Worcester Symphony Orchestra Presents: Maurice Ravel 150 Years

Worcester Symphony Orchestra (formerly New England Symphony Orchestra and Thayer Symphony Orchestra) is the continuation of 40-plus years of music making in central Massachusetts. The orchestra is committed to several local performances each year and is engaged in discussions with several local groups about potential collaborative programming. Roderick MacDonald has been the orchestra’s music director since 2014. He is the former principal trumpet of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig and a former conducting student of both Kurt Masur and Bernard Haitink. Under his leadership the orchestra has increased its use of video programming during the COVID pandemic through such initiatives as NESO at Home (downloadable videos of small groups of NESO musicans in intimate settings) and the co-production of AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS with VOX New England.

Born and raised in Moscow, Russia, Alex Roitman began playing the piano when he was seven years old. He has studied accordion with Peter DiBono, San Francisco's premier accordionist. During his accordion years, he enjoyed playing Klezmer, Italian, French musette and Russian music. His playing has been featured in Pure Piaf, a musical about the life of Edith Piaf. Mr. Roitman's passion for Argentine Tango led him to study the bandoneon, first on his own, then with Ville Hiltula, and finally with Hector Del Curto. As a bandoneonist, he performed locally in San Francisco with his band Tangonero. He is also a member of a Stowe Tango Music Festival tango orchestra, and a silver medalist of the 2022 Che Bandoneon International Competition (also a bronze medalist of 2018 and 2019). Mr. Roitman shared the stage with legendary tango musicians as Victor Lavallen, Horacio Cabarcos, Pablo Estigarribia, Jose Colangelo, Pablo Agri, Nicolas Ledesma, Humberto Ridolfi, Julio Pane and Nestor Marconi, as well as the members of Héctor Del Curto's quintet. In addition to his bandoneon work, Mr. Roitman has composed several tango pieces, made original arrangements and continues to work on transcribing and arranging great tango music of the past. In the fall of 2020, he relocated to the East Coast, and currently splits his time between his own group ARTE in Sarasota, FL in the winters and various New England ensembles in the summers.