New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra

The New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra welcomes back guest conductor Alex Wen for the final concert in its 50th-anniversary season. The program opens with Beethoven’s Name Day Overture, a frolicking piece in which you can hear the origins of his Ninth Symphony (which NASO performed in its season opener). Next up is Brahms’ Third Symphony, about which Clara Schumann said, “All the movements seem to be of one piece, one beat of the heart, each one a jewel! … I could not tell you which movement I loved most.” The second half begins with the world premiere of Musing for the City by composer and longtime NASO cellist Peri Mauer, a piece commissioned to honor the orchestra’s golden anniversary. Completing the program is Tchaikovsky’s thrilling and ever-popular Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring pianist Abram Korsunsky.

Alex Wen, newly appointed as Interim Artistic Director of the Jackson Heights Orchestra, most recently served as assistant conductor of the Massapequa Philharmonic and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony under the mentorship of Maestro David Bernard, and concluded five seasons as Principal Conductor of the Golden Rose Opera. He has worked with contemporary music groups such as PinkNoise Ensemble and the NYsoundCircuit as their appointed music director. An avid opera conductor, Alex has led performances of La Bohème, Carmen, Suor Angelica, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Madama Butterfly with the Golden Rose Opera, and led the New York premieres of Huang Ruo’s Bound with Fresh Squeezed Opera in 2019 and Eric Moe’s Artwork of the Future in the spring of 2023. Alex has conducted performances with Rhymes With Opera, the Queens College Orchestra, Queens College Opera, Litha Symphony Orchestra, and has cover conducted for the Queer Urban Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic. A graduate of the Master’s program in Orchestral Conducting at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Alex studied with Maurice Peress and managed the Queens College Conductors Workshop, collaborating with composers David Amram, Bruce Saylor, and George Tsontakis. He was selected as a participant in the 2019 Conductors Workshop of the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music, where he worked with Cristian Măcelaru and Octavio Más-Arocas.

Hailed as an “irrepressibly tuneful composer” (New York Music Daily), Peri Mauer’s music has been featured in concerts presented by Quintet of the Americas, Da Capo Chamber Players, Bargemusic, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, Composers Concordance, Access Contemporary Music, New York Repertory Orchestra, Sugar Hill Salon, Sound of Silent Film Festival, Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music in Bowdoin, Maine, Bard College, Collide-O-Scope Music, Jackson Heights Orchestra, Vassar College, LaGuardia High School Symphonic Band, among others. She recently received high praise from New York Classical Review for the premiere performance of her orchestral work Woman on a Journey, commissioned by New York Repertory Orchestra, calling it a “gorgeous, moving, imaginative, finely shaped piece.” She is a recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund Award for her participation in Composers Now Festival, multiple ASCAP Plus Awards, grants and commissions from Quintet of the Americas, Access Contemporary Music, New York Repertory Orchestra, Jackson Heights Orchestra, LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, New Music USA, Composers Now, Meet the Composer, among others. Also a professional cellist fluent in many styles of music and improvisation, Ms. Mauer has performed with such groups as American Symphony Orchestra, Encompass New Opera Theater, Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, Darmstadt Ensemble, NYU Contemporary Players, and Access Contemporary Music. A native New Yorker born and raised in the Bronx, she is a graduate of LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Manhattan School of Music, and Bard College.

Abram Korsunsky is a New York–based pianist known for thoughtful interpretations that balance structural clarity with expressive depth. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Queens College Symphony, Yonkers Philharmonic, and New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and has given recitals at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, the Kupferberg Center for the Arts—LeFrak Concert Hall, and Symphony Space, among other venues in the greater New York area. Internationally, he has performed in Norway and Denmark, including a recital at the home and museum of composer Edvard Grieg, and has appeared at the Todi International Music Masters Festival in Umbria, Italy. He has also been a scholarship recipient at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival, where he participated in master classes and performances with leading concert pianists. His repertoire spans a wide range of piano works, with particular focus on the Romantic era and an active engagement with contemporary compositions. He has appeared in concerts sponsored by the New York Composers Circle and the Long Island Composers Alliance, performing works by composers such as Hubert Howe and Edward Smaldone. Abram earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, where he studied with Nina Lelchuk. He serves as Music Director at the United Methodist Church of Floral Park. As an educator, he maintains a private studio in New York and works with dedicated students pursuing serious musical study.