Today, the Fresno Philharmonic announced the renewal of Music Director Rei Hotoda’s contract through the 2024-25 season and the orchestra’s plans for returning to live, in-person concerts in the 2021-22 season. Ms. Hotoda began her tenure as the Fresno Philharmonic’s music director in the 2017-2018 season. In her first four seasons, Ms. Hotoda introduced Fresno audiences to works by several major and emerging living composers, combining them with classical repertoire staples to highlight the evolution and diversity of symphonic music. She also initiated several projects aimed at increasing the Philharmonic’s presence in Fresno, such as concerts at Bitwise South Stadium, The Shrine of Saint Therese and Fresno State’s Henry Madden Library, as well as this past season’s Digital Masterworks Series on YouTube.
“The Fresno Philharmonic is thrilled to extend Rei Hotoda’s contract as music director for another four seasons,” said Stephen Wilson, President & CEO, Fresno Philharmonic. “Her exceptional artistic leadership, especially during the past year’s pandemic, has transformed the Fresno Philharmonic into a model 21st century orchestra. Rei’s work on and off the podium has broadened the Fresno Philharmonic’s relevance and reach within our community. We look forward to continued excitement and innovation over the next four seasons.”
“These past four years with the Fresno Philharmonic have been a remarkable journey,” commented Rei Hotoda, Music Director, Fresno Philharmonic. “While we have traveled so far and made such inroads, we still have so much more to do. The 2021-22 season will be a continuation of the important work we have started. We will embrace and promote composers of color, indigenous composers and female composers to better reflect the community we serve. We will recommit ourselves to using music to express the hopes and dreams for humanity.”
2021-22 Season: Music in Person
After a hiatus of 19 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fresno Philharmonic returns to live in-person concerts in September. The 2021-22 Season begins with a three-concert series in the Paul Shaghoian Memorial Concert Hall in the CUSD Performing Arts Center on the Clovis North High School campus. These concerts will provide an intimate experience with a smaller audience and repertoire designed to take full advantage of the 750 seat Shaghoian Hall’s superb acoustics. Fresno Philharmonic CEO Stephen Wilson said, “Shaghoian Hall gives us the flexibility to manage any continuing COVID safety restrictions without sacrificing the comfort or musical experience of the audience.” Highlights of the Fall Series include Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony and Concerto for Two Pianos in E-flat Major (with Rei Hotoda and Fabio Bidini as soloists), Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Joyce Yang, Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin performed by Rong-Huey Liu and Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and contemporary works by George Walker (Lyric for Strings), Gabriela Lena Frank (Elegía Andina) and John Wineglass (Alone/Together, a Fresno Philharmonic co-commission).
The Fresno Philharmonic returns to the William Saroyan Theatre in Downtown Fresno in December with its annual Home for the Holidays concert. The orchestra then presents a three-concert Winter/Spring series featuring several large-scale orchestral masterpieces: Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World, Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Titan, which launches a four-season survey of the visionary composer called Mahler Here and Now. The Saroyan Series also includes the world premiere of Fresno composer Kenneth Froelich’s Melt: Concerto for Clarinet and works by Adolphus Hailstork (Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed), Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate (Clans) and Juan Pablo Contreras (Mariachitlán).
Subscriptions to the Fresno Philharmonic’s 2021-22 season Fall Shaghoian Series are on sale now for current subscribers. Single tickets for Fall concerts go on sale in August, subject to availability. Subscriptions for Winter/Spring Saroyan Series concerts will go on sale in September. For ticket information call 559-261-0600 or email [email protected].
Fresno Philharmonic in the Schools
In 2021-22, the Fresno Philharmonic, under the leadership of Rei Hotoda, will once again partner with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute to present Link Up: The Orchestra Rocks in May 2022 in the William Saroyan Theatre. This highly interactive concert will be the culmination of an extensive in-class curriculum for recorder and voice in which over 10,000 students from throughout Fresno County will have the opportunity to perform with the Fresno Philharmonic. In 2021-22, Link Up is offered district wide in Fresno and Sanger unified school districts, as well as in several individual schools in partnership with the Fresno County Office of Education. The Fresno Philharmonic’s Link Up program has been recognized with the Yale School of Music’s Distinguished Music Educator Award and is the largest partnership between Fresno County Schools and a performing arts organization.
2021-2022 Season
DANIEL R. MARTIN MASTERWORKS SERIES- FALL 2021
Masterworks I
Saturday, September 11, 2021 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 12, 2021 3:00 pm
Shaghoian Hall
CUSD Performing Arts Center
Rei Hotoda, conductor
Joyce Yang, piano
Liszt Piano Concerto No.1 in E-flat Major
Walker Lyric for Strings
Mozart Symphony No. 41 in C Major (K. 551), Jupiter
Masterworks II
Saturday, October 9, 2021 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 10, 2021 3:00 pm
Shaghoian Hall
CUSD Performing Arts Center
Rei Hotoda, conductor
Rong-Huey Liu, oboe
Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, violin
J.S. Bach Concerto for Oboe and Violin
John Wineglass Alone/Together (World Premiere)
Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings
Masterworks III
Saturday, November 6, 2021 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 7, 2021 3:00 pm
Shaghoian Hall
CUSD Performing Arts Center
Rei Hotoda, conductor and piano
Fabio Bidini, piano
Bartók Romanian Folk Dances
Gabriela Lena Frank Elegía Andina
Mozart Concerto No. 10 for Two Pianos in E-flat Major (K. 365)
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
December 4, 2021 7:30 pm
William Saroyan Theatre
Rei Hotoda, Music Director and conductor
Guest Artists, TBA
DANIEL R. MARTIN MASTERWORKS SERIES – WINTER/SPRING 2022
Masterworks IV
Sunday, January 16, 2022 3:00 PM
William Saroyan Theatre
Rei Hotoda, conductor
Robert McDuffie, violin
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate Clans (Squirrel, Panther, Raccoon)
Adolphus Hailstork Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Dvorak Symphony No. 9 in E Minor Op. 95
Masterworks V
Saturday, March 12, 2022 7:30 PM
William Saroyan Theatre
Rei Hotoda, conductor
Jorge Montilla Moreno, clarinet
Juan Pablo Contreras Mariachitlán
Kenneth Froelich Melt: Concerto for Clarinet
Elgar Enigma Variations Op. 36
Masterworks VI
Sunday, May 8, 2022 3:00 PM
William Saroyan Theatre
Rei Hotoda, conductor
Lili Boulanger D’un matin de printemps
Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Titan
EDUCATION: LINK UP – THE ORCHESTRA ROCKS (a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute)
May 24-26, 2022
William Saroyan Theatre
Rei Hotoda, conductor
About Rei Hotoda
Hailed by the Spokesman-Review as being an “inexhaustible dynamo,” Rei Hotoda, now in her fourth season as Music Director of the Fresno Philharmonic, has appeared as a guest conductor with many of today’s leading ensembles, including the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit, Toronto, Utah, Hawaii, Winnipeg, and Spokane as well as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, among others. Her interpretations of such epic centerpieces of the classical canon such as Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8 and Britten’s War Requiem, make her one of the most sought-after conductors of today.
Rei is equally at home leading the orchestra from the piano as well as from the podium. As an accomplished pianist, she has appeared as soloist conducting from the piano with the Dallas, Edmonton, Utah, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras, performing works by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. One of her many highlights, was conducting the Fresno Philharmonic, from the piano for the first time in Beethoven’s monumental Triple Concerto as part of the orchestra’s [email protected] celebrations and most recently from the harpsichord in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3.
About the Fresno Philharmonic
The Fresno Philharmonic, entering its 68th season, is one of the leading arts organizations in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley. The mission of the Fresno Philharmonic is to enrich the lives of Central San Joaquin Valley residents through inspiring performances of orchestral music. We are an essential and collaborative member of a vibrant arts scene which unites, delights and engages a diverse community.