Brandon Garbot, 16, a sophomore at Southridge High School (Portland, Oregon), will perform Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Since 2008, he has soloed with five orchestras, including the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Columbia Symphony, and the Olympia Symphony Orchestra.
Brandon, a student of Clarisse Atcherson, began playing at age seven. He attended the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina in summer 2008 and 2009, twice winning their concerto competition and studying with David Salness and William Preucil. He received a Young Artist Fellowship with Chamber Music Northwest, and was chosen as a Young Artist for the Starling-Delay Violin Symposium at Juilliard. He was a member of the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) for six years, serving as concertmaster for three. He twice won the PYP Concerto Competition, won the Oregon ASTA Concerto Competition and was a finalist in the 2009 ASTA National Solo Competition. He has appeared on NPR’s program From the Top.
Brandon has participated in 14 master classes with violinists including Andres Cardenes, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Paul Kantor, Steven Clapp, Leila Josefowicz, and Elmar Oliveira, and he has had extended studies with violinists Kevin Lawrence, Theodore Arm, and conductor Mei-Ann Chen.
Next May, Brandon will perform Ernest Bloch’s Baal Shem Suite. with the Portland Chamber Orchestra.