Scott Jackson Wiley, conductor

Dvorak Vanda: Overture

Scambone Petit Six for String Orchestra [world premiere]

Rosauro Concerto for Timpani and String Orchestra [New York City premiere]
Jeffrey Kautz, timpani

Dvorak Symphony No. 8 in G major

$20 Suggested donation Click here for advance tickets

Timpanist Jeffrey Kautz is passionate about music, percussion, and timpani. A graduate of Mannes School of Music (B.M. with Honors) and NYU Steinhardt School of Music (M.M.), Jeffrey distinguished himself at an early age by winning some 29 international timpani competitions in the U.S., Singapore, Canada, Germany, Estonia, Hong Kong, Greece, Spain, France, and Switzerland.

Jeffrey is a great champion of the timpani concerto repertoire, and he has performed as soloist with the Mannes Orchestra, NYU Steel Band, NYU Percussion Ensemble, South Shore Symphony Orchestra, and the Winters Center for Autism Percussion Ensemble. He currently teaches percussion at Music & Arts (Commack and Deer Park, NY) and The Music Academy for Special Learners in West Babylon, NY. A career highlight was his performance as an Actor Drummer on the HBO Series The Plot Against America, where he collaborated with John Turturro and Winona Ryder.

Jeffrey has been a member of numerous orchestras and ensembles in the New York City region, including his current role as Principal Timpanist at Centre Symphony Orchestra and the Manhattan Symphonie, as well as former engagements with Massapequa Philharmonic Orchestra, Amore Opera, Apotheosis Opera, International Chamber Orchestra of America, and the Prague Summer Nights: Young Artists Music Festival.

Composer Silvio Scambone, a native New Yorker, was introduced to the performing arts began at age four with the study of classical ballet. He had observed his sister dancing, announced “I can do that!” — and there was no stopping him. He later took up clarinet and received his B.M. in Clarinet/Music Education from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Fredonia. After college he continued classical ballet studies and had the rare good fortune of learning the Vaganova technique as used at the Kirov Ballet. He performed with the New Jersey Ballet, New Jersey State Opera, the Maryland Ballet, the Israeli Chamber Dance Theater and as an extra with the Metropolitan Opera, highlighted by performances of Romeo and Juliet with the La Scala Opera Ballet with Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn.

He resumed his clarinet studies with Leon Russianoff and Peter Simenauer in New York and John McCaw in London, and in 1998 he toured with The Phantom of the Opera, playing both clarinet and flute, with performances in over 80 cities in the U.S. and Canada, as well as on Broadway. He is currently working as a music transcriber for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, reviving 100-year old parts for the musicians. Writing music is an amalgamation of his entire career as a performing artist — and a welcome outlet of creativity.