Mozart’s Majestic Jupiter Symphony ^2024-2025

Rafael Payare’s prodigious musicianship, technical brilliance and charismatic presence on the podium have made him one of the world’s most sought-after conductors. A graduate of the celebrated El Sistema music education program in Venezuela, Mr. Payare began his formal conducting studies in 2004 with José Antonio Abreu. Since winning the prestigious Malko International Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark in 2012, Maestro Payare’s career has advanced rapidly. Since 2015, he has served as Principal Conductor of the Castleton Festival, founded by his mentor the late Lorin Maazel. He was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Ulster Orchestra from 2014 to 2019 and in 2019, took up the position of Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. In recent years, Rafael Payare has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including those of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich, Chicago and Paris. He has also made important opera debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival, Stockholm’s Royal Swedish Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, and most recently at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In the 2022-2023 season, Payare became the ninth Music Director in the history of the OSM.

To consult:
rafaelpayare.com
Long biography

Pianist Kevin Chen began musical studies at five and gained early recognition by winning First Place at the Canadian Music Competition at eight. At age ten, he was acknowledged as one of the “Top 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30” by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and featured among “100 Remarkable Canadians” in Maclean’s magazine. Kevin has earned first prizes at prestigious international competitions, including the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition, the Concours de Genève, the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition, the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and the International Piano-e-Competition. Kevin has performed in top venues around the world such as Carnegie Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, and Taipei’s National Concert Hall. He has featured as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, and his musical journey continues to unfold.