Spanish Guitar: Concierto de Aranjuez
Conductor John Gennaro Devlin is an ardent champion of American music, an innovator of concert design, and a thought leader in the field of classical music. In his third season as Music Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, Devlin is only the ninth conductor in its 90-year history to hold that title and, at 36, is one of the nation’s youngest music directors to lead a professional symphony orchestra.
Devlin’s artistry and versatility make him a sought-after guest conductor with major orchestras across the nation. His engagements include performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the American Repertory Ballet. Of his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra and violin soloist Joshua Bell, Anne Midgette of The Washington Post wrote that Devlin “led the evening with flair … and was visibly in his element.”
Devlin spent three seasons from 2015‒2018 apprenticing with some of the world’s best conductors, soloists, and orchestras while based in Washington, D.C. During that time, he was the exclusive Cover Conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra,where he served as assistant to world-renowned Music Directors Christoph Eschenbach and Gianandrea Noseda, accompanying the orchestra on its historic 2018 tour of Russia. He served concurrently as the Assistant Conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey, working alongside Music Director Rossen Milanov.
A strong advocate for American music, Devlin has made it a programmatic focus, and has premiered over 40 new American works. His artistic partnerships with contemporary American composers include a decade-long relationship with Eric Nathan, from whom he has commissioned works that he performed at Carnegie Hall and with the National Symphony Orchestra. Devlin has also premiered works by Adolphus Hailstork, Leanna Primiani, Michael-Thomas Foumai, Enrico Lopez-Yañez, Michael Ellis Ingram, Evan Meier, Alexandra Bryant, Nathan Strasser, Tomek Regulski, Daniel Houglum, Timothy Brady, Matthew Levine, Christopher Caliendo, Liza Kravinsky, and David Matthews. In addition, Devlin commissioned the completion of Claude Debussy’s unfinished work, La Saulaie, from British composer and musicologist Robert Orledge. Devlin then conducted the world premiere of the finished work, a cantata for baritone and orchestra.
Ana Vidovic is an extraordinary talent with formidable gifts taking her place amongst the elite musicians of the world today. She is known for her beautiful tone, precise technique, well-defined phrasing and thoughtful artistry and musicianship.
Her international performance career includes frequent recitals, concerto engagements and festival appearances in most of Europe’s cultural destinations including Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, London, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Salzburg, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb. Her tours have also taken her to Australia, Brazil, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Equally impressive is the fact that she has recorded 6 CDs. Mel Bay Publications has released Ana Vidovic’s DVD entitled “Guitar Artistry in Concert,” a journey through the music of Torroba, Piazzolla and Pierre Bensusan, Sergio Assad, Stanley Myers, Villa-Lobos and Agustin Barrios Mangoré, and “Guitar Virtuoso,” a performance of works by Bach, Torroba, Paganini and Walton.
