The Modesto Symphony Orchestra will present a virtual recital featuring MSO Concertmaster Dan Flanagan and hosted by Associate Conductor Ryan Murray at 7 p.m. Aug. 26. The live performance will feature a variety of works for violin by Bach and Strauss and will also feature some of Flanagan’s own compositions.
This will be the second free virtual event that the MSO has presented since being offstage due to the current pandemic. This recital, along with future virtual events, will be shown live on the MSO’s YouTube channel and a recording will be available to watch at ModestoSymphony.org. The MSO’s virtual events are free of charge to help bring music to everyone in the community.
“We are excited to feature our Concertmaster Dan Flanagan in this month’s recital,” said Caroline Nickel, president and CEO of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. “Last month’s recital was a great reminder of how music can connect us all, even if it’s through a virtual setting. We can’t wait to hear Dan again after all these months and he’s really looking forward to playing for an audience and reconnecting with the community.”
Flanagan currently serves as Concertmaster of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Concertmaster of the Modesto Symphony, Concertmaster of West Edge Opera, Concertmaster of Opera Paralléle and Instructor of Violin at University of California, Berkeley.
A dedicated orchestral player, Flanagan has performed as concertmaster with the Oakland Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, California Musical Theater, Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, Symphony Silicon Valley, Merced Symphony and Symphony Napa Valley. He performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet and records film, video game and television soundtracks with the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. Frequently featured as a soloist with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Modesto Symphony, Flanagan has also performed with the American River Chamber Orchestra, Bear Valley Symphony, Reno Baroque Ensemble, UC Davis Symphony and the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra.
Flanagan is a member of the Eco Ensemble and a former member of the Farallon Quintet. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento, the Oregon Bach Festival, Earplay, Melody of China, Midsummer Mozart Chamber Players, Gold Coast Chamber Players and has collaborated with pianists Leon Fleisher and Jon Nakamatsu.
In COVID times, he is composing and commissioning original works inspired by paintings and performing them for his Youtube series, “Corona Quarantine Concerts.” Outside of YouTube, his compositions have been heard throughout the SF Bay Area and were recently featured in the Spread Spectrum Festival Russia and the Hunters Point Shipyard Artists Series.
Flanagan plays on a violin made in 1840 by JB Vuillaume, once owned by the celebrated American virtuoso Albert Spalding and he collects original artwork by French Impressionists and contemporary California artists.
Murray's dynamic conducting, natural musicality and deeply held passion for the arts have allowed him to steadily build a robust career since his professional debut at the age of just 22. He is currently the Associate Conductor for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra and Music Director for the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra, with whom he made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 2014. Since his appointment in 2013, Murray has consistently worked to improve the quality, skill and prominence of the youth orchestra and now leads an ensemble that features over 60 students from the greater Modesto area. He is also Music Director of Opera Modesto and Artistic Director and Conductor of Music in the Mountains. Murray is the newly appointed Director of Orchestras and Opera at California State University, Sacramento and also directs the orchestra at CSU Stanislaus. He previously served as Music Director for Fresno Grand Opera and as a staff conductor for the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute and The Opera Academy of California in San Francisco. Effortlessly moving between genres, Murray currently enjoys a wide range of performance genres and platforms, including traditional orchestral and operatic repertoire, pops performances and a notable emphasis on contemporary American operatic works.
Murray has recently garnered national recognition for his dynamic, compelling performances of contemporary opera and is the current winner of the 2016/17 American Prize in Opera Conducting for his highly lauded production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” He was a 2016 semi-finalist for the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music and received honorary mention for the American Prize in Youth Orchestra Conducting. Murray is also a past winner of the Vienna Philharmonic’s prestigious Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors and spent the summer in residence alongside the Vienna Philharmonic at the 2014 Salzburg Festival.
Driven by a lifelong passion for learning, Murray has attended masterclasses and seminars around the world. He holds degrees, summa cum laude, in Bassoon Performance and Voice Performance from California State University, Sacramento. Widely praised for his tireless work ethic, natural poise and impassioned, inspired performances, Murray continues to connect deeply with orchestras and audiences alike and has proven to be a formidable presence on the podium.
