Review

Geoffrey Newman, Seen and Heard International, 13th August 2015 For a long time, I was suspicious of how good national youth orchestras could be. This all changed about 20 years…

Charles Pope Jr., Concerto.net, 30th July 2015 Canada’s National Youth Orchestra again gave a stunning summer performance in Ottawa during late July. As always, the orchestra comprised the cream of…

Arthur Kaptainis, Musical Toronto, 28th July 2015 The main event was Holst’s The Planets. Mars is in no danger of losing its bellicose reputation. All the same, the British conductor…

Ken Herman, San Diego Story, 21st June 2015 "Michael Francis climaxed his first Mainly Mozart Festival with a rousing program that had Saturday’s (June 20) sold-out Balboa Theatre patrons on…

Ken Herman, San Diego Story, 11th June 2015 "Ever since Robert Schumann proclaimed Felix Mendelssohn as 'the Mozart of the Nineteenth Century,' it has seemed entirely natural to program the…

Jim Chute, U-T San Diego, 10th June 2015 "...The Mendelssohn symphony that closed the program, the 'Italian' symphony, had plenty of light and warmth. Francis was careful to keep things…

Garrett Harris, San Diego Reader, 8th June 2015 "The final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 made everyone’s temperature rise as wave after wave of sound washed over the audience.…

Ken Herman, San Diego Story, 7th June 2015 With newly minted Mainly Mozart Festival Music Director Michael Francis on the podium Saturday (June 6), the first festival orchestra concert of…

Jim Chute, U-T San Diego, 6th June 2015 "Francis’ gift is his ability to energize a melodic line, or a phrase, or a group of phrases, or an entire section…

Elizabeth Bloom, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 16th May 2015 "To keep the symphonic literature fresh, the only thing as effective as premiering a new work is giving a repeat performance of a…