NASHUA, NH – Beethoven’s 3^rd to be performed by Symphony New Hampshire on November 9, 2024, arrives at a time when we most need more Positive Energy. It’s taking place just a few days after the election ends, so instead of bracing for what is coming, why not get tickets to the symphony?

For attendees of Fanfare, the season kickoff and fundraiser for Symphony NH, Maestro Roger Kalia gave a brief insight into what has made his tenure at Symphony New Hampshire so powerful. Two key words guide him; collaboration and exploration. I feel privileged to be able to explore with them. You too might enjoy a change of focus.

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Evansville Philharmonic music director Roger Kalia and co-host Bill Hemminger share selections from the most recent philharmonic concerts, conversations with guest performers, and behind the scenes stories of the philharmonic as the orchestra celebrates its 90th season.

Click here to listen

"Roger Kalia skillfully kept the tempos in check throughout and truly made the orchestra sing. No section of the orchestra was without its dramatic moments, and there were innumerable beautiful solos (especially the clarinet strain in the third movement). 

With the final chords still sounding, the audience indicated their appreciation of the performance with a warm ovation.

The Terre Haute Symphony Association (THSA) Board of Directors is excited to announce that Dr. Roger Kalia has been appointed Artistic Director-Designate.  He will begin his tenure as Artistic Director on July 1, 2025.  Board President, Barbara Hagerman said, “Kalia was David’s first choice for a substitute conductor when David had a family conflict arise in November 2022.   Dr. Kalia stepped in and made an immediate connection with the musicians and audience with his musicality and natural charisma.  Following David’s recent decision to retire, the Board discussed Kalia’s potential appointment with the musicians.  Following their input and further discussion, the Board voted unanimously to appoint Roger Kalia Artistic Director-Designate.”

Bowden added, “In Dr. Kalia, we have the great privilege of securing an inspiring and exciting conductor, a superb community engagement advocate, and simply a great human being to assume the Artistic Director role for our 2025-2026 season and lead us into the future.”

Click here to read the full article.  

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - On Tuesday, the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra made a big announcement.

The group held a conference at the Vigo County History Center with several local leaders in attendance.

The Symphony revealed that its Artistic Director & Conductor, David Bowden, will be stepping down.

Bowden has been with the group for 27 years and plans on retiring next year.

News 10 spoke with the composer about his successor.

"In November of 2022, he covered for me, and he just won the hearts of everybody- the musicians, the audience, our board. They all said, 'hey, this guy is something!'" said Bowden.

Click here to read the full article.  

Maestro Roger Kalia says “…even if you’re not into classical music you’ll connect with the Rock, Pop and Electronic Elements of the piece.”

Penelope, the #1 Classical Album of 2010, includes a computer laptop operator among the musicians. Definitely not your traditional perception of Classical music.

Click here to read the full article and watch the interview. 

Saturday night in the Victory Theatre was a remarkable event. The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra teamed with the Orchestra Chorus and four soloists to present music rarely heard in our town. 

They offered a tantalizing menu of opera arias and choruses with the accompaniment of the entire orchestra. Audience excitement seemed to grow as the concert went on to its encore, when all musical forces came together for Johann Strauss’ bubbly “Champagne Song.”

The leadership of two prominent Nashua, New Hampshire music organizations share an interesting connection.

Those organizations? Spartans, the 2023 DCI Open Class World Champions, and Symphony New Hampshire, often referred to as “Symphony NH” which celebrated its 100th anniversary a year ago.

The connection? Paul LaFlamme, a longtime staple of Spartans’ leadership and the corps’ current president, has also served as production manager for Symphony NH for five years.

“It was (LaFlamme’s) idea to bring the two organizations together in a unique collaboration,” Symphony New Hampshire music director Roger Kalia said.

Ultimately, more than a year of planning brought the two organizations together for a joint concert, as performers of each took the stage together January 13 at the Keefe Center for the Arts in Nashua for “Brass to the Max!”

“It was October 2022 when we started chatting,” Kalia said. “That's when we initially started to come up with the concept about what this would look like.”

Click here to read the full article and watch Zoom interview. 

The 2024 season of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra opened on a cold Saturday night on Jan. 20. The surprisingly large and responsive audience filled the warm Victory Theatre for a performance of chefs-d’oeuvre from three of the greatest composers in the western tradition — Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

We live in an era when so many accepted cultural monuments are debunked or challenged, but the works tonight displayed both the astonishing accomplishment of the individual composers as well as the long and laudable tradition of musical development in which all three of them worked. 

NASHUA, NH – On Saturday, January 13, 2024, Symphony NH Music Director Roger Kalia brings the Spartans Drum and Bugle Corp to the Keefe Center for the Arts for an exciting musical collaboration! For the first time, Symphony NH’s brass and percussion join forces with the award-winning musicians of Nashua-based Drum Corps International’s The Spartans in a thrilling, high-octane performance of brass and percussion favorites.

“We are elated to work with these young musicians!” says SNH Music Director, Roger Kalia, “Giving students the opportunity to work with professionals in this way can be transformational.  The Spartans’ mission aligns eloquently with Symphony New Hampshire, and this is going to be an amazing experience for all involved.”

Click here to read the full article. 

This weekend Symphony New Hampshire is presenting Wynton Marsalis’s A Fiddler’s Tale.

Manchester Ink Link chose to be the Show Sponsor because our Inkubator aligns well with Symphony New Hampshire’s mission. We have a shared goal of helping boost the opportunities for younger people. And in this capacity, we were invited to rehearsals of ‘A Fiddler’s Tale’ and want to share some photos and thoughts about the power of community collaboration with the Arts.

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NASHUA, NH–Symphony New Hampshire made history on Saturday when it debuted the first-ever Bollywood songs played on Western instruments only with award-winning singer Anuradha Palakurthi-Juju.

This first-of-its-kind concert featured Bollywood favorites conducted by Symphony New Hampshire Music Director Roger Kalia in the packed Nashua Center for the Arts auditorium in Nashua, NH.

“For the musicians of Symphony New Hampshire, it was their first time encountering the world of Bollywood music.  Likewise, it was Anuradha’s first time performing with an orchestra.  I thought they all performed beautifully and with a great deal of passion throughout the evening,” Mr. Kalia told INDIA New England News. “They also had fun doing it, which is always nice to see.  The arrangements of the different Bollywood songs were engaging and masterfully composed, which certainly led to the success of the concert.”

Click here to read the full article. 

A Night to Remember

The Symphony Masala Concert presented by Symphony New Hampshire (SNH) on Saturday, October 21 at the Nashua Center for the Arts, New Hampshire was an enchanting musical experience like no other. SNH left no stone unturned to make its 100th annual season an unforgettable experience for its audience. It was a one-of-its-kind musical night where Bollywood music was celebrated with full Western instrumentation, an orchestral playing of great finesse!

Click here to read the full review. 

The sound of the tremendous applause at the conclusion of the first Classics Concert of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra might still be ringing in the Victory Theatre, so enthusiastically was the entire program received and so thrilling was the orchestra’s performance. 

The final work on the program, Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” featuring a palette of musical portraits of works of art, culminates in the grandiose “Great Gate of Kiev,” where all instrumental forces — including tolling chimes and a brass section on steroids — evoke the majesty of an architectural feature in a city now infamous for its abuse.

Saturday’s wonderful performance featured several fine trumpet solos, and the unusual use of the saxophone (in Maurice Ravel’s orchestration) gave a haunting voice to “The Old Castle.” 

NASHUA, NH – On Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 7:30 pm, Symphony New Hampshire(SNH) continues its 100th annual season with Symphony Masala at the new Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St.). This will be SNH’s first presentation of Bollywood music set to a brand new symphonic orchestration.

This first-of-its-kind concert will feature Bollywood favorites conducted by SNH Music Director Roger Kalia, a multi-Solti awardee and performed by award-winning Indian American singer, Anuradha Palakurthi-Juju.

SNH Music Director Roger Kalia looks forward to the highly anticipated performance, saying, “I am thrilled to collaborate with acclaimed singer Anuradha ‘Juju’ Palakurthi and Symphony NH for our first-ever Bollywood fusion concert.  It is going to be a unique evening of two rich musical cultures coming together. Many thanks to New Hampshire State Representative Latha Mandipudi and Juju Entertainment for working with us to create a truly special orchestral experience.”

Click here to read the full article. 

Roger Kalia’s last Columbus concert was a salute to pops-oriented pieces in 2014. His return-to-Columbus concert Friday will be a salute to military veterans and other service members.

He feels sure that emotion will swell with the music at the Bartholomew County Memorial For Veterans downtown.

“Columbus always will hold a special place in my heart,” said Kalia, speaking by phone from Evansville, where he serves as music director of the Evansville Philharmonic. “It marked my first job as a real orchestral conductor. So coming back to town is special.

“This will be kind of like a reunion.”

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The 89-year-old Evansville Philharmonic is getting a facelift.

The organization’s unveiled a new logo and branding at a press conference April 21. The new brand, created with Tucker Publishing Group, emphasizes a unified message of the Evansville Philharmonic family as a whole. The new logo features each member — the orchestra, chorus, youth orchestra, and guild — represented by a different color radiating from a lowercase “ep.”

Click here to read the full article. 

“Symphony NH, which performed its first concert on April 29, 1923, celebrated its anniversary with a performance exactly to the day one hundred years later,” writes Keith Spiro in Monday’s (5/1) Manchester Ink Link. “The result was an outstanding concert, played to a full house. The venue was the lovely new Nashua Center for the Arts…. Symphony NH Executive Director Deanna Hoying added a couple of nice surprises to the welcoming thank yous. First was a proclamation from the State of New Hampshire … marking April 29, 2023 as ‘Symphony NH Centennial Day’ … followed by ‘Symphony No. 100,’ a poem written and read aloud … by NH State Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary. The concert opened with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor [with] cellist Amit Peled who … had performed with Symphony NH back in 2001…. The concert included two pieces [by Schubert and Strauss, Jr.] that were performed at the historic first concert of April 29, 1923… Conductor and Music Director Roger Kalia … looked about the full house and said, ‘this is just amazing.’… The new performance space, the full house, the renewed energy and an expanded mission to bring live concerts to every county in the State of New Hampshire, brought a standing ovation.”

When conductor Roger Kalia took the helm of the Evansville Philharmonic, in Evansville, Indiana, he became only the orchestra's sixth Music Director since it was established in 1934.

During his time in the role already, Kalia has established a number of innovative programming ventures, such as the "New Traditions" series — which features performances of diverse composers in local venues — and the "Uncorked Series" — which pairs wine and spirit tastings with chamber music performances.

Click here to read the full article.  

HENDERSON, Ky (WEHT) – The Evansville Philharmonic Board of Directors has signed a new three-year contract with Music Director Roger Kalia from June 2023 through May 2026.

Board President Dr. Louis Cady says, “I was incredibly impressed with Maestro Kalia from the first time I met him when he came to town for his ‘audition’ with the orchestra, through the first three years of his tenure. His concerts have been delightful and the diversity of his programming is remarkable. Many people have commented to me about how ‘young and enthusiastic’ he is. I am delighted Roger accepted our invitation to be our music director, and I am thrilled he has signed a three-year extension with us. I look forward to hearing him conduct the Evansville Philharmonic for many years to come.”

Click here to read the full article.  

Symphony NH, which performed its first concert on April 29, 1923, celebrated its anniversary with a performance exactly to the day one hundred years later, April 29, 2023. The two years of planning leading up to this anniversary event included working through pandemic obstacles. The result was an outstanding concert, played to a full house.

Click here to read the full article. 

Saturday’s Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra final Classics concert was special in so many ways.

In the first place, the stage was filled with musicians professional and aspiring. It was the annual Side-by-Side concert, where young musicians perform next to orchestra members. Before the music began, executive director Kimberley Bredemeier introduced both the 2023-24 concert season as well as the new logo that celebrates both the EPO and its family (which of course includes the young people, all of whom were sporting the new look on t-shirts). 

Then Roger Kalia entered, took up the baton, and conducted the first composition, “An Act of Resistance,” by up-and-coming American composer Joel Thompson.

The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra took the audience at the Victory Theatre on a delightful musical tour of Spain on Saturday.

Guest artist Angél Romero of the world-famous Romero Guitar Quartet performed the magical second movement of the "Concierto de Aranjuez" and regaled the audience with stories of his father, Celedonio Romero, and of his political and musical past. 

Before exiting the stage to a boisterous ovation, the 76-year-old virtuoso performed one of his father’s compositions, "Fantasía."

NASHUA, NH– Symphony New Hampshire, the Granite State’s premiere symphony orchestra that is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year, will present “Symphony Masala,” featuring Indian-American singer Anuradha “Juju” Palakurthi on Oct. 21, 2023, at Nashua Center for Arts in Nashua, NH.

“I’m very excited to present the spectacle of Bollywood music set to a Western Symphonic arrangement,” said Ms. Palakurthi. “As always, my greatest joy is that I get to present it to my home audience in New England.”

Ms. Palakurthi said that she is delighted to work with Deanna Hoying, director of Symphony NH, and conductor Roger Kalia on this unique musical production. This will be the first time an Indian or Indian-American singer will to the tune of an American symphonic arrangement.

“Special thanks to Latha Mangipudi, NH State Representative, for her initiative to bring Indian arts into the larger community. Please block Oct. 21 on your calendars!  We will make it a great evening,” said Ms. Palakurthi.

Click here to read full article and watch the interview on Zoom.  

Sunday afternoon’s "Musicians’ Choice" concert with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra thrilled an enthusiastic and appreciative local audience that filled the Victory Theatre and applauded thunderously for soloist Graham Cullen and music director Roger Kalia with the forces of the EPO.

It was heartwarming to see (and hear) so much enthusiastic support for our fine local musicians. 

Kalia spoke about the idea for the program itself: why not let the musicians, all of whom have had active and long-term participation in concert music, select their favorite works or works they would love to hear performed by the EPO?

Each of the three selections was introduced by an orchestra member; the three pieces created an interestingly varied program that included relatively unknown works as well as chestnuts like the Antonin Dvořák Cello Concerto.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – In 2022, the Lake George Music Festival held its 12th season of classical music across a week. Every year, the festival welcomes classical musicians to stay a while in the area, and play their hearts out for an audience that’s always ready for more. Now, looking ahead to 2023, the festival is primed to get bigger and better than ever.

This week, the festival announced that a “critical turning point” is ahead in 2023. Two major changes are coming, to build it up to a new era.

One is the state of the Carriage House at Fort William Henry. The building is a historic structure, which started use by the festival in 2021. In 2022, it was the home base for nearly all of the performers to come to the area. Now, Fort William Henry is renovating the aging building, turning it into a modernized event space. Those renovations are expected to be complete in time for 2023’s festival, set for Aug. 6-17.

The second change regards the sheer number of violinists, pianists and other musicians coming to the lake. Every year, the festival welcomes between 50 and 60 musicians. In 2023, they will be joined by as many as 60 fellows, who will be coming to study the core artists as they work, and collaborate with them.

Click here to read full article.  

Evansville audiences got to experience a little bit of heaven Sunday afternoon at the Victory Theatre when the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Chorus, four soloists, and Roger Kalia presented “Heavenly Spheres,” a moving Classics concert.

The main work of the afternoon was Mozart’s “Requiem,” which took up most of the concert time. The “Requiem” has become a monument in the western musical canon, and it is monumentally difficult. But Sunday’s performance was sublime. Never has the Orchestra Chorus, in particular, sounded so fine and so finished. 

Saturday night the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra opened its 88th season with a captivating performance of an ambitious program that included Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto and Respighi’s “Pines of Rome.” 

This is Roger Kalia’s third season with the EPO, and it is the first where neither COVID-19 nor related protocols interfered with the performance or the reception of the music.

The jaunty “Roman Carnival” overture of Hector Berlioz got the evening off to a lively start.  Not unlike Respighi’s tone poem, Berlioz’s work makes excellent use of the orchestra’s instruments.

The Lake George Music Festival returns to the historic Fort William Henry Carriage House Theatre and features a diverse musical lineup, showcasing the versatility of more than 30 World-Class Symphony musicians as they perform music ranging from cherished legendary masterworks to new works.

They are celebrating their11th season – running from August 10-18. The Season Opener is the Emmy Award Winning group – Time for Three. To tell us more, we welcome co-founders: CEO Alex Lombard, Artistic Director and Conductor Roger Kalia, and Artistic Director Barbora Kolářová.

Click here to listen to the full interview.  

Orchestra Santa Monica’s Roger Kalia has renewed his contract with the organization for another three years.

“I am grateful and honored to continue and deepen my relationship with Orchestra Santa Monica for the next three years. Santa Monica is a city that is filled with dedicated audiences who are passionate supporters of the orchestra. I am immensely proud to be part of the OSM family, and I am looking forward to making music with our wonderful musicians in the years to come. It is a true privilege to work with our musicians, staff, and board, and I am particularly excited about our upcoming ten-year anniversary season,” Kalia said. 

Click here to read full article.  

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra audiences during the upcoming season will be treated to the classic piano works of Tchaikovsky, the soulful rhythms of Aretha Franklin's big hits and a range of other classical selections and pops.

Conductor Roger Kalia can't wait to get started. It's his third year in Evansville, but in many ways, the native New Yorker might still seem like a rookie. That's because his tenure with EPO took a wild turn when he accepted the baton.

Only a month since the close of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2021-22 season, the Tri-State symphony already is readying for its next season, set to be one of its most ambitious. The eclectic 88th EPO season willweave a diverse selection of genres, guest artists, settings, and community events through 10 classics and pops series concerts as well as return its annual Handel’s “Messiah” concert and the New Traditions Diversity Series and the Uncorked Series (formerly known as the Bourbon Series). After the 2023-23 season announcement on June 2, Evansville Living caught up with Music Director Roger Kalia to learn more about this season’s theme “Inspired! Creating Beautiful Music for You” and how it will bring together an audience of all backgrounds and ages.

Click here to read the full interview. 

Vacation at Lake George in the Adirondacks is a quintessential New York summer experience. This year, if you’re looking to enjoy all the fun the lake region offers during the day and a metropolitan arts experience at night, make a plan to head upstate when the acclaimed Lake George Music Festival (LGMF) returns this August.

As one of the nation’s foremost classical music artist retreats, LGMF features a core group of world-class musicians from such renowned institutions as Juilliard, the Curtis Institute, and Yale.

This year, forty musicians and composers are bringing their talents to the shores of Lake George for the festival’s 11th season, which takes place August 10-18. Most performances are held at Fort William Henry Hotel’s Carriage House, a spacious 19th-century structure with deep roots in local history.

Click here to read full article. 

On Thursday, EPO Music Director Roger Kalia stood before the victory theater in downtown Evansville to unveil the new concert season. He describes it as 'eclectic,' with a variety of genres, eras and even musical ensembles and venues. Audiences will experience everything from Mozart to Metallica.

EPO Executive Director Kimberly Bredemeier shared the season's theme, which is "Inspired: Creating Beautiful Music for You."

Click here to read full article and listen to interview. 

Combining archival footage, historical documents, and original music, Orchestra Santa Monica has created a film project called “We Gather.” It tells the story of Black life in Santa Monica “through music, visuals, and narrative.”

Composer Derrick Skye performs with musicians of OSM and Music Director Roger Kalia, underscoring images of neighborhoods that were destroyed to make room for the freeway; home movies showing the rich history of community gatherings, and celebrations with families, neighbors, and church congregations.

The film is broken into three movements – “Mending the Chasm,” “Front Porch View,” and “Bay Street Beach.” The last movement (about the area of the oceanfront that was an important gathering place for Black residents) includes spoken words from local historian Robbie Jones, as well as images created by painter Kevin McCants, celebrating the history of the community.

It was made possible by the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs program called “Art of Recovery.”

It has been a harrowing year for the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. The year began with masks and COVID-19 protocols, yet the orchestra played to large audiences at each concert.

Probably nothing was more anticipated, though, than this final EPO Classics concert featuring Ravel’s “Tzigane” for violin and orchestra and Mahler’s first — and surely most beloved — symphony. Roger Kalia conducted what many listeners have considered one of the best performances of the EPO. Hardly had the last chord of the Mahler symphony sounded than people were on their feet, applauding. 

Last year, in honor of National Poetry Month, I asked several past Indiana Poets Laureate their thoughts about the importance of Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem to the revitalization of American poetry and to the health of the nation. This year I decided to pose a larger question to four Hoosiers working outside the discipline of poetry:

How do the Humanities help us all cultivate hope and community in times of crisis?

When Roger Kalia was appointed Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2020, he wanted to “dive into the community and reach out to new audiences,” he says. This desire, combined with a love of bourbon, drove him to conceptualize the Bourbon Series for EPO’s 2021-22 season.

The Bourbon Series promises an intimate musical experience, featuring pieces of music that connect to bourbon tastings. The series includes three unique events, the first of which was held in October 2021 at Dusty Barn Distillery in Mount Vernon, Indiana.

Click here to read full article

Though the weather outdoors was cold, the Victory Theatre was warmed Saturday night by the music of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra.

The audience responded enthusiastically to the well-balanced program, a welcome musical refuge from COVID and the cold.

The program began with a charming performance of "Pastorale d’été," an evocation of a summer’s evening in the Alps. In his composition for chamber orchestra, Honegger assigns bird calls to flute and clarinet (both rendered “naturally” and beautifully by Leanne Hampton and Thomas Josenhans) as music wakens to the sound of the horn and then records the companionable warmth of a summer day. 

Irrepressible Porgy, the crippled character who gives his name to Gershwin’s folk opera "Porgy and Bess," delights in life despite his difficult circumstances. In his most famous tune from the opera, “I got plenty o’ nuttin,” he proudly announces “Got my song” — in other words, at least he can take pleasure in making music.

Everyone at Sunday afternoon’s Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra concert gratefully “got his song,” too — and delighted in all the music of that wonderful program. Never has the orchestra sounded so alive and exciting, and the two wonderful soloists were well supported by a lively EPO Chorus, so carefully prepared by Andrea Drury.

The concert began, quite literally, with a bang. In his score for the ballet "Romeo and Juliet," composer Sergei Prokofiev announces the arrival of the two warring families, the Montagues and the Capulets, with two frightening dissonant chords that seem to scream out of the instruments — and perhaps portend the couple’s death later in the play. 

EVANSVILLE -- Saturday’s fine Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra concert featured a consortium of local artistic forces.

The EPO performed in its pre-COVID fullness while, in the semi-staged production of Mendelssohn’s musical setting of "Midsummer Night’s Dream," members of the orchestra chorus accompanied sopranos Tiffany Choe and Andrea Drury as seven actors from the Evansville Civic Theatre performed selected scenes from Shakespeare’s play. 

The evening began with a wonderful performance of “Ascending Bird,” a 2004 composition by Colin Jakobsen based on Iranian melodies gathered by Siamak Aghaei.  The piece begins eerily, as brass and wind instruments sustain cluster chords until a violin enters with its cadenza-like solo, beautifully played by Jia-Rong Gan.

After a slow and moody first section, the composition picks up fire and speed.  For this concert, Conductor Roger Kalia had the percussion placed immediately in front of the podium, so important is the driving rhythm to the integrity of the sound. Percussionist Ross Erickson played his cool collection of drums and jangling instruments with great energy and aplomb.

Symphony NH recently kicked off its 2021-22 season, welcoming back live in-person audiences for the first time since March 2020.

The following audio postcard features Roger Kalia, music director for Symphony NH.

Kalia: Having an audience with us in the concert hall, it's an amazing experience because we can feel their energy on stage.

So of course, as musicians, professional musicians, we always want to give our very best performance. But when you have an audience, it adds another dimension to everything you feel their energy and that encourages us to play at an even higher level.

There are so many things to look forward to this upcoming season, and the program itself is a very diverse program with a lot of variety works by Frank Ticheli, Mozart, and Gershwin.

So I think everyone would be very familiar with Gershwin's Porgy and Bess — and we're doing a chamber arrangement of the Porgy and Bess opera. It's called Porgy and Bess Fantasy, and we're also performing a work by Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Winds. And we're opening with a work by Frank Ticheli called Rest for String Orchestra that is meant to honor and pay tribute to those who lost their lives to COVID and celebrate the frontline workers.

So between classical masterworks, premieres, new music, local collaborations, you name it— we're doing a little bit of everything this year.

Some of the things I'm looking forward to is our annual holiday brass concert. I should say we started this actually last year during the pandemic. This is a concert that is filled with holiday music, as well as sacred music by Gabrieli and Morten Lauridsen, and it features the brass musicians of Symphony New Hampshire.

And we're really excited to be performing at three different locations throughout New Hampshire, in Nashua, at the Coptic Church, in Manchester, at the data center. And we're also making our debut in Jaffrey at the Park Theater. So this is a really very important concert for us because we're making those connections throughout the state of New Hampshire.

Now that our audiences are back with us — I'm just very grateful to be the music director of New Hampshire's oldest professional orchestra and as a conductor, you know, it's something that I love making music with people. I love interacting with people, and that's a big part of the job.

Click here to listen to the interview 

Saturday night’s Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra concert — with the entire musical ensemble arrayed on the brightly-lit Victory stage — was truly a vision. 

How exciting to see the grand lobby alive again with patrons and how wonderful to hear the EPO musical forces gathered under the baton of Roger Kahlia. The last time the whole orchestra performed may have been Kahlia’s audition in February 2020, and  the concert was a wonderful way to emerge from under the throes of the pandemic.

The concert opened with a world premiere, a composition by a friend of Kahlia’s, Paul Dooley. Dooley’s work made effective use of the entire orchestra, as was promised; the skilful interplay of families of instruments reminded me of the music of Richard Strauss, so big and rich was the sound in the brassy closing minutes of "River City Re-Awakened." Evansville is lucky to have such a talented and likable music director as Kahlia. 

Click here to see video interview 

Jessie H. Jackson of Look TV in Saratoga, NY, interviews Roger Kalia about the 10-year anniversary of the Lake George Music Festival. 

Click here to watch the full interview.  

The Lake George Music Festival presented the world premiere of Jordan Kuspa’s, “The Mystery of the Missing Music” Saturday, Aug. 21, in Shepard Park. The free Family Concert, geared towards children, asks the audience to decipher clues to locate the all-important missing sheet music.

Alexandra Cooke and Brandon Sarti of the Adirondack Theatre festival joined the orchestra to play the roles of Gemma and Jake, sleuths hired by the Maestro (played by LGMF Conductor and Music Director Roger Kalia) to find the missing music. A trickster had hidden the sheets and offered a series of clues to guide the duo on their hunt. The detective team must identify instruments in the orchestra and seek help from the musicians to solve riddles involving botany, geography, art and chemistry.

Click here to read full article.  

This week David Chats with The Maestro of The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Roger Kalia.  They chat about Kalia's musical training and background and discuss the upcoming Evansville Philharmonic season, "So Happy Together."  

Click here to listen to interview. 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, in its second season under Music Director Roger Kalia, has announced the performances for the upcoming season.

In its 87th year, the EPO plans to offer "an amazing array of music including Classics and Pops Series, New Traditions Diversity Series, and the new Bourbon Series, plus special community events and educational outreach programs."

"The idea of being together and community is at the core of this very special season," Kalia said. "The past year had its challenges, but I am so proud that we were able to keep the music alive and provide a sense of healing for our musicians and community. I am already counting down the days until our Opening Night concert and welcoming back our dedicated and loyal EPO audience in the Victory Theatre. It is going to be a night to remember."

Roger Kalia has been awarded a Career Assistance Award by the Solti Foundation U.S. This is the fifth time the foundation has honored Roger with this award, having also given it to him in 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2020.

Entering its twenty-first year of assisting outstanding young U.S. conductors to further develop their talent and careers, The Solti Foundation U.S. is the foremost organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping young conductors.

Established in 2000 to honor the memory of the legendary conductor Sir Georg Solti by lending significant support to career-ready young American musicians, in 2004, the Foundation concentrated the focus of its award program to solely assist talented young American conductors early in their professional careers (its original mission was of a more general arts nature). Since then, it has awarded over one million dollars through grants and residencies to American conductors.

The Foundation endeavors to seek out those musicians who have chosen to follow a path similar to that followed by Sir Georg himself. In keeping with the spirit of Sir Georg's active approach to his career, young conductors must apply to be considered for the awards.

While dedicated to identifying and assisting young conductors early on, the Foundation is also concerned with the long-term development of its award recipients, continuing to offer support and maintaining a constant interest in their growth and achievements.

Roger is one of 15 young conductors selected for the Career Assistance Award this year. The complete list of conductors is as follows (in alphabetical order):

Nathaniel Efthimiou, founding Music Director of Orchestra Contempo, Assistant Conductor, Boston Civic Symphony, Assistant Director of Music at Boston's historic Park Street Church and acting Assistant Conductor, Rhode Island Philharmonic; Kevin Fitzgerald, Assistant Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra, he is also the founder of the Michigan-based contemporary music ensemble ÆPEX Contemporary Performance; Taichi Fukumura, newly appointed Fellow and Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Summer Opera in 2021, Director of Orchestras, Merit School of Music,and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Northwestern Medical Orchestra; Lina Gonzalez-Granados, Solti Conducting Apprentice, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Conducting Fellow with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony; Keitaro Harada, Music & Artistic Director of the Savannah Philharmonic and Associate Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra; Jonathon Heyward,Chief Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie; Roberto Kalb, international guest conductor; Roger Kalia, Music Director, Evansville Philharmonic, Symphony NH, Orchestra Santa Monica, and the Lake George Music Festival; Earl Lee, Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Lee Mills, Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony; Vinay Parameswaran,Associate Conductor, The Cleveland Orchestra,and Music Director, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra; Michael Repper, Music Director, New York Youth Symphony and Northern Neck Orchestra of Virginia; Stefano Sarzani, international guest conductor; Kensho Watanabe, international guest conductor; Lidiya Yankovskaya, Music Director, Chicago Opera Theater.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The final concert in the “re-imagined” classics season took place Sunday afternoon in the Victory Theatre. More audience members were permitted (given Covid protocols) into the hall than earlier in the year, and a host of listeners got to hear the concert virtually.

Like all the re-imagined programs, this one presented an appealing variety of musical traditions and all within about an hour of music. Not only was the performance excellent it was also an excellent way to conclude a year of great challenges, musical and otherwise, and great successes. As conductor Roger Kalia noted, he will “never forget” his first year with the EPO.

Seven brass players plus two percussionists sat in a semi-circle in front of Kalia for the first composition, the Suite from Astor Piazzolla’s opera María de Buenos Aires. The music is vintage Piazzolla — sensuous tango dances, beguiling melodies and a fugue that kept the trombone players in particular very busy.

Tim Zifer and Kevin Wilson, though only two trumpeters, played a host of instruments from the trumpet family, each with a different tone and register; both took a well-deserved bow at the end of the composition.

"The Cantilena" (“lyrical song”) from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos followed, my favorite part of the entire performance. In the unusual setting, eight cellos accompany the very plaintive soprano vocal line, beautifully interpreted by Viginia Mims, who had the additional challenge of singing through a mask. Kalia explained that he added two high school students from the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra to complete the section, a great opportunity for the students. For the most part, the cellos play pizzicato throughout the Cantilena, but in a solo, the lead cellist repeats the lovely melody.

Graham Cullen — who also played a significant role in Teen Murti — echoed the human voice touchingly, and, later, Mims could be heard above the accompanying cellos and from behind her mask as she hummed the final, hypnotic portion of the composition.

The most recently composed work came next, "Teen Murti," by young Indian-American composer Reena Esmail. Kalia had arranged for the presentation of a short video from the composer, who describes what she is trying to achieve in her work, a coming-together of classical western and classical Indian musical traditions. Though the instrumentation — a string orchestra — was entirely western, the sound most definitely was not: the frequent slides on the strings kept the pitch tantalizingly ambiguous throughout, and the meter seemed never to rest in one place for very long. Kalia seemed to easily overcome any challenges that the piece might create for the conductor.

Finally, a buoyant performance of Mozart’s final symphony, the one dubbed “Jupiter,” for the king of the Roman pantheon and, probably, for the grandest of Mozart’s symphonies. Though musically and historically removed from the contemporary works on the program, Jupiter played well in the Victory Theatre on Sunday, especially the melodic Andante cantabile movement and the ebullient concluding Molto allegro. The gathering of musical forces on stage, the largest so far this season, might presage the excitement of the coming season.

Kalia reminded listeners that few other orchestras have managed to present in-house concerts this past year. He also described the many pop-up and small-venue performances that orchestra members have provided for the Evansville public. Evansville is surely lucky to have such a talented, versatile conductor as well as a group of musicians willing to perform in a pandemic. 

One year ago, the world came to a halt.

We stayed home. Restaurants closed their dining rooms. Our plans for concerts, travel, parties, and anything resembling a gathering were suddenly all canceled. Like many areas that connect with community and audiences, the arts felt the hard impact of this pandemic very keenly. From theaters to galleries, artists across Evansville and the Tri-State found themselves at home with no shows or performances to complete.

But, as the old adage goes, “the show must go on,” and it did. These four artists — representing the artistic disciplines of acting, painting, orchestral music, and medium art — share not only their stories, but the paths they forged during the pandemic. See how their creativity flourished and they found new ways to share their talents during lockdown.


There was no standard or musical inclination in Roger Kalia’s family, other than an appreciation for creative, performative art. A young Kalia growing up in the small town of Manhasset, New York, on Long Island, however, found himself pulled down a path toward a career in music.

“What changed my life was when we had the opportunity to see the New York Philharmonic,” says the 36-year-old. “During that performance, I noticed the conductor and how much of an influence on the sound that conductor had. That stuck with me.”

A year later, Kalia joined the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York where he was able to tour China with friends and fellow musicians. The trip changed him, he says, deciding music was something he wanted to dedicate his life to.

Though he was born in New York, Kalia is no stranger to Indiana. He began his musical studies at the SUNY Potsman’s Crane School of Music in upstate New York, majoring in music education and trumpet performance. Having solidified in his mind he wanted to become a conductor, Kalia began graduate studies at the University of Houston, Texas. He then came to Bloomington, Indiana, enrolling at Indiana University for his doctorate in orchestral conducting.

“When I was studying at IU (from 2009 to 2013), a lot of my friends played in the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. And they told me how it was a really good orchestra,” says Kalia.

That combination of knowledge about EPO from friends and fellow musicians, as well as learning about the high level the orchestra played prompted Kalia to do a little more research on the organization. Pulling up photos of the historic Victory Theatre and seeing a diverse repertoire being performed was the final push in convincing him to apply for the open music director position three years ago.

The long process (which included Kalia leading a performance of the EPO) concluded with Kalia being chosen as the new director in early April 2020. Plans to host a concert to introduce the new maestro as well as bid farewell to longtime music director Alfred Savia began. But COVID-19 quickly changed that, as it did many things last year.

“It was tough. There was talk of moving the introduction to May and then we realized we had to cancel the rest of the season,” says Kalia.

Click here for full article 

"...The program opened with the Evansville premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s “Banner,” a modern musical reconsideration of the “Star-Spangled Banner” as well as the notion of “anthem” itself in a modern and multi-cultural world. Kalia provided some helpful words of introduction to the short but amazingly rich composition. I had only heard chamber orchestra settings of “Banner,” but the EPO made use of woodwinds and brass as well as tympani and drums, all of which added interest to the piece.

A most noteworthy moment occurred in the dirge-like section, where Tiffany Freeman played a stirring solo and cadenza on her string bass. The composer is a violinist as well as a member of a string quartet, and “Banner” was written to feature a string quartet, in this case the Eykamp String Quartet. The only less-than-exciting moment in the performance came at the conclusion as quartet members were made to stand in acknowledgment of their fine work by Kalia, who himself had to provide most of the applause.

With the addition of more woodwind and brass players, the stage was set for Beethoven Symphony No. 2. Again Kalia spoke with us virtual listeners (actually, I think we were real), describing how this delightful composition arose from some of the darkest moments of Beethoven’s early life (he was 31 at the time). Of course, no one could hear any of the composer’s personal anguish in this charming, humorous, uplifting symphony. Especially lovely to hear — and lovely to see close-up — was the quartet of oboes and bassoons in the third movement.

Kalia’s choice of tempos seemed always appropriate, especially in the fourth movement, a whirlwind of fast string passages and driving rhythm. A noticeable blemish was the sound that cut out a number of times, but I suppose that no people working tech at the Victory imagined that they would have to deal with such a challenging season, each concert a different set of new difficulties to overcome.

The concert ended, Kalia dutifully signaled for performers to stand, again without the attendant electricity of applause. Yet we are reminded of the great, not-imagined challenges all — Kalia, performers, orchestra employees — must face as they prepare each re-done concert this season. And we doubly applaud the support of the concert’s donors — Linda Palmer and Phil Fassett, Dr. Lee and Kirsten Wagmeister and Susan Vaughan — upon whose gifts the EPO must surely depend in this impecunious but still-musical season." 

Click here to read full review.  

Click here to read the full article from Symphony Magazine (Winter 2021) about conductors in their first year as music directors and how they are adapting to this changing environment.

Saturday evening brought several artistic forces in Evansville together for a fine production of "The Soldier’s Tale," by Igor Stravinsky. Yet another “re-imagined” program of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, this one-hour work featured seven instrumentalists of the EPO, four dancers from Ballet Indiana and two actors from the Evansville Civic Theatre — all under the baton of Roger Kalia. The performance venue moved from the Victory Theatre to the smaller, more intimate stage at Evansville Civic Theatre.

Completed in 1918, "The Soldier’s Tale" is a retelling — in drama, dance, and music — of a Russian folk tale. Saturday night’s speakers — the narrator and the soldier — played their parts with ironic aplomb, clearly proclaiming their lines and admonishing anyone against making a pact with the devil. The story was enlivened by the dancers, all four whirling to Stravinsky’s characteristic setting of tango, waltz, and ragtime music. Congratulations to Evansville Civic Theatre Artistic Director Kevin Roach and the Artistic Director of Ballet Indiana, Kerri Lambert.

The musical score is one of the most devilish in music literature to conduct with its irregular and changing meters, yet conductor Roger Kalia kept the ensemble (and the tale) going with apparent ease. The musicians — Alan Snow, violin; Tiffany Freeman, bass; Thomas Josenhans, clarinet; Eve Parsons (seated in what appeared to be a large darkened hearth), bassoon; Tim Zifer, trumpet and cornet; Lee Blakeman, trombone; and Ross Erickson, percussion — likewise have diabolically difficult music to perform, which they did with bravura. Interestingly, "The Soldier’s Tale" was written during another great pandemic, the “Spanish” flu, which Stravinsky contracted. Happily for the musical world, the composer survived, and, a century later, social distancing kept the performers apart from one another and the audience virtual.

This program took the place of a performance of Stravinsky’s evocative ballet Petrushka, which Kalia promises will come to the stage at the Victory when we have made it through Covid-time. In the meantime, however, kudos go to all those — not only the artists but also all the technical whizzes — who have made this and other performances possible in these fiendishly difficult times. 

Click here to read review

Click here to see Roger Kalia's Skype interview with Ange Humphrey on Lifestyles 

Featured Grantee Interview: Orchestra Santa Monica
Type of art/cultural activity: Music 
Name/Position: Roger Kalia, Music Director 
Years working and/or living in Santa Monica: Two years 

What are your organization’s most important programs? 
Orchestra Santa Monica (OSM) presents live concerts featuring from 25 to 55 musicians. OSM concerts feature music from the classical and romantic periods to minimalist and contemporary works. Rapidly pivoting during the pandemic, an online series was launched last March. The series includes Classical Music Watch Parties, Classical Music Trivia Nights, and interviews with Kalia and guests.

What are the most interesting things you do that Santa Monicans may not know about? 
We host musical workshops at the local teen center, present small ensembles in the Santa Monica Main Library, give mini-performances in Reed Park, give chamber performances at Laemmle Live and the Santa Monica Family “Y”, and do pre-concert Happy Hours at local restaurants.

What's your favorite inspirational quote? 
"Music is nourishment, a comforting elixir. Music multiplies all that is beautiful and of value in life."
- Zoltán Kodály

Click here to read full interview 

Saturday evening’s Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra concert might have been the best yet this season. The hour-long program featured diverse musical styles—classical, jazz, rock—in a celebration of music-as-dance. And there was dance, as UE Mad Hot Ballroom Dancers swirled on the Victory stage to the sexy “Libertango” played by woodwind quintet. But truly, all compositions on the program reflected the electricity of togetherness and the wonderful possibilities of ensemble.

Conductor Roger Kalia had his hands full in “Go Big or Go Home,” the brief but sizzling work by contemporary composer Jessica Meyer. In the midst of a flurry of string playing, a rock band blasts its way into the mix; the piece ends with all performers joining in an exclamatory whoop of joy. The following composition, Polish composer Woyciech Kilar’s “Orawa,” concludes in the same jubilant manner. After a brief musical theme introduces the work and is repeated, the texture increases, and the tempo surges until there is a full, breathless stop and a confirming cadence. Despite the musical motion, there was time for a lovely cello solo about midway through the pulsating piece.

Click here to read full review 

Click here to see Roger Kalia's Skype Interview with Ange Humphrey of Lifestyles 

This week Bill, Allen, and Dennis get classy with our guest, Roger Kalia, the new conductor of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. We talk with him about being one of over 250 candidates trying out for the position. We also talk about his background in music and having socially distanced performances during a pandemic. We also do our regular pre-interview stuff for your listening pleasure. Join us!

Click here to listen to the podcast! 

In his first season with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Roger Kalia began Saturday night’s concert by addressing the audience: “These are difficult times. We’ve had to re-imagine our entire concert season.” But how fortunate are we that there IS a concert season, at a time when our society has been poisoned by a costly and enduring pandemic not to mention an acrimonious and divisive political environment. What a balm, then, to be able to turn to the best offerings of the human spirit—art and music—for moments that can nourish and restore the spirit. Saturday night’s uplifting EPO concert was just such an offering.

The concert began with the stage bathed in deep blue light, a painting projected on the back wall. That painting, “Death of the Poet,” later dissolved into a cityscape, blatant and orange, backdrop to the remarkable string composition by T. J. Cole. Disarmingly tonal in its harmonic vocabulary, the piece shimmered its way in two-note phrases and transient dissonances. The EPO string ensemble played with great poise and wonderful musicianship, in the process establishing the art-music theme of the evening and giving voice to the composition of a young and most promising American composer.

The next work, a cello concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, took the program back several hundred years in musical and cultural history. Visiting artist Eric Byers, whose great shock of blond hair shook vigorously as his one hand ran up and down the fretboard while the other traced great arcs in the air with the bow (particularly in the thrilling final movement of the concerto), gave a thoroughly enjoyable reading of the work. Again, a young and most talented musician with a long list of accomplishments despite his early age. Byers remained onstage for a performance of Arvo Pärt’s “Fratres,” one of the Estonian composer’s most well-known (deservedly so) compositions. This piece, with its changing meters and changing textures, must be a challenge not only for the soloist but also for the conductor. Roger Kalia was easily up to the task, though, and the performance was 10 minutes of musical magic.

The final work brought the worlds of art and music together again, this time in a string adaptation of five sections of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” An added feature: works of local artists were exhibited behind the orchestra members, including a large canvas by Cedric Hustace. Kalia had brought Hustace onto the concert stage earlier, both to introduce the audience to one of Evansville’s most versatile and artistic individuals and to reiterate the importance of the concert theme. Hustace had provided his own vision of the “Great Gate of Kiev,” recognizably Russian in all its vivid details. While most of us kept hearing the grander Ravel version of this piece (which would have been performed in a world free from Covid and the need for social distancing), the EPO strings did justice to the booming pomp and reverential solemnity of the work, beautifully played. A surprising feature of this string adaptation of Mussorgsky’s classic work was the enchanting bass solo throughout “The Old Castle.”

Thanks to Kalia and the EPO string players for helping us to re-imagine the human capacity to create but then to enjoy great music and art.

Click here to read original review 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra held a concert at the Evansville Wartime Museum for the first time Sunday.

The concert was called “World War II Remembrance: A Veteran Salute Re-Imagined.”

The orchestra played tunes from the World War II era in remembrance of the 75th anniversary of the war ending.

“I never realized the impact that Evansville had on the war. It’s truly influential what they’ve done in terms of production during the war. And we want to share that and connect with our veterans today,” conductor Roger Kalia said.

NASHUA – Acclaimed maestro Roger Kalia will conduct Symphony NH’s brass and percussion in a free concert that will be held in Greeley Park on Friday, Oct. 2 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Concert goers are asked to bring their own chairs and blankets to the park and allow for social distancing.

As music director of the Granite State’s 97-year-old Symphony NH, the Indian American Kalia was also recently named music director of Indiana’s 87-year-old Evansville Philharmonic.

With COVID-19 changing the face and sound of how audiences enjoy the arts, this season also introduces a new online series entitled, “Granite State Conversations with Roger Kalia,” featuring bi-monthly episodes showcasing Kalia as he discusses topics such as upcoming orchestra concerts and the cultural landscape across New Hampshire.

There’s no question however, that the arts have taken a huge hit over the past several months.

“I think that all of us are craving to perform and everyone is really missing live music right now, especially our audiences,” he said. “Lots of orchestras are postponing their seasons or cancelling their seasons but we decided that we’re actually going to be performing.”

Although it’s not the full 60-piece orchestra that fans might have hoped for, Symphony NH will present sections of the orchestra in each live music performance.

“We’re featuring small ensembles this season,” Kalia said. “For instance, next Friday at Greeley Park will feature our brass and percussion sections. And then in November, it’s a small string orchestra. It’s really an opportunity to highlight the musicians and give them work.”

Kalia said that the orchestra will move forward, albeit with tweaks, such as socially distancing and having members of the orchestra, such as percussionists or string musicians, wear masks.

“There’s a lot of safety protocols that go into it,” he said. “But at least we’re performing again which is really exciting and nice for us.”

Kalia has remained incredibly busy throughout the spring and summer, although he admitted that when the health crisis first hit, the was glad to have a break.

“Lots of my concerts got canceled all over the country,” he shared. “I had a lot of guest conducting engagements and also my last concert with Symphony NH, our final classical concert of the subscription series was canceled. That was disappointing but it gave me time to reflect.”

Once the aftermath of COVID-19 had set in, Kalia said it was time to reimagine how Symphony NH was going to march on.

“We had to completely reimagine everything,” he said. “Programs, guest artists, venues – all had to be changed. And what we did was to focus on virtual content.”

Kalia said it wasn’t just with Symphony NH, but other philharmonics that he is involved with who all faced the same challenge, in redesigning and reconfiguring how they could get music to the masses.

“In general, I was doing virtual watch parties on Facebook,” he said. “We did a virtual trivia night with Symphony NH. My wife and I did a mixology video as well. It was just a lot of different ways to engage with our audience, to keep them interested and to let them know that we hadn’t forgotten them.”

This is the third re-imagination Symphony NH’s concert season. Kalie hopes that this is the final one, but said he “wouldn’t be surprised if I still have to reimagine the rest of the season in different contexts.”

Conducting smaller components of the symphony adds a unique challenge to Kalia.

“This is more chamber music,” he said. “In a way, it’s more intimate in the way that I approach it. I change my conducting slightly to give the musicians more opportunities to shine, if you will. It’s more about solos and individuality in this case.”

With fewer musicians, Kalia steps aside as there is not as much coronation involved.

“There is not as much distancing involved,” he said. “It’s a unique opportunity to let the musicians take over. Of course, it’s still a team effort but it’s going to be new for many of our musicians.”

The performers will be six to eight feet apart and rehearsals are also approached differently.

“We play for a certain amount of time and then we take a break,” Kalia said. “And then we play another certain amount of time and then another break. The reason for the multiple breaks is due to air quality and circulation in the hall.”

Luckily, this first concert being held at Greeley Park is outdoors and alleviates much of the strategizing when the symphony is playing, or will play, indoors.

“More air will be circulating,” he said. “And we can’t do that in New Hampshire for the whole season, with the weather. But I think in this more intimate setting, the musicians are going to standout more. And my job is a little less busy in terms of conducting.”

Kalia dismissed that there is competition among musicians and said the ensemble plays as one.

“No, there is no competition,” he said. “I wouldn’t use that word in describing an orchestra. It’s a team effort. We all have to sound exactly the same. We have to sound like one instrument – we can’t sound like multiple parts. It has to sound like one big instrument.”

To communicate his ideas to the orchestra, Kalia prefers to allow the orchestra to play large portions of music, to interpret the composition and follow his lead.

“I don’t like to interrupt too much,” he said. “That can be very frustrating for musicians if you stop every few bars and say, ‘Fix this’ or ‘Fix that.'”

In terms of his approach to rehearsals, when Kalia speaks to the orchestra, his uses analogies or different descriptive words to convey the mood of the piece.

“You want to tell a story about each piece,” he said. “That’s what you’re trying to do. Not only that but you’re trying to give historical context to each work – when the piece was written, or what was happening in this composer’s life at the time. That will really inform the musician on how to play a certain phrase or series of notes.”

Kalia said musicians want to perform at their highest level possible- even when that means having to perform the same piece publicly up to five times.

“With Symphony NH, we typically only have to do two performances,” he said. “The biggest challenge for an orchestra is adapting to new venues and different acoustics. But the standard will always remain at the highest possible level in order to allow for emotional, connected performances.

Kalia said his musicians bring their A-game to a concert. And the audience does as well.

“We feed off that audience energy and involvement,” he said. “A lot of times, if we don’t have a big audience, we’re still going to put on a great show but it might not be that level of excitement then if we had a full house.”

Kalia said he always includes the audience in each performance by addressing them, speaking from the podium and explaining a bit about the music and thanking them for their support.

As conductor, Kalia’s ultimate goal is to bring a committed, emotional performance to the audience.

“I always think about the audience,” he said. “They come from different backgrounds. Maybe someone has a tragedy in their life. I’m there to ensure there is an emotional connection rather to just entertain.”

And as a conductor, Kalia added, “With the score that I’m conducting, I always try to get in that composer’s head. What was that composer thinking when he or she wrote that piece? It’s important to realize that the conductor has to bring his own interpretation but in the end it’s really about what the composer wrote on the page and trying to bring that to life with as much energy and commitment as possible.”

Kalia commented that the conductor does not make the sound; the musicians make the sound.

“My job is to enable the performers to give their best,” he said. “To really create an atmosphere where they feel they can play at their best is so important to me as a conductor rather than me just standing up there waving my arms.”

 

Warm sounds from a French horn ensemble greeted us as we entered the Victory Theatre Saturday for the opening concert in the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra music season, “Connect & Celebrate.”

It had been a quintessential fall day — cool, sunny and breezy; and the beauty of the day complemented the beautiful music of the evening.

For his first concert, conductor Roger Kalia selected four delightful compositions that displayed a variety of musical styles and periods as well as the technical and musical abilities of the orchestra members. Owing to COVID-19 protocols, the orchestra was much reduced, mostly only masked string players. Kalia sported a black mask throughout the performance. Audience members, limited in number, were spread out around the Victory Theatre.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — The coronavirus pandemic has forced many in the entertainment industry to change the way they perform.

The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra has “Re-Imagined” its opening night concert for the 86th season.

Thursday night, the orchestra took to the stage to practice for its first performance in months, and with the rise of the baton, they play as a one again.

“I think we all really are craving live music,” Roger Kalia says.

This weekend guests will file into the victory theater to watch and listen. They will need to remember their masks when they come into the building. They’ll also have their temperature taken.

“Only 250 people in the theater,” Kalia explains. “This is a 1,900 person concert hall so this is a lot less than what we’re used to.”

Click here to read full article and watch video interview 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT)- New Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Roger Kalia says he’s looking forward to being a part of the community and leading musicians on stage at the Victory Theatre.

Kalia’s opening night concert is the weekend of September 19. Four works will be performed, including a world premiere fanfare written for the orchestra and the city of Evansville.

“It’s a great way for me to open my tenure with the orchestra and it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be special. You know the musicians haven’t performed in months. We’re craving, we’re dying to perform for you and I can tell you that it’s going to be special to be back with our audience,” Kalia said.

Kalia is looking forward to his debut. The concert will feature 30 musicians, half the orchestra’s usual size, with COVID-19 precautions in place.

“Because of the pandemic, performances have been canceled pretty much since March, so the fact that we are able to come together here in Evansville while many orchestras are folding or postponing their seasons, here we are performing for our beloved audience in the Victory Theatre with safety protocols in place. I can’t wait for it,” Kalia said.

Kalia says he wants to get to know the community and the audience. The EPO may partner with breweries and parks for performances in the future.

“I still have so many people that I want to meet … you name it, I want to meet you, I want to get to know you and I want you to come to the symphony because the symphony is for everyone,” Kalia said. “This season is called ‘Connect and Celebrate’ so that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to get to know our audiences even more.”

Information on tickets can be found here.

Check out Roger Kalia's Skype Interview with Ange Humphrey of ABC 25 Local Lifestyles. 

EVANSVILLE, Ind (WEHT) The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra announced its 86th Season with a new music director, a wide range of concerts and the introduction of a commissioned work for the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra.

This season begins with Roger Kalia in his first symphonic performance as the EPO’s new Music Director.

Opening Night, on September 19, begins with a world premiere of a commissioned fanfare by acclaimed composer Paul Dooley that celebrates the EPO and the city of Evansville. Pianist Sean Chen will dazzle audiences in Mendelssohn’s dramatic Piano Concerto No. 1. The program concludes with Mahler’s monumental First Symphony, which is one of the most triumphant works in the repertoire.

Click here to read full article 

After a two year search, involving over 200 applicants, the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra has announced who will replace Maestro Alfred Savia as their new Music Director.

Maestro Roger Kalia was announced Saturday afternoon during a virtual press conference with the Philharmonic Board and members of the local media. He will officially take over the position on June 1st, 2020, but has already begun working on the upcoming 2020-21 season opener scheduled for September 13th at the Victory Theater. 

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT)- After a two-year search, the Evansville Philharmonic announced Saturday Maestro Roger Kalia will take over as its music director in June. Kalia holds degrees from Indiana University, the University of Houston, and the State University of New York Potsdam’s Crane School of Music.

Kalia currently serves as the music director for Symphony NH in New Hampshire, California’s Orchestra Santa Monica and Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, as well as Music Director and co-founder of the Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York.

Kalia will conclude his service with California’s Pacific Symphony in August. The Philharmonic says it reviewed over 200 candidates during its search process before narrowing that list down to five finalists.

Kalia’s first concert as the music director is scheduled for September 13 at the Victory Theatre.

Click here to read full article and view Music Director announcement video 

Indian American conductor Roger Kalia has been named Music Director of the 87 year-old Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra (EPO) in Indiana today. The orchestra, the largest arts organization in the tri-state area (where the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois intersect), announced the appointment via a Zoom press conference at 4:00 PM Central Time/5:00 PM Eastern Time rather than in person -as has become the norm in recent days as a result of COVID-19 and safe social distancing practices. It is Kalia's second music directorship in as many years.

Mr. Kalia said of the new post, "I am honored to be named Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. This is an innovative and passionate organization with deep roots in the community, and I look forward to being a part of the meaningful, collaborative community connections the EPO offers through its concerts, outreach and family, youth and education offerings. The 2020-21 season promises to be exciting and engaging, and I cannot wait to share this music with you in the concert hall beginning this fall."

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Evansville Philharmonic named Roger Kalia as the new music director, taking the place of Alfred Savia who had been with the EPO for 31 years.

Kalia's announcement came via a virtual press conference Saturday instead of the planned announcement during an EPO concert titled, "The Envelope Please" that has been postponed until next season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

How fitting that the fifth and last finalist for Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra should perform on that rarest of days, leap year. Similarly exceptional were the program and the performance of Roger Kalia and members of the EPO.

Before the concert began, Executive Director Kimberly Bredemeier warmly greeted the audience and noted this concert ends the two-year search for a new music director of the EPO, for which a new director will be announced in a month or so. Hats off to the orchestra staff and to the indefatigable members of the search committee for a thoroughly professional and musically rewarding undertaking. 

Roger Kalia showed his musical mettle from the very beginning of the program, with the Dances of Galánta of Zoltán Kodály. The composition is a setting of dance-like themes and rhythms that suggest the gypsy-inspired street bands of Kodály’s youth. With a great variety of tempos, irregular rhythms and solos for many instruments, the work surely taxes the ability of the conductor to control the ensemble. These demands presented no problem for Kalia, who danced along with the music yet seemed to offer just the right cues and direction.

What followed was pure musical alchemy — the Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo. Prize-winning soloist Meng Su offered a sensitive reading of the work, making the complicated chord changes and virtuoso passages seem second-nature to her. Especially entrancing was the second movement, which featured Su and Elizabeth Robertson (playing the hauntingly beautiful English horn) in a duet of astonishing soulfulness. Saturday night, the orchestra too played with rare sensitivity and intensity, and at the end of the third, exciting movement, the audience jumped to its feet in ovation. After several curtain-calls, Su treated us to an encore, the well-known “Gran Vals,” by Francisco Tárrega.

Kalia addressed the audience at the beginning of the second half of the program, both to congratulate Evansville for maintaining an orchestra of such high quality and to introduce the Mendelssohn “Scottish” symphony, a personal favorite of the conductor’s. And what a remarkable performance — from the refined elegance of the first movement to the jaunty second movement (with wonderful solo clarinet played by UE faculty member Thomas Josenhans, recently returned from England for this event) to the dramatic third movement and finally to the tumultuous fourth with its triumphant coda in A major. Mendelssohn’s paean to the rugged beauty of that northern nation came alive in this fine performance, with the EPO under the extraordinary leadership of Kalia.

Spokane Symphony's Masterworks series continues with a commemoration of the Moon Landing. Guest conductor Roger Kalia visits the studio with Spokane Symphony's new Marketing Director, Kathy Gustafson, and Director of Education Programs, Janet Napoles, for a discussion of the concert's program and multi-media presentations.

After an extensive 18-month search and concert auditions during the 2018-2019 season, Symphony NH selected Roger Kalia, an engaging talent ready to bring live symphonic music to New Hampshire. At the age of 34, Kalia already has international experience conducting and working with world-class orchestras and soloists. We are lucky to have him here.

As a season subscriber of Symphony NH (and food editor of this magazine), it only seemed natural for me to give him an introduction to a few of my favorite restaurants and shops on Main Street in Nashua. This town is my home base, and after bingeing four seasons of Amazon Prime’s “Mozart in the Jungle” in two weeks, I was more than eager to meet our new “Rodrigo.” (For those who skipped the series, Rodrigo was a young and very enthusiastic conductor with a passion to bring live music to the people where they were, and not just to symphony halls.)

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Roger Kalia will serve as the Solti Fellow at the Lyric Opera of Chicago this September in their opening production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Sir Andrew Davis conducting.  Roger is a recipient of three Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards. 

Roger Kalia, who recently concluded a very successful first season as Music Director of Orchestra Santa Monica, is primed to lead the orchestra for another three years.  “This contract represents an absolute vote of confidence in our new Music Director,” says OSM President, Cindy Bandel.  “Roger is a true artist and our board, musicians, and audience members are all very enthusiastic about his leadership, talent, energy, and ideas. We are pleased with all that he is accomplishing in our community and are proud of the fact that he’s also becoming increasingly prominent on the national level.”

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Symphony New Hampshire named Indian American conductor Roger Kalia as its new music director May 13.

“Dynamic, innovative, and compelling, those who saw Roger Kalia conduct Beethoven’s Fifth in January 2019 can attest to his passion and eloquent presence onstage,” the symphony announced on its website.

Describing Kalia as a “captivating communicator” equally at home with “popular warhorses” as he is with modern repertoire, and a proponent of music education for youth, Kalia, said the symphony, “brings a fresh view to classical music” and is acclaimed nationally for his musical ideas.

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Symphony N.H. named Roger Kalia the new director of the orchestra at a Maestro’s Dinner on May 13.

Kalia was selected from a short list of candidates and asked to lead a trial run with the Symphony. He conducted a Mozart and Beethoven concert with the orchestra on Jan. 26. 

“I am thrilled to be the next music director of this wonderful orchestra, and I am extremely grateful to the dedicated musicians, staff and board of trustees for giving me the opportunity to lead this great organization,” Kalia said in his welcome letter.

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Symphony New Hampshire announced Monday that Roger Kalia will be the new music director for the orchestra.

The 96-year old symphony, based in Nashua, had been searching for a new leader for over a year. Kalia currently serves as the music director for Orchestra Santa Monica, the Lake George Music Festival and Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra in California. He joins me in the studio now.

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NASHUA – After an 18-month search, Symphony NH officials unveiled their new music director during the annual Maestro Dinner, Monday at Nashua Country Club.

 Nashua, NH – Following an intensive 18-month search, Symphony New Hampshire (Symphony NH) announced Roger Kalia as its new Music Director this evening at the organization’s sold out annual Maestro Dinner at the Nashua Country Club. 

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Moores School of Music (MSM) alumnus Roger Kalia rings in the new year as the Orange County Pacific Symphony’s associate conductor.

Franz Anton Krager, MSM professor of conducting, said he was overcome with pride after learning about Kalia’s promotion. But as his mentor, Krager wasn’t exactly surprised.

“Roger is a star,” Krager says. “He was a model student, on time, enthusiastic, well studied, well-liked. He had the whole package — and still does. The news didn’t surprise me whatsoever.”

As the Pacific Symphony’s associate conductor, Kalia, who previously served as assistant conductor, will continue his work with the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. He will also conduct the orchestra’s Family Musical Mornings and Class Act Youth Concerts alongside new commitments.

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The Pacific Symphony Orchestra, in Orange County, California, has this week announced the appointment of American conductor Roger Kalia as its new Associate Conductor – effective immediately.

Roger, a three time recipient of a Solti Foundation Career Assistance Prize, has served as the ensemble’s Assistant Conductor for the past four years.

He will continue to work with the Symphony’s educational initiatives – including the ‘Family Musical Mornings’ series and leading the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra.

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Pacific Symphony announces the promotion of Assistant Conductor Roger Kalia to the position of Associate Conductor as well as his contract extension through August 31, 2020. It’s been four years since the Symphony first announced Kalia as its second in command (under Music Director Carl St.Clair). Kalia’s position, endowed by The Mary E. Moore Family, began at the start of the 2015-16 season. In addition to assisting St.Clair with conducting duties, Kalia has played—and will continue to play—a vital role in the Symphony’s education initiatives. These include programming and conducting the Family Musical Mornings series presented by Farmers & Merchants Bank, which introduces children ages 5 to 11 to the exciting world of orchestral music through engaging and educational concerts.

“Roger has made important musical contributions to Pacific Symphony,” says Maestro St.Clair. “In just a little over three short years, he has gained the respect of the musicians and also the staff with whom he works very closely. Because of the wonderful job he has done, we were pleased to offer Roger this promotion to the position of Associate Conductor and also to extend his contract to August 31, 2020.”

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Roger Kalia is a very busy young man, assistant conductor of Orange County’s Pacific Symphony, director of the annual Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York, popular guest conductor, and now music director of Orchestra Santa Monica.

Kalia has enjoyed great success with Pacific Symphony. His talent has also been recognized by the Solti Foundation, named for the celebrated conductor Sir Georg Solti. He’s a three-time recipient of the Foundation’s Career Assistance Award.

Kalia has a clear artistic vision for Orchestra Santa Monica and a strong commitment to community engagement. And during his summers, Kalia will continue as the director of the Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York.

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Roger Kalia, the Festival Music Director who’d already returned home to California by Monday when I met with Alex and Barbora, emerges to my ear as the festival’s secret weapon. 

His enthusiasm and positivism, at least from my vantage as an observer, is unbounded. His leadership, impressive. 

Together with Ms. Kolarova’s always-interesting programming, and Mr. Lombard’s stewardship: Nothing’s ever guaranteed, but this is a recipe for good. 

Chronicle-Review-Final-Concert-

Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, today announced the names of the eight recipients of the 2018 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards. The young conductors hold positions throughout the United States, with posts in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York.

"Supporting and encouraging young conductors at the beginning of their careers is the mission of The Solti Foundation U.S.," said Ms. Van Horn. "As I have stated in the past, the young musicians we recognize are part of the fabric of our future musical landscape. From what we have seen and heard, it is going to be a glorious, immense vista, full of creativity, energy and passion! We congratulate each of our 2018 awardees."

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Art in the Adirondacks spent three days last week covering the seventh annual Lake George Music Festival. We attended Piano Mania at the Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek, lunch meetings, practice sessions, a lake cruise, and the final full orchestra performance Thursday night back in Lake George.

Alexander Lombard has been the driving force in the creation and cultivation of the Lake George Music Festival since its inception. Lombard, who is a native of Queensbury, founded the festival in 2011 along with colleagues Barbora Kolářová and Roger Kalia.

Lombard’s vision and work for the festival has helped revitalize the landscape in the Village of Lake George, and the festival is frequently described as the region’s 21st century “cultural renaissance.”

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Following an intermission, the B-52s returned for another 45-minute segment with the Pacific Symphony conducted by Roger Kalia. First came “Planet Claire.” The orchestra’s brass and string sections paired well with the song’s sci-fi, synth-dominated sound and built to a fine crescendo.

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Orange County, Calif.-based Pacific Symphony’s assistant conductor Roger Kalia and San Diego, Calif.-based Sameer Patel, associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony, are among nine conductors to have received the 2017 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. The Indian American conductors have both won the honor in the past.

The award supports and encourages young musicians in the early stages of their classical careers.

Co-founder and music director of the Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York, and music director of Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, Kalia is only the second assistant conductor in the Pacific Symphony’s history to have his contract extended for two additional years.

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Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, today announced the names of the recipients of the 2017 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards, bringing the number of such grants given by the Foundation to 55, and the amount awarded to young conductors since 2004 to $500,000, a major milestone in the organization’s history. This year’s recipients hold positions throughout the United States, Canada and Brazil with posts in California, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, Hamilton, Ontario, and Rio de Janiero.

“The Solti Foundation U.S. is thrilled to announce the 2017 Career Assistance Award recipients,” said Ms. Van Horn. “These young conductors are part of the fabric of our future musical landscape, and we are proud to identify, support and encourage these young musicians in the early stages of their classical careers. Congratulations to all the awardees.”

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Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, today announced the names of the recipients of the 2017 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards, bringing the number of such grants given by the Foundation to 55, and the amount awarded to young conductors since 2004 to $500,000, a major milestone in the organization's history. This year's recipients hold positions throughout the United States, Canada and Brazil with posts in California, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, Hamilton, Ontario, and Rio de Janiero.

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Do you remember the ’60s?

If so, you weren’t there. But last Saturday night’s season-ending Long Beach Symphony POPS! concert brought memories of that wondrous era back, or at least its music, in the form of a show called “Divas of the ’60s”.

As a reporter, I have to tell you the audience loved everything about this show. They didn’t just applaud, they whooped and hollered for almost every number, some of which stopped the show in its tracks. They danced, on the dance floor and in the aisles, and several songs received a standing ovation in the middle of things, which doesn’t happen often. Everyone had a good time.

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Pacific Symphony has extended the contract of its assistant conductor, Roger Kalia, for two additional years, providing for him to continue in his current role through June 2019. It’s been two years since the Symphony first announced Kalia as its second in command (under Music Director Carl St.Clair), with his position beginning at the start of the 2015-16 season. In addition to assisting St.Clair with conducting duties, Kalia has played—and will continue to play—a vital role in the Symphony’s education initiatives. These include programming and conducting the Farmers & Merchants Bank Family Musical Mornings series, which introduces children ages 5-11 (and beyond) to the exciting world of orchestral music through engaging and educational concerts.

“I am absolutely thrilled to continue my work as assistant conductor with Pacific Symphony for the next two years,” says Kalia. “Working with Maestro St.Clair, the staff and the wonderful musicians has been inspiring and memorable. I have already had the privilege of meeting and working with incredible people across Orange County, and I’m looking forward to being part of the many exciting future concerts and projects. Just having this opportunity is extraordinary—and a big deal! I am so grateful for being part of this very special organization.”

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“What does Beethoven really have to do with electronic music?” Lake George Music Festival Music Director and Conductor Roger Kalia posed this question to the crowd of several hundred that gathered last night in Shepard Park for the Festival’s “Sounds of our Time” concert. The event brought together LA-based EDM group Mako and the LGMF Orchestra to demonstrate the connection between classical and electronic dance music. The “Sounds of our Times” series, created by Kalia, is a new feature of the classical music festival, developed to explore relationships across different musical genres.

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In upstate New York, the premier musical arts festival in the region, Lake George Music Festival is having a unique and innovative new concert series called Sounds of Our Time for first time ever collaboration with DJ and producer, Mako. The concert series will be held on Wednesday, August 24 at 8pm at Shepard Park Amphitheater.

Sounds of Our Time will highlight the connections between two different ends of the music spectrum that audiences normally wouldn’t see or hear together on the same stage.  For the first installment, the Lake George Music Festival Symphony Orchestra will collaborate with duo group Mako, one of the leading progressive and cinematic producers in the country, to highlight the connection between electronica and orchestral music, specifically minimalism.  

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Everything seems to get thrown into the musical mix at some point. But electronic dance music, or EDM, (think hip young folks in nightclubs, sipping cocktails and grooving under cool lighting) combined with classical orchestra is still a novelty.

Yet that's just what is in store with Sounds of Our Time, a presentation of the third annual Lake George Music Festival. Onstage together will be the electronic duo Mako alongside a chamber orchestra. The free event starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday evening at the Shepard Park Amphitheater in downtown Lake George. (Sorry, scratch the moody nightclub setting, though craft beers will be for sale.)

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Electronic production duo MAKO is known for releasing cinematic and emotive dance music with an emphasis on insightful songwriting. Their newest single "Into The Sunset" (Ultra Music) has returned acoustically and live showcasing the mulit-dimension of their songwriting craft. With a dynamic rhythm of beautifully produced vocals featuring MAKO's Alex Seaver, the single has transformed into an easy-listening hit fit for the summer breeze. The original version of "Into The Sunset" is MAKO's fastest streaming single to date, rapidly approaching four million plays and is growing at radio.

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For Kalia, who traveled to China with his local orchestra as a high school student, the tour serves as a nostalgic reminder of just how powerful music can be.

“Performing in different concert halls and seeing the sights and sounds of each city in China inspired me to become a professional musician,” Kalia said. “The enthusiasm and energy from our audiences was contagious, and something that I’ll never forget. It will be an elevating and transformative experience for these young musicians.”

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Kalia, currently the assistant conductor of the Pacific Symphony and music director of the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Lake George Music Festival, is a very fine young conductor with a solid technique, some really good musical ideas, and the strength as a conductor to work those ideas out in collaboration with the orchestra.

It was readily apparent that he and the musicians had a very positive rapport going on, and the results were obvious in the quality of the music-making — which, as I’ve said often enough, is about far more than how well the notes are played.

At the same time, in his multiple interactions with the audience, Kalia showed himself to be completely at ease with what has to be a stressful situation for a conductor — coming into a new environment, working with an unfamiliar orchestra, and doing all that as a candidate to be at the orchestra’s helm.

With an engaging, affable manner, Kalia made the most of his opportunities to connect with people and to do a little educational work about the music at the same time, and given the warmth of the response he received from the audience after the concert, it’s clear that the audience connected with him too.

The Chicago Sinfonietta is pleased to welcome Kalena Bovell and Roger Kalia as its 2015-16 Conducting Fellows. They enter the program with conducting credits at the Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, and Prelude Youth Orchestras of Arlington, VA (Bovell), and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and St. Louis Symphony (Kalia).

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As assistant conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Roger Kalia has to be ready to take over for Maestro Christopher Warren-Green at a moment's notice. He learns every score the orchestra is playing — just in case Warren-Green is unable to fill his duties. It's sort of like being the runner-up in the Miss America pageant. Or Joe Biden.

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