Contact:  Meg Whalen, Director of Public Relations
E: megw@charlottesymphony.org
P: 704-714-5114
W: www.charlottesymphony.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                          
May 23, 2011

Christopher Warren-Green Names Jacomo Bairos Associate Conductor of CSO
Change in title reflects increase in artistic responsibility

The Charlotte Symphony (CSO) announced today that Assistant Conductor Jacomo Bairos has been named Associate Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony. The new title better aligns with the growing role that Bairos will play in the Symphony’s upcoming season.

Bairos completes his first season with the Charlotte Symphony next month, conducting four concerts in June, including the June 18 Summer Pops concert at Symphony Park. He came to the Charlotte Symphony in September 2010 as Assistant Conductor and led Lollipops family concerts, education programs, and occasional special and run-out concerts in the 2010-2011 season.

In the 2011-2012 season, Bairos will conduct concerts in the Symphony’s Lollipops, KnightSounds, and Pops series, as well as community and educational programs.

“In his first season with the Symphony, Jacomo has demonstrated extraordinary energy and excellent work,” said CSO Music Director Christopher Warren-Green. “I think he is one of the most talented and gifted young musicians that I’ve come across and I am delighted that he will have more time on the podium next year.”

In addition to his work with the Charlotte Symphony, upcoming engagements include Bairos’s debut with the Atlanta Symphony (2011), concerts at the Cabrillo Music Festival (2011), and reengagements with the Iceland Symphony (2012). Bairos will also serve as the Director of the Chamber Orchestra at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the 2011-2012 season. A full biography is below.

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About the Charlotte Symphony
Founded in 1932, the Charlotte Symphony is a cornerstone cultural organization in the Charlotte region. One of only two full-time professional orchestras in the state of North Carolina, the Charlotte Symphony is the largest employer of professional artists in the Charlotte area, with 62 full-time musicians. The Charlotte Symphony is supported by ticket sales, performance fees, generous individuals, The Symphony Guild of Charlotte, Inc., corporate sponsors, foundation grants, the North Carolina Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by a basic operating grant from the Arts & Science Council-Charlotte/Mecklenburg. In September 2010, Christopher Warren-Green became the orchestra’s 11th Music Director.

Jacomo Rafael Bairos, Associate Conductor

Portuguese American Jacomo Rafael Bairos enjoys an international career as a conductor and educator. Upcoming performances include a debut with the Atlanta Symphony (2011), concerts with the Charlotte Symphony (CSO), the Cabrillo Music Festival (2011), and reengagements with the Iceland Symphony (2012). Recent performances include the Malaysia Philharmonic (MPO), Singapore Symphony (SSO), and reengagements with both the National Orchestra of Porto Portugal (ONP), and the Bangor Symphony, among others.

Bairos was recently promoted to Associate Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra for the 2011-2012 season, having served as Assistant Conductor in 2010-2011. In the 2011-2012 season, he will lead the CSO’s Lollipops family concerts and will conduct concerts in the orchestra’s KnightSounds and Pops series, as well as education, community, Summer Pops, and run-out concerts.

In August of 2009 a CD for Albany Records with the Iceland Symphony, featuring concertos by North American composers, was released to critical acclaim (Fanfare Magazine), and a second recording of contemporary Icelandic composers is set for 2012. Presently a cover-conductor for the Atlanta Symphony, Bairos was also assistant-rehearsal conductor for the Baltimore Opera Company (2007-2008). From 2007 to 2010, Bairos was a cover-conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conducting in rehearsals for Marin Alsop and working with many guest conductors. In his debut with the SSO, featuring Latin-Grammy winner Nestor Torres, The Singapore Straits Times announced "...the musicians and the audience...could feel Jacomo's energy and enthusiasm for the music." In concerts as part of the MPO 10th Anniversary Subscription Celebrations, The Malaysian New Straits Times wrote, "Through his expressive hands and passionate gestures…you can even feel his Latin vibe."

Passionately dedicated to education and community engagement, Bairos has developed unique and interactive youth concerts that reach thousands of kids across North and South Carolina. Internationally, he developed education concerts for 2300 kids across Portugal with the ONP, and was Music Director for the 2010 National Youth Orchestra Festival of Portugal.  As former Director of Orchestras with the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSFA), he worked closely with the Baltimore Symphony’s “OrchKids,” BSFA “Twiggs,” and Peabody’s “Tuned In” programs, creating side-by-sides and education workshops for children in underserved urban communities. In the 2011-2012 season Bairos will also serve as the Director of the Chamber Orchestra at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

During his two-year tenure as Artistic Director and Host of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series, Bairos was able to double attendance and create multiple partnerships with local arts organizations. He also created programs for the SSO’s Outreach department, taking music into the community.

Discovered while attending the International Conductors Workshop 2007, he was subsequently invited by eminent teacher Gustav Meier to be his student at the Peabody Conservatory, where he was conducting assistant for illustrious faculty members Leon Fleisher and Edward Polochik. A 2010 fellow with the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, he was also semi-finalist (final six) for both the Sir George Solti International Conductors Competition (2010) and Eduardo Mata Conductors Competition (2009), and placed 8th for the Arturo Toscanini Competition (2008).

As a performer, Bairos has given master classes and performed with festivals in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, China, Singapore, and in the United States. He has performed, toured, and recorded for Telarc with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and Pops, and the Seattle Symphony and Opera.  He has held principal positions with orchestras in the United States, Spain, Tenerife, China, and most recently held a Principal post with the SSO. His primary mentor and conducting teacher is Gustav Meier. He also has studied intensively with Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Hans Graf, Hugh Wolf, Leon Fleisher, Jorma Punula, Edward Polochick, Markand Thakar, Murry Sidlin, and Larry Rachleff.