François López-Ferrer

Spanish-American conductor François López-Ferrer, currently serving as the Resident Conductor of the Opéra de Paris’s Académie, boasts a remarkable career trajectory. Formerly the Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and May Festival, López-Ferrer’s talent was further honed during his tenure as a 2021-22 Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He captivated audiences and critics alike in January 2022 when he stepped in for Louis Langrée with the CSO for the US premiere of Mark Simpson’s Violin Concerto featuring Nicola Benedetti.

His recent career highlights are a testament to his talent, marked by outstanding debuts with prestigious orchestras worldwide including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de España, Ensemble intercontemporain, Opéra de Lausanne, Colorado Music Festival, Orquesta de Valencia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta Sinfónica Radio Televisión Española, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, and the Pasadena Symphony. Moreover, he was a featured conductor in the prestigious 2022 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview alongside the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Upcoming engagements include debuts with the May Festival, George Enescu Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony, and the San Antonio Classical Music Institute, alongside a highly anticipated return to the Pasadena Symphony.

López-Ferrer was formerly Associate Conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile and Principal Conductor of the Ballet Nacional Chileno. His musical journey commenced as an inaugural apprentice of the Verbier Festival’s 2018 Conductor Mentorship Program, where he made a last-minute, critically acclaimed debut stepping in for Iván Fischer in a shared program alongside luminaries Sir Simon Rattle and Gábor Takács-Nagy. He is a two-time recipient of a Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., winner of the inaugural 2015 Neeme Järvi Prize at the Menuhin-Gstaad Festival, and a former member of the Deutsche Dirigentenforum.

López-Ferrer’s educational background includes a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne and a bachelor’s in Composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Paul Huang

Recipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, violinist Paul Huang is considered to be one of the most distinctive artists of his generation. The Washington Post remarked that Mr. Huang “possesses a big, luscious tone, spot-on intonation and a technique that makes the most punishing string phrases feel as natural as breathing,” and further proclaimed him as “an artist with the goods for a significant career” following his recital debut at the Kennedy Center.

Mr. Huang’s recent highlights have included an acclaimed debut at Bravo! Vail Music Festival stepping in for violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in the Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 with Chamber Orchestra Vienna-Berlin, Rotterdam Philharmonic with Lahav Shani, Detroit Symphony with Leonard Slatkin, Houston Symphony with Andres Orozco-Estrada, Baltimore Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic with Markus Stenz, and recital debuts at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland and Aspen Music Festival. In Fall 2021, Paul also became the first classical violinist to perform his own arrangement of the National Anthem for the opening game of the NFL at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina to an audience of 75,000. An exclusive recording artist with France’s Naïve Records, his debut album is slated for worldwide release in fall of 2023. During the 2023-24 season, Mr. Huang returns to the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan with Jun Markl, Pacific Symphony with Kahchun Wong, and makes debuts with Dallas Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony with Fabio Luisi, Vancouver Symphony with Otto Tausk, and San Francisco Symphony with Mei-Ann Chen. Other highlights will include engagements with the Brevard, and Augusta Symphonies.

2023-24 season recital, chamber music, and festival performances will include Mr. Huang’s return to both the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Camerata Pacifica, and his much anticipated recital return at the Kennedy Center (Washington Performing Arts presents) and his recital debut in Singapore at the Victoria Concert Hall. Mr. Huang will also return to Bravo! Vail, North Shore, and Rockport Music Festivals. In January 2024, Mr. Huang will launch the 2nd edition of “Paul Huang & Friends” International Chamber Music Festival in Taipei, Taiwan, in association with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan.

Mr. Huang’s recent recital engagements included Lincoln Center’s “Great Performers” series and debuts at the Wigmore Hall, Seoul Arts Center, and the Louvre in Paris.

A frequent guest artist at music festivals worldwide, he has performed at the Seattle, Music@Menlo, Savannah, Caramoor, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Moritzburg, Kissinger Sommer, Sion, Orford Musique, and the PyeongChang Music Festival in South Korea. His chamber music collaborators have included Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, Nobuko Imai, Mischa Maisky, Jian Wang, Lynn Harrell, Yefim Bronfman, Kirill Gerstein and Marc-Andre Hamelin.

Winner of the 2011 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Huang made critically acclaimed recital debuts in New York at Lincoln Center and in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. Other honors include First Prize at the 2009 Tibor Varga International Violin Competition Sion-Valais in Switzerland, the 2009 Chi-Mei Cultural Foundation Arts Award for Taiwan’s Most Promising Young Artists, the 2013 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and the 2014 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award.

Born in Taiwan, Mr. Huang began violin lessons at the age of seven. He is a recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees under Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee. He plays on the legendary 1742 “ex-Wieniawski” Guarneri del Gesù on extended loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago and is on the faculty of Taipei National University of the Arts. He resides in New York.