David Perry, violin
Oriol Sans, guest conductor
David Perry, violin
Oriol Sans, guest conductor
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 (1878), featuring David Perry
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (1940)
Violinist David Perry enjoys an international career as chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. Mr. Perry has performed in Carnegie Hall, most of the major cultural centers of North and South America, Europe, and the Far East. Mr. Perry joined the Pro Arte Quartet and the UW-Madison faculty in 1995, and was granted a Paul Collins Endowed Professorship in 2003. The Pro Arte celebrated its Centennial Anniversary in 2011-2012. Composers commissioned for the celebration include William Bolcom, John Harbison, Pierre Jalbert, Walter Mays, Benoit Mernier and Paul Schoenfield.
Former concertmaster of the Aspen Chamber Symphony, Mr. Perry was on the artist-faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School for nearly two decades and continues to tour the U.S. annually as founding violinist of the Aspen String Trio. Currently concertmaster of the Chicago Philharmonic, he has been a frequent guest concertmaster with such groups as the China National Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the American Sinfonietta, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Active with Orpheus since the late 1980s, he may be heard on many of the ensemble’s Deutsche Grammophon recordings. Mr. Perry’s chamber and solo recordings can be found on the Delos, Naxos and Albany labels. He performs in the summers as first violinist of the Midsummer’s Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin.
A 1985 U. S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, his first prizes have included the International D’Angelo Competition, National MTNA Auditions, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition.
A native of Illinois, his early training was with John Kendall and Almita Vamos, followed by studies with Dorothy DeLay, Paul Kantor, and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School. Thanks to the Nathan McClure Opportunities Fund, Mr. Perry plays on a 1711 Franciscus Gobetti violin, arranged by Chancellor John Wiley and the UW Foundation.
Oriol Sans, a Catalan conductor renowned for his “refreshing and expressive” handling of the orchestra, has captivated audiences and inspired musicians across North America and Europe. His extensive repertoire includes performances with esteemed orchestras and ensembles such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Fe Symphony, the Michigan Chamber Winds and Strings, the New Mexico Philharmonic, the San Juan Symphony (Colorado), the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco in Guadalajara (Mexico), the Flint Symphony Orchestra, the Sheboygan Symphony, the New Bedford Symphony, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the Four Corners Ensemble.
Recently, Sans served as the conductor of an exploratory recording project featured in the Oscar-winning film Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer. Initiated in 2017, this project unearthed, assembled, and recorded music the Auschwitz I’s Men Orchestra performed in the concentration camp. Collaborating with University of Michigan Professor Patricia Hall, Sans embarked on a national tour of the Midwest and New York City, concluding in May 2024 with an international tour of Austria and Poland.
As an opera conductor, his repertoire encompasses a diverse range of works, including Verdi’s Falstaff, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Verdi’s La Traviata, Britten’s Albert Herring, and Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 2018, he led a production of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Michigan Opera Theatre, collaborated with the Opera Theatre Saint Louis on a production of Awakenings, a groundbreaking opera by composer Tobias Picker, and more recently lead a performance of Puccini’s Gianni Schicci with the Tulsa Opera.
Mr. Sans, the Associate Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, oversees musical responsibilities that include directing the Symphony Orchestra, conducting opera productions, and mentoring graduate conducting students. Under his guidance, University of Wisconsin-Madison Opera productions of Così fan tutte, Sweeney Todd, and Two Remain (Out of Darkness) have received awards from the National Opera Association, with Sweeney Todd also being recognized with The American Prize. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mr. Sans served as Associate Director of Orchestras at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he directed both the University Philharmonia Orchestra and the Contemporary Directions Ensemble (CDE). With the CDE, Mr. Sans spearheaded projects with renowned composers such as John Luther Adams, Ted Hearne, Julia Wolfe, David T. Little, Tyshawn Sorey, or Augusta Read-Thomas.
As Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra, a position he held from 2016 to 2022, Mr. Sans fostered collaborations with other musical institutions within the community, including the Young Artists Program through the Michigan Opera Theater. Additionally, Mr. Sans was a finalist for the position of Music Director with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.
His extensive experience collaborating with musicians of diverse ages has garnered numerous invitations to serve as conducting faculty at prestigious educational institutions, such as the Interlochen Summer Academy and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. As a highly sought-after conducting clinician and guest conductor, he has engaged with numerous youth ensembles across North America.
Sans has collaborated with a diverse list of renowned soloists, including Anthony McGill, Pacho Flores, Yoonshin Song, Wey Yu, Tony Arnold, Amy Porter, Aaron Berofsky, Jourdan Urbach, Álvaro Bitrán, Íride González, Alan Pingarrón, Jason Vieaux, Alexander Gavrylyuk Anderson & Roe Piano Duo, Alon Goldstein, and Wu Han.
A native of Catalonia, Spain, Mr. Sans pursued his studies in Orchestral and Choral Conducting at the Barcelona Conservatory, where he received the school’s Honors Award in both specialties upon graduation. Subsequently, he continued his musical education at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting and his Doctorate in Musical Arts. In addition to his academic achievements in music, Mr. Sans holds a degree in Humanities from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. He resides in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife Chelsea.