Northwest
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©Copyright - Northwest Mahler Festival
2025 Summer Festival Concert Mahler–Symphony No. 10
Tigran Arakelyan–Music Director
Also featuring:
Jean Sibelius — Valse Triste
Alexander Borodin — Ballet music from the opera “Prince Igor”
John Falskow — Conductor
Saturday, July 26, 2025 7:30pm
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
Monday, June 16 – Reading 1 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage
Nielsen Symphony No.3
Laura Loge, Soprano
Kevin Helppie Baritone
Marcin Pączkowski, Conductor
Thursday, June 19 – Reading 2 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage
Mussorgsky, Night on Bald Mountain (Rimsy-Korsakov arrangement)
Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition
Tigran Arakelyan, Conductor
Monday, June 23 – Reading 3 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage
Stravinsky, The Firebird (1919 version)
Paula Nava Madrigal, Conductor
Wednesday, June 25 – Reading 4 Shorewood Performing Arts Stage.
Tchaikovsky, Manfred Symphony
Joseph P. Scott, Conductor
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
Martha Lipscomb – Treasurer
Tigran Arakelyan – Music Director
Emily Parkhurst
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.
Dr. John Falskow is Director of Instrumental Music at Tacoma Community College, where he also has served as Chair of the Music Department and as the Dean of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Division. As a tenured professor of music, and director of instrumental music - John conducts the TCC Orchestra, TCC Symphonic Band, and teaches a wide variety of classes in the college music curriculum. In addition to duties at TCC, John is the conductor of the Seattle Wind Symphony, Puget Sound Youth Wind Ensemble, and Brass Band Tacoma. Falskow is an active conductor, music educator, and trumpeter in the Northwest region.
John’s connection to the trumpet and brass instrument family has influenced his activities. For nine years John was the conductor of PugetBrass – a Seattle based British brass band. For most of the last 21 years John has conducted Brass Unlimited – a 15 piece brass and percussion ensemble. John has also guest conducted with many brass ensembles and brass bands in the Pacific Northwest. In March 2018, John was the featured guest conductor and clinician at the Northwest Brass Festival. In the fall of 2018, John founded Brass Band Tacoma – a British style brass band based in Tacoma. As a cornet player, John performed with Kansas City’s Fountain City Brass Band when they won the 2016 North American Brass Band Championships.
As a guest conductor, John has made numerous appearances, including: Washington Wind Symphony, Tacoma Concert Band, Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra, Bremerton Symphony, Tacoma Youth Symphony Association, Tallahassee Youth Symphony, the Big Bend Community Orchestra, and at the Evergreen Music Festival. John has also worked with countless school ensembles throughout the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest, as a clinician and adjudicator.
Prior to these activities, John served as an Assistant Professor of Music at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. He was also the band director at Mason Middle School, in Tacoma. John has degrees from Florida State University (Ph.D.), University of Puget Sound (M.A.T.), and Washington State University (BA in Music). Key people in John’s education include Gerald Webster (WSU trumpet), Clifford Madsen (FSU Music Education), and James Croft (FSU Director of Bands).
John has lots of interests beyond music. He loves to cook for family and friends, and is known for: improvised recipes, great BBQ pulled pork, and generous bartending skills. He also loves hiking with his family and friends, fly-fishing on Puget Sound, and geeking out over music technology and hip-hop history.
John and his his wife, clarinetist Dr. Cindy Renander have a happy and busy house with three children.
Stephen Bryant, concertmaster
Stephen Bryant is a native Californian beginning his professional music career in the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He has held the position of Principal Second Violin in the Edmonton Symphony, Sydney Symphony and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras. He was also a member of the violin section in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
Stephen has been a member of the Seattle Symphony since 2002, and has played many recording sessions, chamber concerts, video games and various shows at the Paramount Theatre since moving to the Pacific Northwest.
Steve will celebrate his 41st Grand Canyon string quartet river trip in 2024.
Joseph P. Scott
Joseph P. Scott (he/him) serves as Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music at Pierce College. In this position, Joseph conducts the Pierce College Concert Band and Orchestra and teaches courses in music theory. Prior to this appointment, Joseph taught at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, WA where he directed the Wind Ensemble and taught courses in music education and music theory. While in his first year on faculty at SMU, Joseph was nominated for Faculty of the Year (2022-2023) for “excellence in teaching, high standards and rigor in the classroom, high expectations for student performance, and high level of empathy and concern for student growth and development.” Joseph serveas conductor of the College of the Holy Cross Orchestra & Wind Ensemble and assistant conductor of the University of Maryland’s Wind Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. Joseph served as music director and conductor of the Maryland Community Band based in College Park, MD. Joseph was recently a guest conductor with the University of Maryland Repertoire Orchestra and frequently serves as a guest conductor and adjudicator in Washington, California, Maryland and internationally for solo and large ensemble festivals, as well as honor bands. Before starting at the University of Maryland, Joseph was the Director of Instrumental Music at Clayton Valley Charter High School in Concord, California, where he was responsible for conducting the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Marching Band, as well as instructing Advanced Placement Music Theory. Joseph also taught at Mount St. Mary’s University where he directed the Pep Band and was a guest conductor of the wind ensemble.Dr. Scott’s research on 20th-century composers Arthur Meulemans and Paul Hindemith have recently received international recognition, with conference presentations at the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) in Prague, Czech Republic and the International Conference on Wind Music (IGEB) in Bolzano, Italy in 2022 and Valencia, Spain in 2024. Joseph’s article “Exploring the Harmonic Wedge” was published in the peer-reviewed journal Estudios bandisticos in 2020. Joseph has also presented at both national and regional College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) conferences in Atlanta, Georgia and Baltimore, Maryland.
In 2019, the American Prize selected Joseph as the Ernst Bacon Award Honorable Mention for his performance of Adolphus Hailstork’s American Guernica. This award “recognizes and rewards the best performances of American music by ensemble and individual artists worldwide…”. Joseph was selected as a semi-finalist for the 2019 American Prize in wind conducting and was also selected as a semi-finalist in 2018. Joseph was a tier one conductor for the 2017 Frederick Fennell Memorial Conducting
Masterclass at the Eastman School of Music where he worked with Mark Scatterday, Donald Hunsberger, and Craig Kirchhoff. Other conducting teachers include David Neely, Jose Luis Novo, James Ross, and Matthew Hall.
Joseph completed a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Masters of Music in conducting from the University of Maryland where he was a student of Michael Votta. Joseph earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Oregon where he studied with Dr. Wayne Bennett and Robert Ponto. While at the University of Oregon, Joseph was a founding member of the university’s chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi. After graduating, he returned to San Francisco where he received his teaching credential from San Francisco State University. During his time
at SFSU, Joseph was on staff at the Ruth Asawa
School of the Arts where he conducted the Concert Band and taught Music Theory and Survey classes.
Joseph is a member of the College Band Directors National Association and the National Association for
Music Education. He served for three years as a board member of the California Music Educators
Association-Bay Section.
While in the Bay Area, Joseph kept an active schedule playing the clarinet, performing with the Contra
Costa Chamber Orchestra, Chabot Wind Symphony, Golden Gate Park Band, and the San Francisco Wind
Ensemble, which performed at the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in 2015 and
recorded its inaugural CD at Skywalker Ranch in 2014.
Marcin Pączkowski
Marcin Pączkowski [pawnch-`koavz-kee] is a composer, conductor, digital artist, and performer, working with both traditional and electronic media. He is the music director of the Evergreen Community Orchestra and collaborates with numerous ensembles, including Inverted Space, Vivat Musica, and Seattle Modern Orchestra.As a composer, he focuses on developing new ways of creating and performing computer music. His works involving real-time gestural control using accelerometers have been performed worldwide.
He has received grants and commissions from the Seattle Symphony, eScience Institute, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and the Polish Institute of Music and Dance. He received his Ph.D. in Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He also holds Master’s degrees from the Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland, and the University of Washington.
Paula Madrigal
Paula Madrigal is a Mexican-American conductor who has studied music and education in Mexico, Spain, and the U.S. While pursuing her career goals as a conductor, she was a disciple of some of the most important Mexican conductors- Guillermo Salvador and Enrique Arturo Dimecke. Ms. Madrigal holds a bachelor's degree in cello performance from the University of Guadalajara and a Masters Degree from the Universidade Autonoma of Guadalajara.
She is passionate about classical music and Latino culture. As a cellist, teaching artist, and conductor, she has created and participated in numerous projects, providing classical music experiences that promote inclusion and intercultural understanding in Mexico and in the U.S.
She founded the Seattle World Youth Orchestra program for talented youth in the Seattle area in 2014. Since 2019, she has served as Artistic Director of Orquesta Northwest, which she also co-founded; their programs include the Latino Chamber Music Festival, Ballard Civic Orchestra, North Seattle Mariachi, World Youth Orchestra, Cascade Conducting, and Cascade Composing.
She has received multiple grants and awards from the Office of Arts & Culture in Seattle, Univision, the Latino Community Fund, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the conductors Opera America award for the Opera Frida.
Ms. Madrigal served for multiple years in the Seattle Music Commission. In 2021, she joined Seattle Opera in its Creation Lab, where she premiered nine new works. At Seattle Opera, she premiered the first chamber opera composed by a black composer.
Her music is charged with the lively Latino culture. The art that she works with is a complete experience for the audience. With this, she aims to create a profound social impact. She has a deep interest in making music that affects consciousness and explores a mixture of traditions with the modernity of technology and new ideas. Her art expresses the relationship between her Mexican heritage and her American everyday life. As an artist expressing ideas, social justice and the value of excellence is her goal. Her repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporánean, including choral works and Latin music. She currently is conducting the chamber opera Blood Dawn of the Inti Sun.