Mainstage TheaterVivaldi’s most radical work redefined. Violinist Isabel Ong, conductor Brent Chancellor, and projection artist Nicholas Taboni reimagine Vivaldi’s groundbreaking work in an immersive performance surrounded by audience members on stage, a backdrop of digital projections, and electronic music interludes. Vivaldi Redefined blurs the lines between listener, performer, past, and present.

Creating a bridge between the natural world and an impending technocratic future, Vivaldi Redefined imagines natural life as a fragmented relic from a previous world experienced through the senses of a purely digitalized society.

ProgramConcerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, "Spring" (La primavera)Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer" (L'estate)Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, "Autumn" (L'autunno)Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno)With electronic works by Ryoji Ikeda, Midrothol, Emptyset, and William Basinsky

Made possible in part by support from Dena and Jack Armstrong & West Herr Automotive Group

Artists:Isabel Ong, violinViolinist Isabel Ong is an avid chamber musician with a passion for contemporary music and has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, National Sawdust, and MOMA and most recently, was invited to perform in the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra in Switzerland. An advocate for using the power of music to serve a greater humanitarian purpose, Isabel has organized and performed concerts with ASAP (Advocates for Southeast Asians and the Persecuted) honoring their non-profit service of spreading higher education and implementing healthier and cleaner living conditions for the people of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Whenever she is able to, Isabel travels to Taiwan to collaborate with the Adventist Women’s Ministry and other missionaries to promote the arts. During the 2017-2018 season, Isabel was an inaugural member of the Spark Collective, an ensemble designed to perform new works by current compositional students at the University of South Carolina, and curate and perform interactive concerts for the community. An equally dedicated teacher, Isabel is currently teaching at SUNY Fredonia, Mercyhurst University, Buffalo String Works, and spends her summers on faculty at Point CounterPoint in Vermont. She holds degrees from Juilliard and the University of South Carolina (BM, MM, and DMA). Her teachers include Joseph Lin, Laurie Smukler, and Ari Streisfeld. In her free time, Isabel can be found poring over a good book.Brent Chancellor, conductorRecognized for his energetic podium presence and ability to connect with broad audiences, American conductor Brent Chancellor designs and presents programs that re-imagine how the orchestra connects with people. As founder of the LUX Initiative and recently named the 2023–2024 Conducting Fellow at the Reading Symphony Orchestra, his ambitious vision for concerts and education is establishing him as a distinctive, versatile, and innovative artist and educator with a focus on inclusion, diversity, and access.Brent has performed on some of the New York area’s foremost stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Symphony Space, the DiMenna Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. He has held Music Director positions with the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, Rockland Symphony Orchestra, Rutgers University Sinfonia, and Montclair State University Opera Orchestra, and works with orchestras including the New Jersey Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Festival Napa Valley, and soloists including André Watts, Leon Fleisher, Seong-Jin Cho, Angel Blue, and Lester Lynch.Committed to the voices of diverse and living composers, his programming includes works by 19th-century French female composer Louise Farrenc and contemporary composers Amanda Harberg, Lowell Liebermann, John Corigliano, John Adams, Anna Clyne, and Kaija Saariaho. He has led concerts at the Festival of New American Music, the Festival of the Arts, and NY Fashion Week, as well as premieres with the Helix! New Music Ensemble and Sacramento Experimental Music Group.Equally skilled on the opera podium, Brent began his conducting career assisting Metropolitan Opera conductor Paul Nadler. Since 2008, Brent has worked closely with the International Vocal Arts Institute in Israel, Canada, and New York, collaborating with many notable artists, including Nadine Sierra, Natalie Aroyan, and Oren Gradus, preparing over 20 operas. Hailed by Mignon Dunn as "a real singers’ conductor", Brent studied at the Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, the John J. Cali School of Music, and Rutgers University and holds degrees in composition, piano, and conducting. In 2021, Brent was named a finalist in the Lányi International Conducting Competition. Nicholas J. Taboni, visual artistNicholas J. Taboni is a Buffalo based lighting designer and visual artist. He has designed site specific installations for Lumagination at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens and a window display in collaboration with Sheas and The Arts and Entertainment Workers of WNY. Over the past 2 years, he has gained professional experience working as an Associate Designer under Lynne Koscielniak, as well as having projection and prop design positions at several theatres in the Buffalo, NY region. At his time at UB, Nicholas has not only had extensive design work on department shows, but has also served management roles, served as a mentor to younger designers, and was the graphics intern for the 2022-2023 season working in collaboration with the department marketing team. He looks forward to expanding his theatre knowledge and to continue building his design repertoire over the next few years and is excited for the possibilities that are still to present themselves.

About LUX:

LUX is an immersive orchestra project reimagining the symphonic concert experience. Formed in 2016 by conductor Brent Chancellor, LUX was founded to create a more intimate, accessible, and exciting musical experience for audiences. Described as a "bold, dramatic, visionary musical explosion of light, electronic mash-ups, and uniquely inspired performance art", LUX seeks to present the world’s most dramatic and revolutionary music in an unparalleled and radical style.

Making its debut at the South Next Festival in 2016, the orchestra is comprised of top-level emerging artists from The Juilliard School, the Sphinx Organization, the New World Symphony, and musicians from some of New York’s most prestigious orchestras.

Since its inception, LUX has become a devoted proponent of education, access, and inclusivity, developing collaborative education initiatives in partnership with the South Orange Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Institute, and Grammy® Award-winning artists, including Snarky Puppy violinist Zach Brock, that highlight music and musicians from all backgrounds.