WEST BARNSTABLE, MA—January 10, 2025
Cape Symphony Music Director Candidate Darko Butorac will conduct
The Cape Symphony Orchestra will present “Passport to Rome,” the third concert of its 2024/25 Masterpiece series, on January 25 & 26 at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center. The program includes masterworks by Gioachino Rossini, Antonio Vivaldi, and Ottorino Respighi, and will be conducted by Darko Butorac. Cape Symphony Orchestra principal musicians will be featured soloists.
This season’s Masterpiece performances are each led by a candidate for the Music Director position at Cape Symphony. The repertoire features warhorses from the Western canon chosen to showcase the talent and skill of these fine conductors. “Passport to Rome” will include Rossini’s Overture to La Gazza Ladra, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Oboe & Bassoon and Concerto for Two Cellos, and Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome.
Mr. Butorac, a conductor renowned for his passion, elegance, and pacing, is in demand with orchestras across Europe and the Americas. He currently serves as Music Director of the Asheville Symphony and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with soprano Renee Fleming, pianists Garrik Ohlsson and John Kimura Parker, tenor Lawrence Brownlee, cellist Colin Carr, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and Oscar®-winning actor J.K. Simmons, among others. His TEDxUMontana talk, The Language of Conducting, has over 196,000 views on YouTube.
Four Cape Symphony Orchestra musicians will perform Vivaldi’s concertos as featured artists:
Principal Oboist Jillian Honn also holds Principal positions with Pegasus: the Orchestra, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, and formerly with The Syracuse Orchestra. An avid soloist and chamber musician with a passion for new music, she is Operations Manager for the New York City-based ensemble Contemporaneous.
Meryl Summers, Principal Bassoonist, also performs with premier ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra. She has performed with the National Repertory Orchestra and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, at Tanglewood Music Center, and in Asia, Europe, and across South America.
Jacques Lee Wood, Principal Cellist, co-founded period chamber ensemble Antico Moderno, cello-guitar duo StringLab, and bluegrass band Cathedral Parkway. He is a member of the Pedroia String Quartet and musiConnects’ Sumner Quartet, and frequently performs with A Far Cry, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and the Handel and Haydn Society.
Assistant Principal Cellist Velléda Miragias is also Associate Principal with the Boston Philharmonic. She performs with the Handel and Haydn Society, the Grammy-winning Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and others.
Cape Symphony welcomes audience involvement in its Music Director search. The public may observe Darko Butorac in rehearsal with the Orchestra from 6:30 – 8:30 PM on Thursday, January 23, 2025 at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center. “Passport to Rome” ticketholders are invited to get to know him at a Q&A session led by Assistant Conductor Joe Marchio beginning one hour before each performance and will be encouraged to convey their thoughts through a survey to be emailed the following week.
“Passport to Rome” will be performed Saturday, January 25 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, January 26 at 3:00 PM at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center, 744 West Main Street, Hyannis. For tickets, visit capesymphony.org, call the Cape Symphony Box Office at 508.362.1111, email
Media Contact:
Susan Sundermeyer, Marketing & Public Relations Coordinator
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About Cape Symphony
At Cape Symphony, our mission is to Inspire Joy. We do this through outstanding entertainment and educational programs. The Cape Symphony Orchestra performs at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center in Hyannis. From popular hits to magnificent classics, the emphasis is always on beautiful music. “Cape Symphony Presents” programming brings world-class artists of a wide variety of genres to intimate venues across the Cape. Cape Symphony offers music education for all ages through private instrumental and voice lessons, group music classes, ensembles, dance instruction, and art classes at our West Barnstable and Falmouth campuses. Cape Symphony Preschool is acclaimed for its arts-infused curriculum and holistic approach to learning. Visit www.capesymphony.org for more information.
