Hungarian Pictures

Featured in “Hungarian Pictures” in January.

German Pianist Andreas Klein has distinguished himself as a dynamic and compelling performer with his command of a wide range of tonal colors and imaginative interpretations. The New York Times declared him “A fascinating artist with all the indispensable qualities: temperament, taste, touch, tone, the four T’s of pianism” and “A pianist who makes silences sound like music”. Andreas Klein’s career as orchestra soloist and recitalist has taken him to the world’s most prestigious venues from London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, to Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center. In Europe as well as in the USA, Mexico, and the Middle East, he has gained critical acclaim for his performances in major cities such as Berlin, Rome, Milan, Bern, Leipzig, Dresden, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Cleveland, Damascus, and Mexico City.

His signature repertoire includes all Mozart and Beethoven Concerti. The Tagesspiegel in Berlin raved about his Mozart Piano Concerto KV 459 with the legendary Berlin Philharmonic: “humorous flamboyancy and impeccable technique, grace, melodious sound and plenty of brilliance Andreas Klein was invited to perform with other important orchestras in Germany, including the Berlin Symphony and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, the later with which he was the first to premier and record Mendelssohn’s Concerto in A minor. MDR Radio’s broadcast of the Frank and Liszt Concerti with the Halle Orchestra received acclaim from listeners nationwide.

His CD releases have received praise by critics, conductors and presenters alike. Of his Beethoven and Berg album, the New York Times wrote: “Mr. Klein is an excellent pianist. In Berg’s Sonata the voluptuous haze was blown away: one followed the progress of every theme and motive as they steadily transformed themselves into a single architectural design”.

Andreas Klein is a graduate of the Juilliard School and complemented his studies with the legendary Claudio Arrau and Nikita Magaloff. Copies of his dissertation on the Chopin Etudes are in the libraries of the Chopin Society in Vienna and in Leipzig as well as downloadable form Rice University Library.

Represented by: Marianne Schmocker Artists International
marianneschmockerartists@gmail.com Tel/Fax: 631-470-0393 25 Madison St. , Huntington, NY 11743

Raymond Chobaz, Professor of Music and Conductor Laureate of the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra

Raymond will conduct “Vive la France!” in January, 2025.

Raymond Chobaz holds the Provost’s UF Term Professorship and is music director and conductor of the University of Florida Symphony Orchestra and conductor of Dance Alive National Ballet. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics summa cum laude, and a Master of Arts degree in music theory. As an International Rotary Scholar at the University of Utah, he received both a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting and a Ph.D. in music composition under Vladimir Ussachevsky. Post-doctoral studies allowed him to assist and work with Herbert Blomstedt in San Francisco, Kyrill Kondrashin in Amsterdam, Raphael Kubelik in Lucerne, Erich Leinsdorf in New York, Witold Rowicki in Vienna, Georg Tintner in Prague, and Pierre Boulez in Basel and Paris.

Chobaz is the recipient of numerous federal grants, scholarships, awards, and first prizes in both composition and conducting, which include the Leroy Robertson, Intercollegiate Bicentennial Composition Competition, Utah Composers Guild, Paul Sacher Stiftung, Martha Baird Rockefeller, Blomstedt International Conducting Award for Orchestral Performance and Symphonic Literature, the Beethoven Festival in Marienbad, and Czech National Opera and Radio Prague International Conducting Competition. As the top winner, he was invited to conduct all major symphony orchestras and opera companies in the Czech Republic and appointed conductor-in-residence of the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, the Marienbad International Music Festival with the West Bohemian National Orchestra, and the annual International Composition Workshop with the Olomouc Symphony Orchestra.

In recognition of his national and international accomplishments, Chobaz has received grants for Advanced Research in Music Performance from the International Research and Exchanges Board in Washington, D.C., US Department of Education, US Information Agency, US Department of State, US Army, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and International Symphonic Workshops, Canada. Additionally, he has received various grants from the Florida Department of Cultural Affairs, which included the official representation of the State of Florida with Dance Alive National Ballet at the International Ballet Festival in Havana, Cuba, Florida Sea Grant, a special Research Leave by the Office of the Provost to work with Prof. Richard Ernst, Nobel Prize Laureate, at the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, and most recently, both a Distinguished Alumnus and Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Utah. This past fall, Dr. Chobaz has also been asked to take over the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra in Orlando.

During his tenure at the University of Florida, Chobaz has founded the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra and provided many new experiences for his students with internationally known artists, first-time ballet and opera productions, television and radio broadcasts, children’s and pops concerts, multi-media and interdisciplinary collaborations with painters, poets, writers, dancers, and ethnic ensembles, commissions and first performances that earned the orchestra an ASCAP Nissim Award for innovative programing.

MATTHEW WARDELL is a dynamic conductor who brings boundless energy and compelling storytelling to every performance. Based in Washington, DC, he is known for his ability to unlock passion in live performances and create deep emotional connections with audiences. Wardell’s commitment to programming—recognized in 2024 when he won the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming from The American Prize—spans from unearthing hidden repertoire gems and championing overlooked composers to presenting bold new works alongside the masterpieces of the canon. His performances are marked by what audiences describe as “unabashed enthusiasm” and “youthful energy,” with patrons regularly noting that “he and the orchestra never cease to amaze.”

Currently in his 17th season as Music Director of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra—which composer Michael Daugherty called the “hardest working orchestra in Florida”—Wardell has established himself as a sought-after guest conductor with recent appearances leading the Jacksonville Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Pittsburgh, the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic, the Gainesville Orchestra, and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra. When Matthew was appointed Music Director of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, the Ocala Star Banner declared that “Wardell brings an impressive resume of musical and conducting training … Maybe more important than his musical credentials is Wardell’s youthful enthusiasm and unabashed zest … Wardell is not only a daring and dynamic choice as the Ocala Symphony Orchestra’s new conductor, but a smart one.”

On the podium, Maestro Wardell has conducted more than 520 works across 310 live performances. His repertoire encompasses core orchestral works from all periods, concerti for voice and nearly every instrument, extensive pops offerings, and film and multimedia works. He is particularly committed to the purposeful inclusion of underrepresented and living composers, having led world and United States premieres from composers such as Michael Daugherty, María de Pablos, Paul Richards, Stella Sung, and Jenni Brandon. Wardell has developed deep experience in live-to-film conducting, having led more than a dozen productions including upcoming performances of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Disney’s Aladdin in Concert.

From the opera pit, Wardell has led 19 staged productions of large-scale opera, musical theatre, and ballet works including La Boheme, Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin, Così fan tutte, Sunday in the Park with George, Carmina Burana, A Little Night Music, and Sweeney Todd. His ability to rise to any artistic challenge was dramatically demonstrated when he conducted two performances of Puccini’s Tosca with only one day’s notice. Critics hailed the performances as “first-rate” and “inspiring,” calling his last-minute substitution a “magnificent feat … when the stakes were high, Mr. Wardell came through brilliantly and proved his mettle.”

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Wardell holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (2022) and Master of Music (2010) from the University of Florida, where he studied with his mentor Dr. Raymond Chobaz, and a Bachelor of Music cum laude (2007) from the University of North Florida, where he worked under Charlotte Mabrey. He spent five summers at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians in Hancock, Maine, where he studied with renowned conducting teacher Michael Jinbo and was recognized as both an Osher and Quimby Family Foundation scholar. Wardell has participated in master classes with Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops and studied with conductor and composer Peter WesenAuer in Salzburg, Austria.