Nate's World
The 2023–24 Curtis Presents series kicks off with the return of acclaimed alumnus Nathan Farrington (ʼ06), principal bassist for LA Opera Orchestra, as he takes listeners on an adventurous musical safari through Nate’s World. He is joined by composer, pianist, and clarinetist Teddy Abrams (Conducting ’08), music director of the Louisville Orchestra and the Britt Festival, and New York City-based percussionist, composer, and educator Gabriel Globus-Hoenich (ʼ08) for an evening of unexpected surprises.
This performance is sold out.
Program
| This performance’s program will be announced from the stage and features a diverse landscape of styles. Each work is written, arranged, and performed according to the trio’s current musical passions, from classical to country and everything in between. |
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Artists
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Nathan Farrington (Double Bass ’06) has been the principal bassist for LA Opera since 2016.
He regularly appears in the bass sections of many of America’s top orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony.
He also pursues chamber music and solo opportunities avidly. He has appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Olympic Music Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, and at the Da Camera Society. Nathan also plays guitar and often sings and plays operatic arias and folk songs alongside his bass playing.
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Teddy Abrams (Conducting ’08) is the music director of the Louisville Orchestra and music director and conductor of the Britt Festival Orchestra. A tireless advocate for the power of music, Abrams has fostered interdisciplinary collaborations with organizations including the Louisville Ballet, the Center for Interfaith Relations, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Speed Art Museum, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. His rap-opera, The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, premiered in 2017, celebrating Louisville’s hometown hero with an all-star cast that included Rhiannon Giddens and Jubilant Sykes. Abrams’ work with the Louisville Orchestra has been profiled on CBS News Sunday Morning, NPR, and in The Wall Street Journal.
An accomplished pianist and clarinetist, Abrams has appeared as a soloist with a number of orchestras—including play-conducting the Ravel Piano Concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony in 2017 and the Jacksonville Symphony in 2013—and has performed chamber music with the St. Petersburg String Quartet, Menahem Pressler, Gilbert Kalish, Time for Three, and John Adams, in addition to annual appearances at the Olympic Music Festival. Dedicated to exploring new and engaging ways to communicate with a diverse range of audiences, Abrams co-founded the Sixth Floor Trio in 2008. Together, they founded and direct GardenMusic, the music festival of the world-renowned Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami; they continue to tour regularly throughout the U.S.
Abrams was a protégé of Michael Tilson Thomas from the age of eleven, and studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller and Ford Lallerstedt at the Curtis Institute of Music, and with David Zinman at the Aspen Music Festival; he was the youngest conducting student ever accepted at both institutions. Abrams is also an award-winning composer and a passionate educator. His 2009 Education Concerts with the New World Symphony (featuring the world premiere of one of Abrams’ own orchestral works) were webcast to hundreds of schools throughout South Florida.
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Percussionist Gabriel Globus-Hoenich blends a multitude of musical influences together in his work as a performer and educator. A Montreal native, Gabriel is now based in New York City where his career continues to reflect a deep love for the worlds of jazz, classical music, and world music. Gabriel has performed on drumset and percussion with a wide variety of artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Morgan James, Jim James, Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Yuja Wang, Omara Portuondo, Telmary Diaz, Roberto Fonseca, Tirso Duarte, Steve Hackman, Tessa Lark, the Philly Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, among others. He collaborates frequently with Teddy Abrams and the Sixth Floor Trio, serving as principal percussionist and education director at the trio’s chamber music festival, GardenMusic, in South Miami. An active composer and arranger, Gabriel has written orchestral arrangements for Grammy-award winners Sam Bush, Cory Henry, and Sara Jarosz, as well as Achilles LiarmakopolousIn 2017 Gabriel founded People of Earth, a 13 person Latin fusion group filled with some of NYC’s best musicians representing a myriad of countries. People of Earth has performed at Disney Hall, New World Center for the Arts, Mann Center, and Kennedy Center, among others. For more information visit www.peopleofearthmusic.com
In addition to his work in the orchestral and jazz music worlds, Gabriel has completed extensive world percussion studies having studied Afro-Brazilian percussion in Salvador, Bahia with Gabi Guedes and Mario Pam, as well as Cuban percussion with Girardo Piloto, Rociel Riveron, and Adonis Panter.
Gabriel continues to work as a teaching artist for the 92nd Street Y and Marquis Studios. He was formerly a teaching artist with Play On Philly! as well as musician-in-residence at The Please Touch Museum. He is a 2008 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Don Liuzzi and Robert van Sice.
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Curtis Presents
Past and future meet through Curtis Presents, which features a diverse collection of artists—alumni, faculty, students, and contemporary creators—whose musical foundations are rooted in the Curtis community. This series of intimate and innovative recitals offers a unique experience with exceptional artistry and one-of-a-kind programs.
Nathan Farrington Photo Credit: Seth Jacobson