MIT Symphony Orchestra
Adam K. Boyles, Director

Venkatesh Sivaraman, piano

Saturday, October 16, 2021 - 8:00pm
Kresge Auditorium

 

PROGRAM

Leonard Bernstein, Overture to "Candide" (1956)

Maurice Ravel, Piano Concerto in G (1929-31)

Venkatesh Sivaraman '20, piano

INTERMISSION

Ottorino Respighi, Feste Romane (1928)
I. Circenses
II. Giubileo
III. L'Ottobratta
IV. La Bafana

 

About the MIT Symphony Orchestra

The origins of MIT Symphony Orchestra (MITSO) date back as far as 1884 when the first MIT Tech Orchestra appeared on campus along with the Banjo and Glee Clubs. The orchestra disbanded and re-appeared several times over the years that followed until 1947, when Klaus Liepmann (1907-1990), MIT’s first full-time professor of music and founder of the music program, became director of the MIT Glee Club, the Symphony and the Choral Society.

The central mission of the MIT Symphony Orchestra is the cultural enhancement of education at MIT by promoting music performance at the highest level of artistic excellence among MIT students, by nurturing new works and young artists, by developing and sustaining the widest possible audience. The orchestra’s repertoire consists of works from the entire symphonic canon, spanning works of the early Baroque era to contemporary compositions, and including music for film and theatre.

Compositions by MIT faculty are also part of MITSO’s repertoire. The orchestra recently recorded Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique, and has participated in masterclasses with Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Roger Norrington, and Nicholas McGegan. Frequent collaborations with other ensembles such as the MIT Concert Choir, the theater program, with members of the faculty and performances by MITSOlite, a chamber orchestra comprised of MITSO members, are also part of MITSO’s activities.

The students in the MIT Symphony Orchestra come from a variety of fields including: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Biology, Mathematics, Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Nuclear Science and Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Management, Architecture, and Materials Science & Engineering.

About the Soloist

Venkatesh Sivaraman (Venkat), ’20 (6-7), has been a student of the piano since the age of three. He has presented solo repertoire in regional, state, and national piano competitions, and he has performed concertos by Schumann, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff. At MIT, he studied with Professor David Deveau as an Emerson Fellow and presented four solo recitals, featuring works such as Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit and sonatas by Schubert, Scriabin, and Kirchner. He was a member of MIT’s Chamber Music Society for four years, performing piano trios by Shostakovich, Brahms, Dvorak, and Harbison, among others. He also enjoys composition and orchestration, and he wrote three film score arrangements for the student-run MIT Video Game Orchestra. As a graduating senior, Venkat was awarded the 2020 Louis Sudler Prize by the Council for the Arts at MIT. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, where he studies piano with Dr. Sergey Schepkin.

 

About the Director

A dynamic and versatile conductor, Adam Kerry Boyles is a notable figure in the musical life of New England. Boyles is currently Director of Orchestras at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Assistant Conductor of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director Emeritus of the Brookline Symphony Orchestra. In the 2019/2020 season, he was Visiting Assistant Professor/Co-Director of Orchestras at the University of Kansas City-Missouri Conservatory of Music. Previous Music Director positions include six seasons with the Brookline Symphony Orchestra, three seasons with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, five seasons with Opera in the Ozarks, and five seasons with MetroWest Opera. Boyles also served on the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Arizona.

With the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Boyles conducts a wide variety of Masterworks, Pops, Talcott Mountain Music Festival, and Educational concerts. He conducted the entirety of the orchestra’s 2018 summer season, including a concert in collaboration with Doc Severinsen.

Recent guest engagements include concerts with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Ocean City Pops Orchestra, Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, and honors orchestras in Massachusetts, Nevada, Tennessee, Oregon, and Rhode Island. Boyles is a regular clinician with Manhattan Concert Productions, and Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association.

An accomplished vocalist, Boyles performed in numerous operas with the Indiana University Opera Theater, and in Arizona Opera’s first complete presentation of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. He has sung with many professional choral ensembles across the country such as Conspirare, True Concord, Apollo’s Voice, Mon Choeur, and Cantique. In 2010, Boyles was featured as a guest soloist with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

Boyles received his Doctor of Music in Orchestral Conducting degree from The University of Texas at Austin, his Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting degree from The University of Arizona, and his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance degree from Indiana University.

 

Upcoming MTA Performances

Friday, October 29th at 8:00pm - Kresge Auditorium
Renewals and Remembrances: MIT's Annual Family Weekend Concert
MIT Wind Ensemble and MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble

Friday, November 5th at 8:00pm - MIT Chapel
"Family Ties"
MIT Chamber Chorus

Saturday, November 6th at 8:00pm - Kresge Auditorium
Hearing Amazônia: The Responsibility of Existence
MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, and MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble

Saturday, November 13th at 8:00pm - Kresge Auditorium
"We're Still Here"
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble

Friday, November 19th at 8:00pm - Kresge Auditorium
Beethoven's Symphony no. 9
MIT Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, November 20th at 8:00pm - Kresge Auditorium
Magnificat!
MIT Concert Choir - featuring Assistant Professor Natalie Lin Douglas, violin

Friday, December 3rd at 8:00pm - Kresge Auditorium
7th Annual Prism Concert Spectacular
MIT Wind Ensemble