Holiday Extravaganza Concert with Violinist Ariana Kim, presented by the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra

Sunday December 8 2024 @ 3 PM | Carrington Hall- Sequoia High School Redwood City CA

Pay What You Can: General Admission: $50; Student/Senior: $25 (suggested)

http://paco.vbotickets.com/event/holiday_extravaganza__fundraising_concert_featuring_all_5_orchestras_and_headlining_dr._ariana_kim_playing_four_seasons_of_buenos_aires_by_piazzolla/138618

You're cordially invited to join us at Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra’s 8th Holiday Extravaganza – a musical celebration that promises to infuse your holiday season with unforgettable moments!

The Holiday Extravaganza is always a delight as every PACO orchestra takes the stage and celebrates being together during the Holiday Season. This year we welcome renowned violin soloist and educator Dr. Ariana Kim back to the stage and in true commitment to a year full of seasons perform the Four Seasons of Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla with Senior PACO! As is tradition we close the concert with all five orchestras performing together filling the stage and the concert hall aisles with music! 

All five orchestras from Palo Alto Chamber Orchestras will share the stage at the Holiday Extravaganza, which will be conducted by our esteemed resident conductors, Natasha Makhijani, Wendy Clymer, Jory Fankuchen, and our Music Director, Scott Krijnen.

Please join us at 1:45 PM for a pre-concert reception where complimentary finger food, hot chocolate, and warm drinks will be served.

For those with young musicians or acquaintances with musical families attending the Holiday Extravaganza concert is a perfect way to explore more about the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra as all five orchestras will be performing.

Join us to celebrate the wonderful holiday season with PACO on December 8th!

About Ariana Kim:

Noted by The New York Times for giving “the proceedings an invaluable central thread of integrity and stylishness” violinist Ariana Kim made her New York recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall during her doctoral studies at Juilliard and is now a tenured professor at Cornell University. At 16 Ariana made her debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and at 24 was appointed acting concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans; she has since become one of the most respected artists of her generation.  

As a violinist of the Aizuri Quartet she was awarded the 2017 Osaka International Competition Grand Prize the 2018 M-Prize and a 2019 GRAMMY® nomination for the album Blueprinting. During her tenure the ensemble served as a Quartet-in-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and presented recitals at Suntory Hall Tokyo the University of Toronto Duke University and the Kennedy Center among others. Equally devoted to contemporary and long-established literature Ariana held a 10-year position with the New York new music ensemble Ne(x)tworks and is currently in her 17thseason with The Knights who are in their second year of residency at Carnegie Hall. Their 2016 recording …the ground beneath our feet… on which Ariana is a featured soloist alongside Guillaume Pirard in Steve Reich’s Duet was chosen as NPR’s “Songs We Love” for 2016.  

The child of two violinist-educator parents Ariana is a passionate pedagogue seeking to promote the importance of music and the performing arts to young people across the globe. She teaches each year at several summer chamber music festivals including at the Crowden Music Center (Berkeley CA) Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (Aptos CA) and the Northern Lights Chamber Music Institute (Boundary Waters MN) and spends several weeks each year serving as a resident teaching artist for middle and high schools conservatories universities and youth orchestras throughout the United States Europe and Asia.

During a sabbatical year in South Korea Ariana spent seven months studying the gayageum (an ancient zither-style instrument) performing throughout the country and presenting master classes at Seoul National University. She will spend the first half of 2025 doing a similar project diving deeply into Carnatic violin traditions in Mysuru India. This 2024-25 season will bring solo performances at the Smithsonian a return to her hometown to serve again as the PBS live broadcast host and the release of a new solo album. In 2019 she was appointed co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota and Paesaggi Musicali Toscani in Siena Italy.  

In between concert tours and teaching Ariana can be found learning how to become a fire practitioner in Northern California climbing rocks all over the world with her new biologist husband – both indoors and out – and spending time in the kitchen cooking yummy things.

About Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra:

“This amazing group of musicians is one of the finest and most talented I have heard.” -Itzhak Perlman

The Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (PACO) is an award-winning youth orchestra for regional string musicians of high school age and younger. PACO's five ensembles SuperStrings Preparatory Debut Sinfonia and Senior PACO each have approximately 25-30 members who rehearse weekly and perform throughout the year presenting an extraordinary level of music-making and commitment to their art.

At PACO we believe that making music and lifelong friends are best achieved in an atmosphere of cooperation and teamwork. Our focus on small orchestras and chamber music makes that possible and we minimize internal competition to foster creativity and collaboration for our young musicians. PACO students get many opportunities to work with each other across orchestra levels knitting our musical family together and providing teaching and learning opportunities for all. Teamwork compassion empathy and imagination are hallmarks of our community. More than just learning how to play the notes our students learn the real meaning and value of playing well with others.

Our emphasis on chamber music uniquely sets PACO apart from other youth programs. It lies at the core of our educational success allowing a highly personalized commitment to both our students and our community.

Members of the Debut Sinfonia and Senior PACO orchestras attend our annual chamber music workshop PACO Camp in August where advanced ensemble training takes place under the watchful eyes (and ears) of a nationally renowned faculty.

Presto PACO is a shorter local version of PACO Camp. This 5-day workshop for young string players ages 8-13 is open to members of our Superstrings and Preparatory orchestras and other community musicians by audition.

PACO was founded in 1966 by local violinist teacher and conductor William Whitson who served as the orchestra's music director for 36 years. During that time Mr. Whitson established PACO as one of the nation's premier youth ensembles. From 2002 to 2023 violist Benjamin Simon continued the tradition of excellence while bringing fresh energy and exciting direction to PACO's programs. Appointed Music Director in 2023 cellist Scott Krijnen has taken the baton from Mr. Simon leading the 5-orchestra organization and collaborating with guest conductors fellows and faculty while continuing to bring excellence in music performance and education through chamber music and chamber orchestras.

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