From America to Scotland (Masterworks 4)

David Lockington, guest conductor
Bharat Chandra, clarinet

Friday, January 30, 8 p.m., Neel
Saturday, January 31, 8 p.m., Van Wezel
Sunday, February 1, 2:30 p.m., Van Wezel

Join the Orchestra, led by guest conductor David Lockington, for this musical journey from America to Scotland! Maestro Lockington opens his first Sarasota performance with Copland's beloved Billy the Kid suite, which draws from American folk tunes to evoke the spirit of the Old West in an expansive and lyrical orchestral setting. Bharat Chandra, the Orchestra's exceptional principal clarinetist, is featured in Copland's Clarinet Concerto, a piece commissioned by the renowned Benny Goodman. Maestro Lockington then leads the Orchestra in a performance of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, also known as the "Scottish symphony," inspired by Mendelssohn's numerous visits to Scotland. This trans-Atlantic tour de force promises to be a delight!

The Orchestra Association will present Classical Conversations, an informative pre-concert talk on Thursday, January 29, at 10:30 a.m. in Holley Hall of the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center. Admission is $8 and tickets may be purchased at the door.

About David Lockington, guest conductor

A native of Great Britain, David Lockington has developed an impressive conducting career in the United States over the past twenty-five years. He has served as the Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra since January 1999 and was appointed to the position of Music Director of the Modesto Symphony in May 2007. Internationally, he has conducted the China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra in Beijing and Taiwan, led the English Chamber Orchestra on a tour in Asia and appeared with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain and the Northern Sinfonia in Great Britain.

About Bharat Chandra, clarinet

Bharat Chandra has been the Orchestra's principal clarinetist since 2001, and is also a member of the Sarasota Wind Quintet. Prior to joining the Orchestra, he performed with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Mr. Chandra earned his Master's Degree (and the prestigious Gunther Schueller Medal) at the New England Conservatory of Music, as the first student of world-renowned clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.

Recent solo performances have taken him from Sarasota to Connecticut, and on a multi-city tour of England, after which he was featured on the cover of "Winds" magazine. He has toured the United States, Japan, Monte Carlo, and Austria, and has been featured in recordings on EMI, RCA, CRI, and Tzadik Records. A concerto for Mr. Chandra is currently being planned by the extraordinary composer Stewart Wallace.

Mr. Chandra is the son of the late G. S. Sharat Chandra, a two time Pulitzer Prize nominee (poetry and short-fiction) from India, and Jane Chandra, a 6th grade school teacher. His wife Anne is a violinist with the Sarasota Orchestra.