New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra

Sergey Prokofyev

Originally from Saint Petersburg, Russia, violinist Sergey Prokofyev began his studies there at the age of 5 with notable teacher Irina Svyatlovskaya of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1998, Sergey and his family immigrated to the United States where he continued his studies in New York City, first attending Kaufman Center's Special Music School, and later graduating from LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division. He received his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York City, where he studied under Professor Daniel Phillips.

Mr. Prokofyev enjoyed an active and versatile career as a freelance musician in New York. He served as Concertmaster of the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, was a member of the string ensemble Bachanalia led by world renowned violinist Nina Beilina, and is a charter member of the Tsenov Chamber Ensemble. He has performed concerts with the New Britain Symphony Orchestra (CT) and the Musical Olympus Festival Orchestra (NY). In 2014, Sergey toured Europe and Russia as a guest member of New York's BARD College Conservatory Orchestra under the direction of Leon Botstein. Earlier that year, he toured China as a member of the Manhattan Symphonie Orchestra under the direction of Gregory Singer. Sergey made his new music debut with InnoVax, a contemporary music ensemble based in New York, and made his international debut in 2015 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Earlier this year Sergey joined The Halcyon Chamber Series to perform Brahms's Clarinet Quintet with clarinetist Charles Neidich. Sergey now resides in Washington, D.C. where he has been a member of the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" since 2015.

Christian Barros

Violist, Christian Barros is a recent graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and a former member of the New York Youth Symphony. His previous teachers include Daniel Phillips of the Orion Quartet and Edward Klorman, teaching assistant to the renowed Heidi Castleman, at the Juilliard School.

As an avid freelancer, he has had the opportunity to perform in performance halls throughout New York City and New Jersey, such as Symphony Space, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, Bohemian National Hall, Flushing Town Hall, United Palace Theatre, NJPAC’s Prudential Hall and Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall. Christian has performed abroad at Music at Port Milford in Ontario, Canada in Havana, Cuba as part of the 'Ship of Tolerance’ and throughout China as a member of the Philadelphia Festival Orchestra.

He has also participated in masterclasses of Shanghai Quartet, Toby Appel, Daniel Phillips, John Manasse, Wolfram Koessel, Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, and Fred Sherry. Christian was awarded the 2013 McCrindle Fellowship and Director's Award for Commitment and Achievement from the New York Youth Symphony. As a recipient of this award, Christian performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall alongside Daniel Phillips.

In recent months, Christian has been studying under Karen Ritscher, internationally renowed pedagogue and soloist.

Guest Conductor: Alex Wen;

Soloists: Sergey Prokofyev, violin & Christian Barros, viola;

Program: Major Minors;

Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmila Overture;

Mozart: Sinfonia concertante, K. 364;

Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor;

The Sinfonia concertante by Mozart is a rich and grand work for violin and viola with orchestra. The work is in E-flat Major and, indeed, because Mozart most often composed in major keys, the middle Andante movement features one of the rare opportunities to hear the deeply expressive ‘minor key Mozart'.

We are especially delighted to welcome violin soloist Sergey Prokofyev who served as NASO's concertmaster from 2012-2015 and is now a member of the U.S. Army Band. Sergey will be joined by violist Christian Barros, an award-winning recent graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music