Julian Kuerti, Music Director
With a strong international reputation for his interpretations of both orchestral and operatic music, Canadian conductor Julian Kuerti combines a confident style, artistic integrity, and passion for collaboration bringing him to the forefront of the music scene. Kuerti has led major symphony orchestras and has appeared in renowned opera houses and concert halls on five continents, and enjoys close working relationships with many of the leading soloists and singers of today.
In 2018, Kuerti was named Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Yekwon Sunwoo, Piano
Gold medalist of the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yekwon Sunwoo has been hailed for his “unfailingly consistent excellence” (International Piano) and celebrated as “a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat” (Chicago Tribune). A powerful and virtuosic performer, he also, in his own words, “strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.”
Yekwon Sunwoo's appearance is underwritten by the Robert and Marianne Denes Fund
Living Voices | Composer Branford Marsalis
New Orleans-born Branford Marsalis is a saxophonist, band leader, featured classical soloist, and a film and Broadway composer. He has become a multi-award-winning artist with three Grammys and a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master. Mr. Marsalis is increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with such acclaimed orchestras as the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the Chicago, Detroit, North Carolina, and Düsseldorf Symphonies, with a repertoire that includes compositions by Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem, Vaughn Williams, and John Williams. He has toured with chamber orchestras such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. Even as he tours the world as a featured classical soloist, Mr. Marsalis continues to perform with The Branford Marsalis Quartet, which he formed in 1986. His work on Broadway has garnered a Drama Desk Award and Tony nominations. As a composer for film and television, his screen credits include original music composed for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, Rustin starring Colman Domingo, and the EMMY nominated Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre.
