Efe Baltacigil, Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, Nathan Chan, Sarah Rommel, & Joshua Roman
Friday, March 29, 2024, 7:30 pm
Efe Baltacigil, Prinicipal Cello
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Principal Cello of the Grammy-winning Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Turkey’s String Player of the Year, 2013, and awardee of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Mr. Baltacigil is lauded for his risk-taking, passionate performances that immediately capture the heart and imagination.
Recipient of the Peter Jay Sharp Prize, the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize, and first prize in concerto competitions of Istanbul, New York, and the Allentown, Pennsylvania Schadt String Competition, Baltacigil experienced early acclaim as winner of the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
Mr. Baltacigil is the recipient of a bachelor’s degree from the Mimar Sinan University Conservatory, Istanbul, and an artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. Prior to assuming the post of Principal Cello of the Seattle Symphony, Mr. Baltacigil began his professional career in the United States as Associate Principal Cello of the Philadelphia Orchestra before relocating to Seattle, where he now resides with his wife, attorney Heather MacClintock, and their daughter Ada.
Mr. Baltacigil’s guests (see below) for March 29th with The Seattle Series are his long-term stand-partner, Seattle Symphony Assoc. Prinicpal Cello Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, the Seattle Symphony’s Assistant Prinicpal Cello Nathan Chan, UW’s Aritist-in Residence-cello Sarah Rommel, and the beloved cello soloist Joshua Roman.
Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, Associate Principal Cello
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Multi-award-winning cellist Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, who thrills audiences with playing described as “incredibly nuanced” and “exquisitely beautiful,” began her professional career as first-prize winner of the Khuner Concerto Competition at age 15 and debuted soon after, performing the Antonín Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Pacific Symphony under the direction of Carl St. Clair. A graduate of the Young Artist Program of the Cleveland Institute of Music and subsequent recipient of the Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance, Ms. Quan DiLorenzo was awarded the highly competitive position of Associate Principal of the Utah Symphony in her inaugural professional audition and remained with that ensemble for five years before joining the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Quan DiLorenzo, a frequent collaborator with Dmitry Sinkovsky, has performed with members of the Juilliard and Cleveland string quartets and received invitations to the Aspen, Ravinia, Taos, Kingston, Sun Valley, Seattle, Oregon Bach, and Kneisel Hall festivals. She began her cello studies at age 6 with Suzuki teacher Beth Goldstein and has since studied under Julie Feldman, Irene Sharp, Richard Aaron, and Stephan Geber.
Ms. Quan DiLorenzo resides in Seattle with her husband, composer and trumpeter Tony DiLorenzo, son Luca, and their two adored canine companions.
Nathan Chan, Assistant Principal Cello
Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Nathan Chan, the current Assistant Principal Cello of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, has performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, working with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, James Gaffigan, Alexander Prior, and Donato Cabrera, among others. Identified at a young age as a prodigy to watch, Nathan was featured in the three-part documentary “World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies,” and was chosen to participate in Classe d’Excellence du Violoncelle with world-renowned cellist Gautier Capuçon. Winner of the 2015 Aspen Low Strings Concerto Competition playing Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D Major, Nathan was a recipient of the 2016 Samuel Mayes Memorial Cello Award at Tanglewood.
Sarah Rommel, cello
University of Washington, Artist-in-Residence
Sarah Rommel, a top prizewinner of the 2014 George Enescu International Cello Competition, has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants including a Frank Huntington Beebe Fund Grant and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artists Award. She has collaborated with leading composers and musicians such as John Adams, Jennifer Higdon, Kaija Saariaho, Jonathan Biss, Lucy Chapman, Kim Kashkashian, and Peter Wiley, and received invitations to major chamber series across the nation. The current Artist in Residence-cello and faculty at the University of Washington, Ms. Rommel’s former teachers include Efe Baltacigil, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Peter Wiley, Curtis Institute of Music.
Joshua Roman, cello
New York, NY
Joshua Roman is a solo cellist, accomplished composer, and curator whose performances embrace musical styles from Bach to Radiohead. Roman was named a TED Senior Fellow in 2015 and is currently the Las Vegas Philharmonic’s inaugural Artist in Residence. Before setting off on his unique path as a soloist, Roman was the Seattle Symphony’s principal cellist – a job he won at 22. He has since earned renown for genre-bending repertoire and wide-ranging collaborations. A Gramophone review of his recording of Aaron Jay Kernis’s Cello Concerto (written for Roman) proclaimed, “Roman’s outstanding performance of the cello concerto is the disc’s highlight… [He] combines the expressive control of Casals with the creative individuality and virtuoso flair of Hendrix himself.”
