. With a home base in Halifax/K’jipuktuk and performances across the province, Symphony Nova Scotia reaches more than 50,000 Nova Scotians of all ages each year with some of the most innovative concerts and educational offerings in the country. Though Symphony Nova Scotia had its origins with the Halifax Symphony Orchestra (1897-1908, 1955-1968), the Halifax Sinfoniette (1947-1955), and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (1968-1983), the orchestra as we know it began in 1983 with only 13 fulltime musicians.

Today, Symphony Nova Scotia is the largest employer in Nova Scotia’s cultural community, employing 37 musicians and 16 administrative staff, along with more than 150 contracted artistic, production, and technical personnel. The Symphony’s performances take place in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaw people.

The orchestra has repeatedly been praised for its versatility and flexibility, performing everything from baroque to pops to jazz with equal finesse. International music veteran Howard Cable called Symphony Nova Scotia “the most versatile orchestra in Canada,” and the Chronicle Herald says, “They can play it all: Beethoven, Shostakovich, Hatzis and Current, as well as Tommy Dorsey, Scott Macmillan, Rose Cousins, Buck 65 and Natalie MacMaster. We are, in this province, exceedingly fortunate to have them.”

Symphony Nova Scotia also places a high priority on community engagement. The Symphony manages the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, its flagship education program that boasts successful mentorship of young musicians, providing them with increased opportunities for networking, volunteering, and hands-on learning. Other education programs reach over 15,000 elementary, junior, and senior high school students in a typical year – students who may not otherwise have access to symphonic music. The Symphony also conducts many accessible community programs, including pre-concert chats, performances in local public libraries, free community concerts including our popular Family series, and online concerts.