The Amarillo Symphony Guild - Jacomo Bairo
Energy. Joy. And Contagious Enthusiasm! These all come to mind when you meet Jacomo Bairos! Jacomo has been described as “expressive and passionate” (Malaysian Times) and these traits were up front and center when he interviewed for the music director/conductor position with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra over six years ago.
After an extensive two-year search involving more than 200 applicants from around the world, in 2013 Bairos became the 17th Music Director and Conductor for the Amarillo Symphony. He has earned quick praise for his inventive programming, community driven initiatives and commissioning of works by living composers. Jacomo was born in Portugal and raised in Florida where he currently resides. He is a graduate of the Julliard School and is an accomplished and award-winning tubist having performed, toured and recorded with the New York Philharmonic and the symphonies of Chicago, Cincinnati and Seattle. He has given master classes and concerts at major festivals and with orchestras around the world. Bairos was principal tubist for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra when he realized he wanted to study conducting:
“ There was something fascinating about watching that invisible connection between the orchestra and the conductor. Then when I tried it myself, I learned that it was something I really loved.”
Jacomo was older than most conducting students, he made his decision to study when he was 30 years old but his experience on both sides of a concert has served him well. Bairos is in high demand as a guest conductor across the United States and with some of the world’s finest orchestras. He was awarded the prestigious and highly selective Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship by the US Mendelsshon Foundation. After traveling to Germany to conduct concerts with the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra and assist at the Gewandhaus Orchestra, he furthered his studies with one of his mentors, Maestro Gustav Meier.
Jacomo’s energy is very evident when you see his schedule! Along with his many guest conducting performances, he is music director and conductor for the ASO and cofounder and artistic director for Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble.
One of Jacomo’s strengths is his ability to develop a meaningful program, not just for the evening but for an entire season.
“For me I look at a program holistically—what is the journey? Where are we going? Why are we going there? You want to go on a journey that takes you from different sounds to different worlds that leaves you n an incredible musical high.”
Bairos uses many different things to take the audience on this journey- he loves to bend genres, this can involve tools of the 21st century such as electronics, extra sounds and collaborations with other arts that don’t normally participate with orchestras such as dance, acrobatics, etc.. He is passionate about the future of living composers. He has commissioned several works by living composers and established the first-ever Composer-in-Residence and the WTAMU Young Composers Initiative, a program that encourages and builds young regional composing talent in the Texas Panhandle.
A Committed educator, Bairos and the Amarillo Symphony have introduced “Class Act”, a program that presents music, lessons and lectures to schools across the Texas Panhandle. Along with regularly coaching and conducting the Amarillo Youth Orchestras, Bairos has shaped orchestral programs and concerts that have enriched the lives of thousands of children.
“One of my all time joys in life is working with kids.. the beauty of their young minds and hearts inspire me beyond anything else I can do.”
Bairos was the Music Director for the National Youth Orchestra Festival in his native Portugal in 2010 and previously worked with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program to create hands on educational workshops for children in underserved urban communities.
Amarillo is very fortunate to have Maestro Jacomo Bairos as our Music Director and Conductor! His journey to the podium has been very impressive and his future looks even more so. This past June he realized a life long dream by conducting the Boston Pops and he continues his amazing programming for the ASO and his development of the genre bending Nu Deco Ensemble! If you are ever in Amarillo during one of the ASO’s performances don’t miss watching one of the countries most dynamic and energetic conductors- you will be truly entertained!
HEctor Guzman
HECTOR GUZMAN
Click below for Videos of Interviews with Hector!
Maestro Hector Guzman is regarded as one of the most respected and admired conductors in this country and abroad. His recent appointment as music director of the Corpus Christi symphony orchestra in May, 2017 and his tenure as music director of the Plano Symphony, the Irving Symphony, the San Angelo Symphony, and as Conductor Emeritus of the Jalisco Philharmonic in Mexico, have placed him among the most important musical figures on the podium today. He has been a frequent guest conductor of an array of prestigious ensembles: Mexico: National Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, UNAM Philharmonic, Xalapa Symphony, Bellas Artes Chamber Orchestra, Vivaldi Orchestra of Mexico City, State of Mexico Symphony. United States: Dallas Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Dominican Republic: National Symphony. Czech Republic: Collegium Orchestra of Prague. Poland: Rszezow Philharmonic. Japan: Japan Philharmonic. South Korea: Masan Philharmonic, Gangsam Symphony. Italy: Amadeus Orchestra, Sinfonia Venetto, Milano Classica Orchestra, Bari Symphony, San Remo Symphony, Pomeriggi Musicale Orchestra of Milan. Spain: Sinfónica de Murcia, Joven Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Excelentia Orchestra. Panamá: National Symphony, among many others.
In addition to a spectacular career as a conductor, he continues to enjoy international success as a concert organist, performing in venues such as the Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas, The Spivey Hall Distinguished Artist Series in Atlanta, The Olivet Nazarene recital series in Illinois, the cathedrals of Morelia, Guadalajara (Mexico) and Chartres (France) and the International Music Festivals in Toledo, Spain and Zamora, Mexico.
Maestro Guzman holds degrees from: The Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, the University of North Texas (BM) and Southern Methodist University (MM). His teachers include his mentor Anshel Brusilow, former concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra and former music director of the Dallas Symphony, as well as internationally renowned conductors Helmuth Rilling (University of Oregon) and Carlo Maria Giulini (Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy). He was also a protégé of the late Maestro Eduardo Mata, music director of the Dallas Symphony. In his native Mexico, Hector Guzman achieved an impressive reputation as an organist, under Prof. Victor Urban, by taking first prize in the “Chamber Soloists” and the “Manuel M. Ponce” national organ competitions. In the United States, while a student of world famous master teachers Dr. Robert Anderson and Alfred Mouledous, he earned further distinction by winning solo competitions at Southern Methodist Competition, the University of North Texas and he was the first Latin-American ever chosen as a finalist in the “Grand Prix de Chartres”, the world’s most prestigious international organ competition celebrated in France. He is also the recipient of the “Mozart Medal”, Mexico’s highest musical honor, presented by the embassy of Austria and the Mozart Academy in Mexico City, as well as the 2012 “Lifetime achievement award” of North Texas and the 2014 Sigma Alpha Iota National Arts Associate award.