Experience the Brilliance: Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Chorus, and Wind Ensemble to Perform at Symphony Hall
The annual BU School of Music concert at Boston's historic Symphony Hall is taking place on March 31st
Experience the Brilliance: Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Chorus, and Wind Ensemble to Perform at Symphony Hall
The annual Boston University School of Music concert at Boston’s historic Symphony Hall on March 31st showcases the dedication and passion of the BU community, comprised of talented students and faculty conductors
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Music proudly presents the Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Chorus, and Wind Ensemble at Boston’s Symphony Hall for a special evening concert on Monday, March 31, 2025, at 7:30pm.
Beginning the 2025 Boston University Symphony Hall concert, an annual tradition for BU School of Music, is the BU Symphony Orchestra & Symphonic Chorus, led by conductor Daniel Parsley and featuring countertenor Sergio Savala (CFA’26), performing Leonard Bernstein’s solemnly joyful Chichester Psalms.
Bernstein took a sabbatical in 1965 from the New York Philharmonic after being heavily affected by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the loss of his close friend and composer, Marc Blitzstein. Instead of languishing, Bernstein wrote the Chichester Psalms with a hopeful outlook on life after much tragedy.
Following the BU Symphony Orchestra & Symphonic Chorus, the BU Wind Ensemble with conductor Kenneth Amis (CFA’91, BUTI’86,’87) performs Arnold Rosner’s Symphony No. 8, Op. 84, Trinity. Arnold Rosner wrote his Symphony No. 8, Op. 84, Trinity (1988) for band with the idea of viewing ideas, mysteries, and thoughts from three different angles in an effort to “derive deeper insights or simply confusion…”
After intermission, the BU Symphony Orchestra returns to the stage, this time with conductor Sarah Ioannides, performing Richard Strauss’ Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 and Maurice Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2 (with BU Symphonic Chorus).
Strauss, like Ravel, used melody to depict stories and ideas, otherwise known as “leitmotifs.” The Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59, (1911) is also heavily focused around dance, as Strauss wrote his opera Der Rosenkavalier with the idea of the waltzes from Mozart’s time. Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite no. 2 (1912) is a story that revolves around the two pastoral lovers, Daphnis and Chloé, exploring the importance of melody and dance forms as Ravel was fascinated with both.
“BU’s Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Chorus, under the batons of Sarah Ioannides, Kenneth Amis and Daniel Parsley, are presenting a wide-ranging and highly varietal program; these works challenge the most seasoned performers and represent the musical aspirations of top ranked educational institutions anywhere,” says Michael Reynolds, Director, School of Music; Professor, Cello. “We are all immensely proud of these young musicians who gather at BU from every corner of the globe to make music and experience the magic of Symphony Hall.”
The BU concert at Symphony Hall is $5 a ticket + a $5 processing fee and a ticket is required to attend the performance.
“BU’s Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Chorus, under the batons of Sarah Ioannides, Kenneth Amis and Daniel Parsley, are presenting a wide-ranging and highly varietal program; these works challenge the most seasoned performers and represent the musical aspirations of top ranked educational institutions anywhere. We are all immensely proud of these young musicians who gather at BU from every corner of the globe to make music and experience the magic of Symphony Hall.”
-Michael Reynolds, Director, School of Music; Professor, Cello
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC AT SYMPHONY HALL
DATE & TIME
Monday, March 31, 2025 • 7:30pm
LOCATION
Symphony Hall, Boston • 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
For driving directions, parking, and public transportation information, visit bso.org/visit/getting-to-symphony-hall.
TICKETS
The BU concert at Symphony Hall is $5 a ticket + a $5 processing fee and a ticket is required to attend the performance.
REPERTOIRE
This year’s program includes works by Leonard Bernstein, Arnold Rosner, Richard Strauss, and Maurice Ravel.
MEET THE CONDUCTORS
SARAH IOANNIDES
Director of Orchestral Activities; Associate Professor in Orchestral Conducting
As a music director and conductor who is committed to diversity, collaboration, innovation and education, Sarah Ioannides invigorates programming and inspires audiences. Praised by The New York Times for her “unquestionable strength and authority”, she is Music Director of Washington State’s Symphony Tacoma. As the newly appointed Director of Orchestral Activities and Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Boston University College of Fine Arts, she is the Founding Artistic Director of Cascade Conducting & Composing.
Born in Australia of Cypriot and Scottish descent, Sarah Ioannides trained in the UK (Oxford University, Guildhall School) and USA (Juilliard School and Curtis Institute) on a Fulbright Scholarship receiving degrees including a Masters in Music and a Master of Arts. Before assuming her role at Symphony Tacoma, she established a reputation as the dynamic music director of both the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and the Spartanburg Philharmonic.
Since becoming the first woman to hold a full-time conducting position as Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, her conducting career has taken her to six continents. She has appeared as a guest conductor with major orchestras across North America, among them the Buffalo Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Hawai’i Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Rochester Philharmonic, San Antonio Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony (untitled series) and the Toledo Symphony.
Beyond North America, Sarah Ioannides’ engagements include the Bilbao Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, Daejeon Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Konzerthausorchester, Malmö Symphony, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Orchestre National de Lyon, Royal Philharmonic and Simón Bolívar Orchestra.
Her extensive repertoire, which spans four centuries, has been enriched through her work with living composers, not least as the conductor of over 60 world, North American and European premieres. She has collaborated with such figures as John Corigliano, Aaron J Kernis, Zosha Di Castri, Patrice Rushen, Bernard Roumain, Dario Marianelli and Tan Dun, notably taking charge of the Australian and Greek premieres of his Water Passion after St. Matthew and acting as his assistant conductor with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra. One of her earliest operatic projects was the European premiere of Stephen Paulus’s The Woodlanders.
Among the conservatory orchestras she conducts are those of Yale University, Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music and Bloomington’s Jacobs School of Music, in addition to conducting and training young orchestras including NYO-USA (resident conductor), South African National Youth Orchestra, Youth Orchestra of Andalusia and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.
Sarah Ioannides sits on numerous advisory and community boards and served as panelist of the National Endowment for the Arts and delegate at the World Culture Summit in Abu-Dhabi. In 2024 she will return to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Women in Classical Music Symposium.
DANIEL PARSLEY
Director of Choral Activities and Director of Graduate Conducting Programs; Assistant Professor Choral Conducting
Daniel Parsley enjoys an active career as a conductor, educator, scholar, and professional chorister. Daniel is Director of Choral Activities and Director of Graduate Conducting Programs at the historic School of Music at Boston University, the oldest degree-granting music program in the United States. At BU, Daniel oversees the comprehensive MM, MSM, and DMA conducting programs, teaches graduate conducting and choral literature, and leads the BU Singers and Symphonic Choir. Daniel was most recently the Director of Choral Activities and Program Head at Thomas More University in the Cincinnati area. At Thomas More, he founded and directed three choruses that included over 125 singers and taught music history and music theory. Daniel currently serves as associate conductor for the National Children’s Chorus. While in Cincinnati, he was associate director for the Cincinnati Youth Choir, Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Since 2019, Daniel has served as associate conductor of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (CCO). At the CCO, he leads the We Are One series, special events such as the Walk with Amal project, and assists with an annual Summermusik festival. In 2023, Daniel made his guest conductor debut with the Portland Symphony Orchestra and renowned professional recording ensemble Coro Volante. Most recently, Daniel was the assistant conductor and choral conducting fellow for the Cincinnati May Festival, where he prepared choruses for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. Daniel’s passion for choral arts extends beyond conducting: He has performed with many choruses as a professional singer, including the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and Youth Chorus, Toledo Opera, Tuscia Opera Festival (Viterbo, Italy), and Berkshire Choral Festival. As a conductor of symphonic choral literature, Parsley has most recently prepared choruses for John Morris Russell, Gerhardt Zimmermann, James Meena, and Giordano Bellincampi.
Parsley has enjoyed a wide breadth of diverse professional experiences globally ranging anywhere from roles as a research fellow in Ghana, West Africa through the Edward Brueggeman Center for Dialogue to engagements with the National Chorus of Korea in Seoul. Upcoming engagements, masterclasses, and residencies include the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, the University of British Columbia, and the ISSEA Choral Festival in Maputo, Mozambique. He has served as faculty for the Kentucky Institute of International Studies (KIIS) Salzburg Study Abroad Program and Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA) London summer study abroad since 2013.
A Cincinnati native, Parsley completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Choral Conducting with a cognate in orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (CCM). Daniel also holds a M.M. in Choral Conducting from Bowling Green State University and a B.M. Voice Performance and B.A. International Studies with concentrations in economics and history from Xavier University. In 2019, Daniel was selected as one of four finalists for the 2019 American Choral Directors’ Association National Graduate Conducting Competition held in Kansas City. Parsley has studied conducting under Robert Porco, Earl Rivers, Brett Scott, AikKhai Pung, Mark Munson, and Tom Merrill.
Parsley’s current research interest focuses on the integration of Body Mapping, a method of instruction typically reserved for the private studio, in conducting pedagogy and the overall choral rehearsal. Recent scholarly publications include a curriculum guide for collegiate educators to apply Body Mapping techniques in ensemble rehearsals. Daniel is currently a Body Mapping Educator Affiliate with Andover Educators.
Daniel was most recently the Music in Worship Chair for the Ohio Choral Director’s Association. He currently serves as music director at First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington. Daniel is an active member of ACDA, ChorusAmerica, AGO and NAfME.
KENNETH AMIS (CFA’91, BUTI’86,’87)
Lecturer in Music, Tuba
World-renowned composer-performer Kenneth Amis enjoys an international career of high acclaim. Amis began his musical exploits in his home country of Bermuda. He started playing the piano at a young age and upon entering high school took up the tuba and developed an interest in performing and writing music. A Suite for Bass Tuba, composed when he was only 15, marked his first published work. A year later, at age 16, he enrolled in Boston University where he majored in composition. After graduating from Boston University he attended the New England Conservatory of Music where he received his Master of Music Degree in Composition.
An active composer, Amis has received commissions from several institutions and music organizations. He has undertaken residencies with educational institutions ranging from middle schools through the collegiate level and was a founding member and on the Board of Directors for the American Composers Forum New England Chapter. In 2007 he was the Composer-in-Residence at the South Shore Conservatory in Massachusetts.
Audiences around the world have enjoyed Amis’s music through performances by such groups as the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Academy of Music Symphonic Winds, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Center Orchestra of Ottawa. In 2003, Amis became the youngest recipient of New England Conservatory of Music’s “Outstanding Alumni Award.”
As a tuba player, Amis has performed as a soloist with the English Chamber Orchestra and has been a member of the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra and the New World Symphony Orchestra. His performance skills are showcased on many commercial records distributed internationally.
Amis is presently the tuba player of the Empire Brass and the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, a performing artist for Besson instruments, the assistant conductor for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Wind Ensemble, and serves on the faculty at Boston University, Boston Conservatory, the Conservatory at Lynn University, Longy School of Music, and the New England Conservatory of Music.
For more on Kenneth, visit amismusicalcircle.com and kennethamis.com.
DIVE INTO PAST YEARS’ BU AT SYMPHONY HALL CONCERTS
Boston University ensembles perform at Boston’s famed Symphony Hall every year.