Meet the Maestros

Albert-George Schram
Conductor

Albert-George Schram returns for his thirteenth season to conduct the Charlotte Symphony. In addition, he has led the Symphony’s highly acclaimed Summer Pops at SouthPark in June of each summer since 2001 and opened the Symphony’s new permanent summer home at Symphony Park in June 2002.

Under his leadership, the Charlotte Symphony has collaborated with such outstanding musical artists as Art Garfunkel, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Dianne Reeves, Olivia Newton-John, Bernadette Peters, José Feliciano, the Four Tops, Kathy Mattea, the United States Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club, Michael Feinstein, The Temptations, and the late Ray Charles.

Schram, a native of the Netherlands, has served as the Nashville Symphony’s Resident Conductor since the 2006- 07 opening season of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. He is responsible for programming and guest artist selection for the Bank of America Pops series, as well as building and maintaining that series' audience base. In addition, he leads select classical, education, and other special concerts throughout the season.

He also has served as Staff Conductor of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio since 1979 and has become an audience favorite for all series, including Classical subscriptions, Pops, and summer season concerts.

Schram was Music Director and Conductor of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra from 1994 to 2000. From 1990 to 1996, Schram served as Resident Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra, and he was appointed Resident Conductor of the former Florida Philharmonic Orchestra beginning with the 2002/03 season.

In 2008 Schram was invited to conduct the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of Bolivia in La Paz and the Orquesta Sinfónica Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Other foreign conducting engagements have included the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul in live televised concerts, Korea’s Taegu Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra der Allgemeinen Musikgesellschaft Luzern in Switzerland, among others. He has made return appearances in his native Holland to conduct the Netherlands Radio Orchestra and the Netherlands Broadcast Orchestra.

In the United States, his guest appearances include the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Spokane Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, Allentown Symphony, Mansfield Symphony, and Ballet Metropolitan, among others.

Schram’s studies have been largely in the European tradition under the tutelage of Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy; Rafael Kubelik in Luzern, Switzerland; Abraham Kaplan in Seattle, Washington; and Neeme Järvi in Hilversum, Netherlands. He received the majority of his initial training at the Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands. He later moved to Canada to undertake studies at the Universities of Calgary and Victoria. His training was completed at the University of Washington where he earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts. During his studies, he frequently conducted the orchestral, festival, and choral ensembles of those universities.

Schram resides in Florida with his wife Debbie and their children Natalia, Galen, and Gabriel. And please call him George!

Scott Allen Jarrett
Oratorio Singers Director

Scott Allen Jarrett is Music Director of the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte, the official chorus of the Charlotte Symphony. A resident of Boston, Jarrett travels to North Carolina weekly for rehearsals with the Oratorio Singers, preparing and leading the chorus for their appearances with the Symphony throughout the season.

In Boston, Dr. Jarrett serves as Director of Music at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, where his appointment includes faculty posts in the School of Theology and in the School of Music. Also in Boston, he is the Music Director of the Back Bay Chorale, one of New England’s leading volunteer choruses.

With the Oratorio Singers, and his ensembles in Boston, Dr. Jarrett will lead performances  during the 2010-2011 season of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, the Howells Requiem, Messiah, the Rachmaninoff Vespers, and the Verdi Requiem. Regarded for his interpretations of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Dr. Jarrett will conduct performance of cantatas 34, 170, 171, 62, the Orchestral Suite in B Minor, the Christmas Oratorio, and the St. Matthew Passion this season in Boston.

A native of Virginia, Scott Allen Jarrett holds degrees from Furman University (Greenville, SC) and Boston University, where he received his masters and doctoral degrees in conducting. As a pianist, Jarrett accompanied rehearsals for the late Robert Shaw during his Boston visits, and served as rehearsal accompanist for the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop  with Charles Dutoit. He is a member of the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and a frequent keyboard collaborator with Miami-based Seraphic Fire.

Christof Perick
Conductor Laureate

Christof Perick begins his ninth and final season as Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in 2009-2010. Both public and press have noted the Orchestra’s increasing artistic accomplishment under his leadership, including a marked refinement of orchestral tone, ensemble precision, and increased flexibility with all musical styles. In his tenure in Charlotte, he has greatly expanded the Orchestra’s literature to include many previously unperformed masterworks. In addition, at the invitation of Maestro Perick, the Orchestra has performed with such acclaimed artists as Renée Fleming, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn and Sir James Galway, has played host to the United States debut of a dozen international artists, and presented two highly acclaimed opera-in-concert productions.

Since 2006, Maestro Perick has served as Music Director of the Nuremburg Philharmonic and State Opera in his home country of Germany. He has also served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dresden Semper Opera, one of Europe’s most renowned opera houses since 1992 and as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra from 1992 to 1995. He held the position of Music Director of the Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester and Staatsoper in Hanover, Germany until 1996 where he recently returned to lead Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle. In Karlsruhe, he was Music Director of the Badische Staatskapelle and Staatsoper for ten seasons from 1977 to 1986. He also led the Staatsoper in Saarbrücken, Germany from 1974 to 1977.

In Europe, he has guest conducted many leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic and returns regularly to conduct the Orchestre National de France in Paris and the Orchestre National de Lyon. He has conducted often and has been a principal guest conductor of the Vienna and Berlin State Operas, as well as the Hamburg Staatsoper. He also conducts frequently at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. In recent seasons, he has led Dresden productions of Strauss’ Die schweigsame Frau, Salome, and Capriccio; Wagner’s Parsifal, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Meistersinger, and Tristan und Isolde; and Beethoven’s Fidelio.

In addition to having served as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Maestro Perick has guest conducted many of the leading American orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic; Los Angeles Philharmonic; the orchestras of Boston, San Francisco, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee; and The National Symphony, among others.

Summer festivals have included Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival. In Canada, he has led the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony, and Calgary Philharmonic.
Maestro Perick led many productions at New York’s Metropolitan Opera for ten consecutive seasons and he has also conducted productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, and the San Diego Opera.

Maestro Perick is an advocate and mentor for young musicians and has been very involved with music education and young artist development. He was closely associated with Germany’s National Youth Orchestra for many years and conducted the first United States tour of the Bundesjugendorchester. He has also guest conducted at the Music Academy of the West Festival in California.

Maestro Perick’s recent guest engagements include appearances with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood; the Vancouver, Pacific, and Columbus Symphonies; a pair of subscription concerts with the Stuttgart Philharmonic; and productions at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper and the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Christof Perick resides near the Black Forest in Karlsruhe, Germany with his wife Ulrike, a professional actress, and their two dogs. In his time off the podium, he enjoys swimming and literature.

Jacomo Rafael Bairos
Associate Conductor
jacomo-bairos.com

Portuguese-American Jacomo Rafael Bairos enjoys an international career as a conductor and educator. As Associate Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, he conducts subscription concerts throughout the season and, is responsible for programming and conducting the Orchestras family, community and education concerts.

Upcoming performances include a debut with the Atlanta Symphony (2011), concerts at the Cabrillo Music Festival (2011), and reengagements with the Iceland Symphony (2012). Past performances include the Malaysia Philharmonic (MPO), Singapore Symphony (SSO), and reengagements with both the National Orchestra of Porto Portugal (ONP), and Bangor Symphony among others. For the current 2010/11 season, Bairos serves as a cover conductor for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and will continue through 2011/12.

The 2009 release of Raw Emotions, by Bairos and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (ICO), was met with critical acclaim (Fanfare Magazine). The 2009 Albany Records Release features concertos by North American composers, including Bruce Broughton, James Grant, and Barbara York. A second recording will be made in August of 2012 with the ICO and will feature music of Icelandic composer Tryggvi M. Baldvinsson. Prior to his appointment in 2010 with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Bairos served as assistant-rehearsal conductor for the Baltimore Opera Company (2007-2008) and was a cover-conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2007- 2009), conducting in ehearsals for Marin Alsop and working with many guest conductors.

Passionately dedicated to education, and community engagement, Jacomo has developed unique and interactive youth concerts that reach thousands of kids across North and South Carolina. Internationally he conducted 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 renowned 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. He also created programs for the SSO's Outreach department taking music into the community. During his two-year tenure as Artistic Director, and Host of the SSO Chamber Music Series, he was able to double attendance and create multiple partnerships with local arts organizations.

Discovered while attending the International Conductors Workshop 2007 in Zlin, Czech Republic, he subsequently was invited by eminent teacher Gustav Meier to be his student at the Peabody Conservatory. While a student, he was appointed 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 for both the Sir George Solti International Conductors Competition (2010) and Eduardo Mata Conductors Competition (2009).

As an orchestral tubist, Mr. 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 America, Spain, Tenerife, China, and most recently held a principal post with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. His primary conducting mentors are Gustav Meier and Robert Spano. He also has studied intensively with Marin Alsop, Jorma Punula, Leon Fleisher, Edward Polochick, Hugh Wolf, Markand Thakar, Murry Sidlin, Hans Graf and Larry Rachleff.

Ernest Pereira
Conductor, Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras

The Symphony Guild of Charlotte Endowed Chair and Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras, Dr. Ernest Pereira has vigorously improved and expanded the two ensembles over the past twenty years, leading the CSYO in performances at Charlotte’s Festival in the Park and Summer Pops at Symphony Park, as well as the prestigious venues of Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, SC, and Carnegie Hall in New York, NY. He has guest conducted the Charlotte Civic Orchestra and has appeared on several local chamber music series as either a violinist or conductor. For a number of years, Dr. Pereira was featured at the Charlotte Symphony’s annual Youth Festival, conducting the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra as well as the combined professional and youth orchestras. He currently co-directs, with Dr. Paul Nitsch, the Fun with Chamber Music program for youth at Queens University of Charlotte. Students from his orchestra and private teaching studio have gone on to major in music at noted conservatories and universities, including the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, University of Texas at Austin, the Yale School of Music, the Peabody Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, Oberlin College, North Carolina School of the Arts, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt University.

A native of South Africa, Dr. Pereira received his early training in violin in Pretoria from Walter Mony and Alan Solomon and holds Teacher and Performer Licentiates from the University of South Africa. He studied in this country with David Cerone, graduating as valedictorian from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1981 and a Master of Music degree in 1982. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas in 1987, studying with Vincent Frittelli. Dr. Pereira served as Concertmaster of both the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra as well as the University of Texas Orchestra and conducted the University of Texas String Project Orchestra. Since 1985, Dr. Pereira has been a member of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, South Africa, and Namibia and has soloed with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Charlotte Civic Orchestra. He believes strongly in educating young musicians and maintains an active and successful violin studio.