Concert Series 2009-2010
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The concert series is free and all are invited.

FUMC CONCERT SERIES

The Music Team of First United Methodist Church is very pleased to announce the Concert Series for the 2009-2010 season. First United Methodist Church has hosted the only concert series of its kind in the area for over thirty years.  The series welcomes world-class musicians to Schenectady to perform as a gift to the community and as an outreach of our music ministry.

The American Boychoir 

Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Music Director 

October 18, 2009, at 3:00 P.M. 

 

Currently celebrating its seventieth anniversary  season, The American Boychoir is regarded as the United States’ premier concert boys’ choir and one of the finest boychoirs in the world. It continues to dazzle audiences with its unique blend of musical sophistication, effervescent spirit and ensemble virtuosity. Its members are boys from grades 4 through 8, who reflect the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity of our nation and come from nine states and four foreign countries to pursue a rigorous musical and academic curriculum at The American Boychoir School, the only non-sectarian boys’ choir school in the nation. The American Boychoir has been located in Princeton, New Jersey, since 1950. In addition to maintaining an active national and international touring schedule, the choir performs and records regularly with such world-class ensembles  and artists as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, soprano Jessye Norman, pop diva Beyoncé, Sir Paul McCartney, and jazz vocalist and conductor Bobby McFerrin. 

  

FERNANDO MALVAR-RUIZ

Litton-Lodal Music Director, The American Boychoir

Fernando Malvar-Ruiz was appointed Litton-Lodal Music Director of The American Boychoir in July 2004. Since joining The Boychoir, he has toured with the choir to all the continental states as well as internationally. He also prepared the choir for performances at the 77th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony and The Tanglewood Music Festival, and conducted the choir at the nationally televised U.S. Open Tennis Tournament Women’s Finals. In addition, Mr. Malvar has prepared the choir for performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, working with such illustrious conductors as James Levine, Pierre Boulez, Kurt Masur, and Christoph Eschenbach.

A widely sought after guest conductor, lecturer and clinician and recognized expert in the adolescent male evolving voice, Mr. Malvar-Ruiz Served as artistic director and guest conductor for the 2005 World Children’s Choir Festival In Hong Kong. He has conducted Honor Choirs at ACDA regional conventions, and OAKE national conventions. For the past 12 summers, he has been an instructor in the Master’s program In Music Education at the Kodàly Institute at Capital University In Columbus, Ohio where he teaches conducting and musicianship. In 2008, Mr. Malvar became a member of the faculty at the Academia Internacional De Verano de Direccion Coral Y Pedagogia Musical in Las Palmas, Spain.

Mr. Malvar-Ruiz received his bachelor’s degrees in piano performance and music theory from the Real Conservatorio Superior De Música in Madrid. He Also Attended the Kodály Institute in Kécskemet, Hungary, where he was awarded the Sharolta Kodály Scholarship by unanimous decision of the faculty. In 1996, he graduated from The Ohio State University with a master’s degree in choral conducting and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in musical arts from the University of Illinois.

 

Chelsea Chen, Concert Organist 

April 18, 2010, at 3:00 P.M.

  

With playing described as "stunning" and possessing "lovely lyrical grandeur" (Los Angeles Times), Chelsea Chen has electrified audiences throughout the United States and Asia. A Juilliard graduate and Fulbright scholar, she is broadening the classical organ repertoire with her own Asian-inspired compositions. In the past year she performed to great acclaim at Singapore's Esplanade, Hong Kong's Cultural Centre, and Disney Hall in Los Angeles.   

Ms. Chen has taken first prizes in competitions including the 2005 Augustana/Reuter National Undergraduate organ competition, the 2003 Region IX AGO RCYO competition, and the 2005 Musical Merit Foundation competition. In 2006, she was awarded an Aspen Music Festival full scholarship for piano.  In 2009 Ms. Chen received the Lili Boulanger Award, given annually to one young musician who exhibits unusual talent and promise for the future. At Yale, she was awarded the Robert Baker, Hugh Porter, and Charles Ives prizes, and at Juilliard, the John Erskine Prize for scholastic and artistic distinction.  

 

Concerts are free and all are welcome.