Northwest
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©Copyright - Northwest Mahler Festival
2026 Summer Festival Concert Mahler–Symphony No. 3
Tigran Arakelyan–Music Director
Featuring:
Laurel Semerdjian, mezzo soprano
Women’s Chorus with Artistic Director Beth Ann Bonnecroy
Northwest Boychoir with Artistic Director Jacob Winkler
Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026 7:00 pm
Shorewood Performing Arts Center
at Shorewood High School
17300 Fremont Ave. N.
Shoreline, WA 98133
Reading Sessions
Shorewood High School
17300 Fremont Ave. North
Shoreline, WA 98133-5299
All Reading Sessions are from 7-10PM
Tuesday, June 16 – Reading 1 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage
Thursday, June 18 – Reading 2 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage
Tuesday, June 23 – Reading 3 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage
Thursday, June 25 – Reading 4 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage
About the Festival
Since 1995, the NWMF has held open reading sessions each June to explore this literature. Readings are open to all qualified musicians, and draw as more than 100 participants from throughout the Seattle region and beyond. While family and friends are welcome to come and listen, the readings are not performances. Rather, each session is spent exploring a given piece of music for the musical growth and enjoyment of the participants. Readings to date have included the symphonies of Gustav Mahler as well as major works by a range of Romantic and other composers including R Strauss, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Britten, Honegger, Nielsen, Stravinsky, and Szymanowski. The readings have also included sessions devoted to exploring new music for large orchestra by local composers. In addition to allowing local area musicians to experience these works, the reading sessions provide a unique opportunity for local and regional conductors. The NWMF has been privileged to have attracted a number of nationally and internationally known conductors. A list of all past reading sessions and conductors is provided in the past event section.
The NWMF has presented several benefit performances to aid in local and global charities including a recent benefit for Northwest Harvest and a concert to raise relief money for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The Northwest Mahler Festival is free to all musicians and no fees are required for participation. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dependent on donations to help cover expenses, and hope that you will consider supporting the NWMF in its continuing mission by making a donation today.
Board of Directors
Mark Lloyd – President
Shari Muller-Ho – Vice-President
Charlene Utt – Secretary
Emily Parkhurst – Treasurer
Tigran Arakelyan – Music Director
Our mission:
To create an opportunity for orchestral instrumentalists and chorus members in the Northwest to experience first-hand the larger, more difficult orchestral pieces, through readings, performances, workshops, seminars, master classes and other informative means;
To encourage and facilitate relationships between the Northwest’s community, student and professional orchestras and choruses, their organizations and memberships, and the community at large;
To provide an enjoyable and enriching musical experience for all participants.
Tigran Arakelyan is an Armenian-American conductor, executive director, radio host, podcaster and producer. He is the Music Director of Northwest Mahler Festival, ORS of Tacoma and Artistic Director of Port Townsend Symphony. Tigran is also the Executive Director of Music Works Northwest. Previously, he was the assistant conductor of California Philharmonic and made his Walt Disney Concert Hall conducting debut in 2019. Tigran played alongside Sir James Galway during Galway’s induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He received awards from The American Prize in Programming and the Global Music Awards for podcasting.
He held conducting positions with the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, Bellingham Symphony, CSU Northridge Youth Philharmonic, Whidbey Island Orchestra and the Bremerton Youth Symphony. During his tenure as Music Director of Federal Way
Youth Symphony and Bainbridge Youth Orchestras; the organizations reached their highest enrollment, added multiple ensembles, premiered pieces and collaborated with dance companies and choirs. Tigran led the Federal Way Youth Symphony on three tours to South Korea, conducting in Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Daejeon, Gwangju, among other cities.
He conducted regional premieres by renowned composers Paul Hindemith, Keith Jarrett, Jovino Santos Neto, Brenno Blauth, Jeff Manookian and James Cohn. Since 2009, Tigran has taken orchestras to unconventional venues, from bars and cideries to cafes and homeless shelters. He has initiated and is a founder of the Port Townsend Chamber Orchestra, Bainbridge Island String Festival, PTSO Young Artist Competition, Whidbey Competition for Young Composers, Cadence Chamber Orchestra (WA), Youth Orchestra at Lark Musical Society (CA) and numerous scholarship/grant and funding initiatives.
During his time at the University of Washington, he was the conductor of the Campus Philharmonia and the UW Summer Orchestra. Tigran has conducted the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Olympia Chamber Orchestra, numerous youth orchestras in South Korea, Armenian Pops Orchestra, Juneau Symphony, Ballard Civic Orchestra, Bainbridge Symphony, Inverted Space Ensemble, Lark Orchestra (CA), Yakima Symphony Chamber Orchestra and innovative collaborations with the Olympic Performance Group and Olympic Youth Choir.
Tigran is a three time awardee of the Armenian General Benevolent Union Performing Arts Fellowship. He participated in the Conductors Guild Workshop, Pierre Monteux School and Music Festival, Idyllwild Music Festival and Dilijan Chamber Music Series, among others. Tigran conducted in masterclasses with notable conductors David Loebel, Frank Battisti, Donald Thulean, Michael Jinbo and David Effron.
Invited by Maestro Ludovic Morlot, Tigran earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Washington where he was the first student in the inaugural class of David Rahbee and Morlot. His mentors are Victor Vener, John Barcellona, Paul Taub, and Laura Osborn. In his youth he played in the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic Orchestra and attended Lark Musical Society.
Outside of conducting, he was a host and producer of Exploring Music, a radio show on KPTZ (91.9FM). An active podcaster since 2012, he most recently hosted and produced Let’s Talk Off The Podium (140+ episodes). Tigran interviewed winners of Grammy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Fellow, Rome Prize & the Polar Music Prize. Past guests include: Evelyn Glennie, George Walker, Mark O’Connor, Christian McBride, David Harrington (Kronos Quartet), JoAnn Falletta, Richard Stoltzman, Sharon Isbin, Vijay Iyer, Christopher Theofanidis, Yolanda Kondonassis, Roger Bobo, and a long list of others.
Laurel Semerdjian is an American mezzo-soprano of Armenian descent, praised for her “deep, velvety voice” and “enchanting” acting (Pittsburgh in the Round). Recent house debuts include Seattle Opera as Third Lady in The Magic Flute and West Edge Opera as the Witch of Endor in David & Jonathan.
In the 2025–2026 season, Ms. Semerdjian will reprise Third Lady in The Magic Flute with Opera San Antonio (house debut). She will sing Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice with Tacoma Opera, and will debut with Opera Las Vegas as Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri (role debut). She will also participate in a workshop of Claude & Marcel by Alyssa Weinberg and Stephanie Fleischmann with West Edge Opera.
A champion of new and rare works, Ms. Semerdjian recently made her Carnegie Hall debut as the mezzo soloist in Julio Morales’s Xantolo. She has appeared in Derrick Skye’s Song of the Ambassadors at Alice Tully Hall and the 2023 TED Conference, portrayed Asakir in Mohammed Fairouz’s Sumeida’s Song with Pittsburgh Opera, and sang the title role in a workshop of Fairouz’s Bhutto.
In concert, she has appeared with ensembles including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Symphoria of Syracuse, and the Winston-Salem Symphony in repertoire ranging from Mahler and Verdi to Beethoven and Mozart. Ms. Semerdjian is a former Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera and holds degrees from the University of North Texas and the University of Southern California.
Beth Ann Bonnecroy
is in demand as a conductor, singer and teacher of voice. Healthy singing and development of singers’ personal vocal technique are emphasized in the choirs she conducts, and contribute to the free, beautiful sound her choirs achieve. Beth Ann brings diverse experience to the podium. She currently conducts the Seattle Women's Chorus and is on the music staff of Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, conducting the Chancel Choir and Handbell choirs. From 2013 to 2026, she was on the music faculty of Seattle Pacific University, teaching voice and conducting the Treble Choir. She was the long-time conductor of Vivace, the middle-school aged division of the Northwest Girlchoir. She co-founded and, for 13 years, co-conducted the acclaimed Mirinesse Women’s Choir. Also an accomplished soprano, Beth Ann is a frequent recitalist in the Seattle area. She holds a B.Mus degree from St. Olaf College and an MM in voice performance from Arizona State University.
Northwest Boychoir
Celebrated for its musical sophistication, rich tonal quality, and commitment to artistic excellence, the Northwest Boychoir has earned its place among the nation’s premier youth choral ensembles. Over the past 50 years, the Boychoir has trained thousands of young singers, shaping the lives of generations of Pacific Northwest youth through a rigorous education in vocal performance, personal discipline, and the value of teamwork. The Northwest Boychoir maintains a strong and longstanding relationship with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, the ensemble collaborated with the Symphony on the Grammy-nominated recording of Samuel Jones’ The Shoe Bird. The Boychoir is also featured on the Symphony’s 2017 release of works by French composer Olivier Messiaen, earning critical acclaim for their performance of Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine. More recently, the choir has appeared with the Symphony in major works including Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3.
In addition to its symphonic collaborations, the Northwest Boychoir frequently performs with Music of Remembrance and other esteemed local ensembles. With a full concert season each year, the choir is also in high demand for studio recording projects, and has contributed to
numerous soundtracks for film, video games, and theatrical productions.
The Northwest Boychoir proudly serves as the official "Singing Ambassadors" of the State of Washington.