MORIHIKO NAKAHARA
Music Director
South Carolina Philharmonic
Resident Conductor
Spokane Symphony Orchestra
Recognized by critics, orchestras, and audiences alike as "a brilliant young conductor" (Free Times) with "a poet's sensitivity and a craftsman's efficiency" (Spokesman-Review), Morihiko Nakahara has served as Music Director of the South Carolina Philharmonic since 2008. Their first two seasons together generated dynamic artistic growth, rising ticket sales, and increasing recognition and excitement for the organization both locally and nationally. Recent contract renewal will keep him with the SC Phil at least through the 2014-2015 season. The 2010-2011 season also marks Nakahara's eighth season with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, first as its Associate Conductor and now as Resident Conductor.
Increasingly regarded as a leading young conductor equally at home in a wide range of repertoire and concert formats, Nakahara was featured in the League of American Orchestra's prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview in March 2005, hosted by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Since then, he has developed a close working relationship with the JSO, conducting the orchestra annually and serving as its Associate Conductor during the 2007-08 season. As a guest conductor, Nakahara has led the symphonies of Toledo, Lansing, Peoria, Lubbock, Southwest Michigan, Billings, and Missoula, as well as the Chicago Pro Musica and the Lexington Philharmonic. During the current season, he will appear with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.
Known for his charismatic presence on and off the podium, innovative and audience-friendly programming skills, and thoughtful interpretations of both standard and contemporary repertoire, Nakahara's current season includes a world premiere of Double Concerto by John Fitz Rogers (SC Phil commission funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts) and a regional premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's new work in addition to a wide range of standard symphonic repertoire. In the symphonic pops realm, Nakahara has recently collaborated with such artists as Brandi Carlile, Chris Botti, and Bela Fleck & the Flecktones.
Acclaimed as a versatile artist and a passionate believer in music education for all ages, Nakahara has designed and conducted numerous educational and community engagement concerts. Nakahara is also a popular guest conductor and clinician with youth orchestras, collegiate ensembles, and high school honor orchestras/bands, including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute's Young Artist Orchestra. As a personable ambassador for classical music, Nakahara makes frequent appearances on local media outlets as well as at local businesses and service organizations.
A native of Kagoshima, Japan, Nakahara holds degrees from Andrews University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He previously as Music Director of the Holland Symphony Orchestra in Michigan and taught at Eastern Washington University and Andrews University. He resides in Columbia, SC.
REVIEWS
Symphony celebrates Shakespeare
"The playing was consistently sensitive and technically impressive as the augmented orchestra -- with more woodwinds including a saxophone -- turned in a sterling performance that was nothing less than an orchestral tour de force."
-Mel Wilhoit, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Nov. 19, 2010
The Philharmonic had a dream
"Excellence again was the stamp on a fine reading of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A Major, "Italian." This is where the mark of Maestro Morihiko Nakahara is present in great abundance. He manages to instill subtle balances of color that fit the forces he is conducting. He draws the best musicianship out of each player."
-David Lowry, FreeTimes, Oct. 20, 2010
Guest artist, conductor do their best to impress at Weinder Center
"The Green Bay Symphony Orchestra's first candidate for its open music director and conductor post played the traditional season-opening performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to his advantage Saturday night. Morihiko Nakahara stood facing into Cofrin Family Hall of the Weidner Center and
conducted the standing crowd. The audience could see face-on the crisp command that Nakahara would demonstrate all evening. It was a night for two standing ovations, one at the end for Nakahara and the orchestra's keen ways throughout."
-Warren Gerd, Green Bay Gazette, Oct. 11, 2010
Philharmonic delivers on Brahms
"[In Brahms Symphony No. 2] the rich abundance of ravishing musical lines was clearly delineated from the podium, drawing appropriate responses from the musicians. Adjustments in balance were made on the spot. Every emotional and energy shift was prepared in advance for both performers and observant audience members. The playing was quite clean (though the opening of the finale was a little rocky), and there was genuine passion and energy at the appropriate times…. Gardiner speaks of an "expansive elasticity" necessary in interpreting Brahms' symphonies. Goethe's term, "disciplined imagination," might also apply. Happily, Nakahara seems to have captured the spirit of both astute expressions. One musicologist defines Brahms as more of a "musical renovator of tradition" rather than a reactionary. If so, Nakahara captured Brahms' renovations very well indeed."
-Greg Barnes, Free-Times, Sept. 21, 2010
A high spirited, eclectic visit to Dvorak's Prague "Nakahara's musical visit to Prague was yet another demonstration of this conductor's inventive programming and the skill and energy he brings to the works he programs."
-Travis Rivers, The Spokesman-Review, Jan. 17, 2010
Harpist highlights drama, intensity
"Morihiko Nakahara, the Spokane Symphony's resident conductor, is most often seen conducting the orchestra's SuperPops concerts. But this weekend's Classics concerts at The Fox showed him fully as adept in the "serious" symphonic repertoire as he brought a masterful intensity to an unusual program of modern and romantic composers….In this weekend's performances of Schumann's Symphony No. 2, Nakahara paid careful attention to balancing in those doublings and subdued the accompanying passage work to allow the beauties of Schumann's music to glow. This symphony – Schumann's tribute to his symphonic predecessors and contemporaries – made beautiful sense this way….The orchestra's musicians acknowledged Nakahara's command of the work with a hearty foot-stomping ovation before rising with him to accept the audience's applause."
-Travis Rivers, The Spokesman-Review, Nov. 23, 2009
New, old works both excel at the Philharmonic concert
"[In Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition] Morihiko Nakahara and his players painted every musical image exactly as composer and orchestrator (Mussorgsky and Ravel) intended, with clear musical intent; colors both radiant and ominous; flawless trumpet, euphonium and saxophone solos; and relentlessly clear leadership from the podium. Nakahara absolutely lived and defined every musical line, refused to let intensity weaken, and exploited Ravel's special effects to the max."
-Greg Barnes, Free-Times, Nov. 18, 2009
Peoria Symphony Review
"Off the podium during a pre-concert lecture, Nakahara wasn't merely personable, but completely relaxed and not above a joke or two with his listeners. In any case, Nakahara's efforts on the podium were superb, bringing the crowd to its feet after Tchaikovsky's Sixth. For many listeners, this is probably one of the most gripping things the Russian composer ever wrote, and Nakahara and the orchestra worked hard to unlock the score's intensity….A soaring, singing melody in the strings, filled out with colors from the horn. Guided by Nakahara, this was intensely and beautifully phrased, one of the
most memorable moments from the piece as a whole. Also very effective was the sudden change in mood….The final movement was devastating: A wrenching, soulful piece of music that ended with seemed like a heart beat fading into silence….A spellbinding performance."
-Gary Panetta, Peoria Journal-Constitution, Nov. 8, 2009
The surprise that counts
"The program ended with Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major, nicknamed "The Surprise," which displayed par excellence string playing the likes of which we are coming to expect from Maestro Nakahara's work."
-David Lowry, Free-Times, Oct. 21, 2009
Philharmonic caps transformational season
"Nakahara continued to show his mettle in this season-ender. Earlier in the season, we observed significant improvement in the response of the string sections. We observed more careful balancing with woodwinds and brass. Nowhere was there the sense of a work being played in order just to fill up time:
Nakahara had a solid reason to conduct each work. But it was not until now that we could assess the breadth of his commitment. The combination of Verdi, Glass and Mahler takes not just guts, but passion. He's got both….Everyone on stage, totaling 93, was committed to produce his or her very best, something orchestra members do when their leadership is trusted. Morihiko Nakahara exhibited a depth of understanding of Mahler that is not typical of young conductors. It was good — really good. The right man is at the helm."
-David Lowry, Free-Times, May 6, 2009
The portrait of an orchestra
"[Elgar: Enigma Variations] But, as in much great music, you don't have to know that to be overwhelmed by the music — and there is no denying that Saturday's audience was overwhelmed. It was a success with gratifying contrasts in orchestral color and dynamics, and musical director Morihiko Nakahara clearly got as emotionally charged as the audience did in the movement named "Nimrod."…. Maestro Nakahara seems to be filling that bill well with his thorough knowledge of the scores, and demanding, but affable, attention to detail."
-David Lowry, Free-Times, March 31, 2009
Orchestral trip around the world
"An orchestra can inhabit a musical style or it can impose its own style on all kinds of music of any time or place. In other words, it can serve as an eloquent actor or as a good entertainer. Under its two exceptional conductors, music director Eckart Preu and Nakahara, the Spokane Symphony has proved it
can be a great actor. Saturday's performance was a good exhibit." "After intermission, the orchestra shifted its sound from the courtly elegance of Haydn to the juicy romanticism of Sibelius. The Finnish master's Symphony No. 2 may have been written in Italy, but Sibelius was dreaming of Finland. Nakahara and the orchestra plunged Saturday's audience into chill winds and the desolation of a northern winter. There is nothing else quite like the way Sibelius makes the
sunny Big Tune of the finale explode from the quiet episode that ends the third movement. There were many details to admire: the combination of solo woodwinds in the first movement, the ominous cello and bass pizzicatos introducing the Andante, and the frantic energy of the racing string in the scherzo. But the unrelenting energy Nakahara brought to the work – whether the tempo was fast or slow – is what made Saturday's performance a special experience."
-Travis Rivers, The Spokesman-Review, Nov. 10, 2008
The new SC Philharmonic
"[Brahms Symphony No. 1] The significant outcome of this performance was that Brahms got to sing. Nakahara genuinely lives the scores he conducts, and it pays off. We heard arresting clarity of phrases, clarity of form and subtle shades of dynamics. While one might get nitpicky about whether Brahms should be pristine or wallow in formless orgiastic abandon, Morihiko provided a solidarity that allowed the audience to hear unadorned, pure Brahms."
-David Lowry, Oct. 29, 2008
Symphony deconstructs Beethoven's revolution
"Sometimes we need to be reminded of things we already know, such as Ludwig van Beethoven's role as a revolutionary phenomenon. Resident Conductor Morihiko Nakahara and the Spokane Symphony made that case in vivid colors Friday at the opening concert of the symphony's Casual Classics series. The performers were dressed casually, but their performance was anything but casual. It was one of those on-the-edge-of-your-seat events. What makes such a concert? Nakahara seems like such a genial host, cracking wise occasionally, but gently giving an easygoing music appreciation lesson. "We're going to be looking at the anatomy of a composer tonight," he told his audience at the Fox, "so I ought to be here with a scalpel and a hatchet. Fortunately, I own neither." He had more formidable weapons, his two hands." "The evening's greatest moments, though, came in the gripping performance of Beethoven's
Symphony No. 2, a work that is often short-changed by its proximity to Symphony No. 3 ("The Eroica"). The orchestra seemed on red alert throughout as Nakahara showed how Beethoven played with his audience's minds in alternations of tension and ease – a trait that turns up in his symphonies all the way to the Ninth and beyond in the late string quartets. It was a proud evening for the orchestra and for Nakahara, who has spent five seasons in Spokane before acquiring his own orchestra as music director of the South Carolina Philharmonic. Friday's concert was a welcome return."
-Travis Rivers, The Spokesman-Review, Oct. 19, 2008
Classics season ends with moving beauty
"Nakahara, who had two rehearsals with the orchestra, proved a magnificent stand-in – a reminder of how lucky the orchestra and Spokane are to have two such outstanding conductors on call at the same time. The program – all standard works – was a challenge, but a challenge beautifully met by
Nakahara and the orchestra's players." "The evening opened with the Prelude and "Liebestod" from Richard Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde." Nakahara made the audience feel the tug of Wagner's long, spun-out tension with its great surges of sound and episodes of quiet….Ideally, the opera's audience learns about yearning. So did Saturday's audience." "Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy-Overture is surely the most often performed of the Russian master's work. Familiarity breeds boredom. But Nakahara and the orchestra brought a fresh intensity to it that made me realize (yet again) what a masterpiece it is." "Nakahara gave the performance the winning clarity and graceful lightness that Schumann was aiming for in the symphony (Symphony No. 4). Those in the audience who knew this symphony got a refreshing surprise. Those who didn't received a great introduction to a problematic masterpiece."
-Travis Rivers, The Spokesman-Rivers, May 5, 2008
Symphony, flutist take listeners through storm of emotions
"The Spokane Symphony showed how quickly music can change moods. Conductor Morihiko Nakahara, the symphony associate conductor, led a crisply responsive orchestra in works that covered a lot of emotional ground."
"(In the Rouse Flue Concerto), Jennings and Nakahara seemed at one in the performance I heard, convincing me that Rouse has written one of the 20th century great concertos for flute." "Nakahara turned to one of the masterpieces of the 19th century for the program's second half, Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 7. This has to be one of the most restless works in the orchestral
repertoire – beautiful but never settled, folk-influenced but always having the gleam of commanding sophistication. Nakahara had full command of the symphony's uneasy shifts of mood from the stormy opening to its seething finale….Both the audience's enthusiastic applause and the orchestra
player's stamping feet at the end acknowledged what a fine conductor Nakahara is."
-Travis Rivers, The Spokesman-Review, March 3, 2008
Round 2 for Philharmonic conductor: Nakahara excels
"After about 10 hours of rehearsal Tuesday through Friday, Nakahara spent an hour-and-a-half in the Saturday morning dress rehearsal on infinite details of balances in the Prokofiev — how to make a phrase mean something in texture; how to sound warm and create blend; how important the back stands
are in making great sounds — all coupled with a flawless ability to wield the baton with meaningful gesture. Every fiber of his body was part of the score. None of his movements were pretentious or frivolous. The orchestra responded with intensity and gratitude. Nakahara at no time uttered anything but encouraging words and praise for good results. Never a patronizing remark. Result? A happy orchestra being treated as the professional musicians they are." "It was Nakahara's brilliant conducting from start to finish. He is Japanese by birth, American by training. Don't raise that eyebrow: That's where we are in contemporary America. Nakahara confesses that it was Mozart he heard on the radio in Japan as a very young child, and that was the transforming moment that led him to his life. He is articulate, knows who he is, knows how his work relates to players and to an audience, and carries no idiosyncratic baggage. His pre-concert talk included interesting facts and guides to the concert, and his answers to questions revealed a mature, levelheaded approach to what
an orchestra like the South Carolina Philharmonic needs."
-David Lowry, Free-Times, Oct. 17, 2007
Philharmonic Review
"The second candidate for the S.C. Philharmonic's conducting job, Morihiko Nakahara, is a human dynamo. Sinuously floating all over the podium, he stirred the orchestra into high drama mode Saturday for Prokofiev's ballet suite "Romeo and Juliet."
-Greg Barnes, The State, Oct. 16, 2007
Musicians simply soar on "flights"
"For the most brilliant display of orchestration and the most brilliant playing, Nakahara turned back the clock to 1830 and Hector Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastique" in a performance that had a startling impact. But this was no parade of sound effects. Nakahara and the orchestra sustained the
narrative tension of these "episodes in an artist's life" as the scenes shifted from the daydreams of passions and waltzes to the drug-fueled nightmares of abandoned love, murder and a demonic witches' sabbath….There was something every modern composer can learn on every page of Berlioz's
score, and Nakahara was there to bring the listener's ear right to it."
-Travis Rivers, The Spokesman-Review, Jan. 27, 2007
Concerted effort a pleasure
International success for Nakahara will surprise nobody who has seen him work."
-Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk, Grand Rapids Press, Dec. 19, 2005