Yearly, the Montgomery Philharmonic hosts a special series of MASTERCLASSES with members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. The classes are a peek into what goes on to prepare our concerts. Master teachers work with members of the MP on string technique, woodwind technique, and brass technique while major symphonic and chamber works. These Adult Education MASTERCLASSES are open to the public by registration and are held both in-person and virtually. You are invited to watch major musicians who connect with the Montgomery Philharmonic from the BSO and NSO.
Adult Education Master Classes with Members of the BSO and NSO
The Montgomery Philharmonic is pleased to offer a free virtual orchestral masterclass with Andrew Balio, Principal Trumpet – Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The masterclass will be a lecture and demonstration focusing on Symphony No. 5 by Tchaikovsky. Maestro Balio will explain the work from a brass player’s perspective and all instrumentalists are welcome to attend. The masterclass will take place from 7:00 – 8:30 PM on Monday, August 31 via Zoom.us. To receive a login code, please go to montgomeryphilharmonic.org and click on the ABOUT tab to find masterclasses and register. The first 100 registrations will be admitted to the class. The masterclass is free and donations are enthusiastically accepted.
The sessions below will be held at Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church, 610 S. Frederick Avenue. Pre-registration is Required.
About Our Artists
BSO Concertmaster Jonathan Carney begins his twelfth season with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after 12 seasons in the same position with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in New Jersey, Mr. Carney hails from a musical family with all six members having graduated from The Juilliard School. Following completion of his studies with Ivan Galamian and Christine Dethier, he was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship to continue his studies in London at the Royal College of Music.
After enjoying critically acclaimed international tours as both concertmaster and soloist with numerous ensembles, Mr. Carney was invited by Vladimir Ashkenazy to become concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991. He was also appointed concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and the Basque National Orchestra in 1996. Recent solo performances have included concertos by Bruch, Korngold, Khatchaturian, Sibelius, Nielsen, the Brahms Double Concerto and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which was featured as a live BBC broadcast from London’s Barbican Hall.
He has made a number of recordings, including concertos by Mozart, Vivaldi, and Nielsen; sonatas by Brahms, Beethoven, and Franck; and a disc of virtuoso works by Sarasate and Kreisler, with his mother, Gloria Carney, accompanying him on piano. New releases include Beethoven’s Archduke and Ghost trios, the cello quintet of Schubert, and a Dvorak disc with the Terzetto and four Romantic pieces for violin.
Aaron Goldman, Principal Flute of the National Symphony Orchestra since January 2013, joined the NSO as Assistant Principal Flute in September 2006. Prior to joining the NSO, he was Principal Flute of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and performed as guest principal with the Baltimore Symphony.An active soloist and chamber musician, Mr. Goldman has been featured with the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of Florida, and has performed at several of the National Flute Association’s annual conventions. He has also performed with the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, the National Chamber Players, the 21st Century Consort, the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and participates in many educational programs with the NSO, including performances in the Family and Terrace Theaters. He has given lectures at the Carnegie Institute and the Smithsonian Institution, such as “The Magical Flute” and “Math and Music: Closer Than You Think” alongside NSO cellist Yvonne Caruthers.
Mr. Goldman is currently serving on the Board of the National Flute Association and is vice president of the Flute Society of Washington. He is also on the faculty of the University of Maryland.
Mr. Goldman received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
Performing orchestral and chamber works throughout the United States and Europe, Lisa Bergman has been praised for her “sweet sound” as a horn player (Miami Herald). Before joining the Baltimore Symphony as Second Horn in 2014, Ms. Bergman was a member of the San Antonio Symphony, the New World Symphony, and the Knoxville Symphony and performed regularly with orchestras throughout the country including the Kansas City Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
Lisa enjoys educating and motivating players of all ages. Previously a member of the Eastern Music Festival faculty, Ms. Bergman continues to give masterclasses across the country and teaches privately pushing students to reach for their best. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Ms. Bergman holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University. Her principal teachers include Randy Gardner, Michael Hatfield and Julie Landsman. In her spare time she enjoys being outdoors, yoga classes, cooking, and enjoying time with family and friends.
About Andrew Balio
ORCHESTRAL TRUMPETER, ANDREW BALIO has been principal of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since his appointment to the position by Yuri Temirkanov in 2001. In this recent year, he was guest principal with the Chicago Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. For the 2014-15 season, he was the principal of the Oslo Philharmonic under the baton of Vasily Petrenko. From 1990 to 1993, he served as principal of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico; and in 1993, Zubin Mehta appointed him principal of the Israel Philharmonic, where he stayed through 2001. The 1999-2000 season had him serving additionally as principal of the Bergen Philharmonic when not needed in Israel.
Balio has been a frequent soloist since his earliest days as a student, having made his debut at the age of 15 playing Haydn’s Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony in his home state of Wisconsin. Over the years, he has appeared as soloist with various orchestras in Europe, the us, South America, and Asia under the batons of noted conductors Mehta, Venzago, Herbig, Temirkanov, Rozhdestvensky, Lintu, Stenz and McGeegan. His Carnegie Hall solo debut, an important milestone for musicians, came in 2013 in the company of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Maestro Constantine Orbelian. Naxos has recently issued his first solo recording, the Weinberg Trumpet Concerto with the St Petersburg Symphony, inaugurating a string of other recording projects planned to document his repertoire.
The last and still emerging chapter in this biography is the establishment of The Future Symphony Institute, a nonprofit think tank for bringing together the best minds and expertise from outside the arts to bear on the various challenges facing orchestras and classical music in the us and worldwide. This new venture was borne of the cumulative experience gained in the years at the ashram, in Mexico and Israel, through extensive worldwide touring, and during the difficult years that the budding Baltimore Symphony has endured. Please visit the Institute’s website at www.futuresymphony.org to learn more about the future of classical music.
Praised by Baltimore Sun for his “eloquent, poetic playing”, Bo Li is the Acting Assistant Principal cellist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Since his solo debut with the Shanghai Symphony at age 17, Bo Li has frequently soloed with many other ensembles including the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra, Southern Illinois Symphony, Acadiana Symphony in Louisiana, South Arkansas Symphony, Riverside Symphonia in New Jersey and Montgomery Symphony in Alabama. His concerto performance with New England Conservatory Symphony was broadcast nationwide by NPR. Most recently he soloed with Baltimore Symphony playing Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo Variations”.
Among many awards he has received, Bo Li was a prize winner at the Tchaikovsky International Competition. He also won a top prize at the National Cello Competition in China, the Laurence Lesser Presidential Award and the Concerto Competition at New England Conservatory, the Presser Scholar Award by the Presser Foundation, and fellowships with the Aspen Festival and the Montgomery Symphony.
Bo Li played in the New York String Orchestra as the Principal and was a guest principal with the Singapore Symphony. An active chamber musician, Bo Li has performed in US, South America, Europe, Asia and has collaborated with such artists as Pamela Frank, Jon Kimura Parker. Passionate about teaching, he has taught at music festivals and has given master classes at universities and conservatories throughout the US and aboard. He was also featured on Voice of America, Free Talk Asia and China Central TV. His first solo CD was released by Tian-Tian in Beijing.
Bo Li came from a musical family in China. After attending the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, he finished his education at Illinois State University with Ko Iwasaki and at New England Conservatory with Colin Carr and Laurence Lesser.