Maestro Enrico Leide (1887-1970)
Principal Conductor and Founder of Atlanta's First Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1920.
For more information on the amazing life of Enrico Leide click here
Dahlan R.L. Foah
Principal Conductor &
Music Director
Mr. Foah is the Founder of Visioneering® International, Inc. He has combined his talents in music and the visual arts with a prescient ability to work with emerging technologies, to become one of the founding members of the audiovisual/multimedia industry. As the principle audiovisual consultant to the United Nations for almost 40 years, Mr. Foah brought a powerful artistic sensibility combined with financial management skills to exhibitions, Visitors’ Centers and World Fair pavilions as well as many productions and installations for corporate clients.
He is Executive Producer and Music Director of RECOMBINANTDNA® – a series of seven Frequency Operas®. The World Premiere of the first, The Birth of Color, was an official selection of the Budapest Arts Festival, Budapest, Hungary.
He is producer and music director for Creativity in Captivity® a series of dramatic and musical performances of music written by those while in the concentration and internment camps of
World War II.
Currently Mr. Foah is Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Atlanta Musicians’ Orchestra, a community orchestra. He has grown the orchestra from a handful of musicians to over 40 in his tenure. Mr. Foah also conducts MusicAAtlanta®, a professional orchestra.
Lucas Richman
Composer
Mr. Richman has served as Music Director for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra since 2010 and has recently completed a 12-year tenure as Music Director for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Richman received a GRAMMY Award (2011) in the category of Best Classical Crossover Album for having conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Christopher Tin’s classical/world fusion album, Calling All Dawns. He has appeared as guest conductor with numerous orchestras around the world.
In November, 2009, as the result of an NEA commission, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra premiered his Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant. September, 2015, brought the now critically-acclaimed Albany Records release of a new CD, IN TRUTH Lucas Richman, which features the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performing his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra: In Truth (Jeffrey Biegel, piano), in addition to his Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra: The Clearing (Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida, oboe) and Three Pieces for Cello and Orchestra (Inbal Segev, cello).
Honora Foà
Master of Ceremonies
Honora Foà is the President and Creative Director of Mythic Imagination Institute™ and Creative Director of Visioneering® International, Inc. A pioneer of multi-disciplinary art, Ms Foà’s New York based dance theatre company incorporated movement, voice, music, food, art installation and projection. The company was a grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts. After 10 years with the company, Ms Foà began studies in Waldorf Education helping to found 3 schools.
She was the chief producer and designer for 2 World Expo Pavilions for the United Nations, in Italy and Korea. Other notable design projects include work for the Hayden Planetarium, Fernbank Science Center and several children’s hospitals.
Myth and mythic imagination have always been an important part of her work and life. Currently, her main concentration is on the Mythic Imagination project Creativity in Captivity® and her own performance cycle, RECOMBINANTDNA®.
Kenn Wagner
Violin
Kenn Wagner has been a first violinist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 1995, and has also served as acting assistant concertmaster of the ASO for one season.
Wagner is a graduate of Indiana University where he trained with Joseph Gingold, former Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra. Before completing his undergraduate degree at Indiana University, Wagner won a position with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, with coaching from Vernon Summers of the National Symphony and former Concertmaster of both Atlanta and National Symphonies, William Steck.
Wagner is currently on faculty at both Kennesaw State University and Morehouse College.
David Schepps
Cello
Cello professor at the University of New Mexico since 1999, Schepps' career includes concerti in the US and abroad. He has performed solo and chamber NPR broadcasts, recitals at NY's Lincoln Center Library, Washington DC's Phillips Collection, concerts with the Parker (Grammy winners) and La Catrina string quartets. He is a member of the Grand Teton Festival, NM Philharmonic, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and Principal of Opera Southwest. An international master class teacher, he studied at New York's Mannes and Manhattan schools of music, AZ State University (DMA; thesis on Fournier's interpretations of Beethoven), Banff Centre and the Yale/Norfolk chamber festival.
Nirav Patel
Cello
Nirav Patel is an accomplished cellist with over 30 years’ experience as orchestral musician, chamber musician, and soloist spanning both coasts.
As a freshman he gave a solo recital and quickly became Principal Cellist of the Princeton University Orchestra and toured the U.K. and Spain. Through Princeton’s Program in Musical Performance, he was featured in masterclasses with the Brentano String Quartet, Isidore Cohen (Beaux Arts Trio), and The Nash Ensemble of London. He also performed solo for New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman.
As Principal Cellist for the Rochester Medical Orchestra and cellist with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, he was invited to perform with the Sacramento Philharmonic and UC Davis Symphony. In Birmingham, Alabama, he was Principal Cellist for the Red Mountain Chamber Orchestra and UAB Concert Choir, and member of the Samford Orchestra.
Mr. Patel now serves as Principal Cellist for the AMO and also performs with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra.
Megan Reader
Soprano
Megan Reader sang with “simplicity and charm” (The Boston Globe) in her Boston Symphony Hall debut of Haydn’s Creation. Ms. Reader gave her international debut as “Die Königin der Nacht” at the Amalfi Music Festival in Italy.
Megan began singing with the Atlanta Opera Chorus in 2008, where she made her solo debut as a “Daughter” in Philip Glass’ Akhnaten.
Her performed roles include: “Adina” in L’Elisir d’Amore with New Rochelle Opera, “Valencienne” in The Merry Widow with Capitol City Opera, “Cunegonde” in Candide with Georgia TAG, Vera in Hoiby’s A Month in the Country, “Lady with a Handmirror” in Argento’s Postcard from Morocco with Boston University’s Opera Institute, and “Susanna” in Le Nozze di Figaro with L’Orchestra da Camera Boston.
Most recently, she tried on the role of "Mimi" from La Boheme in Capital City Opera's Dinner and a Diva series. Megan lives in the metro-Atlanta area with her two young children and a new husband, who keep her on her toes and bring immeasurable joy to her life.
Michael Vavases
Tenor
Michael Vavases is a native of North Georgia and Alumnus of Reinhardt University with a degree in Vocal Performance. He has performed previously with Peach State Opera in the 2019-2020 production of Carmen as the dishonorable and sleepy smuggler, Remendado. He has also performed as Romeo in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette with Capitol City Opera in Atlanta.
Other performances include Quasimodo in the musical adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, chorus with the Atlanta Opera in their productions of La Cenerentola and Pagliacci, and featured chorus in the Atlanta Opera’s Christmas Extravaganza.
Past performances with Reinhardt University’s Opera Theater include Sam Polk in Floyd’s Susannah and Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. He has also performed in various scenes as the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Si Parla, Si Canta in Urbania, Italy.
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Manoah Leide-Tedesco
(Also Known As "Tranquillo")
Manoah Leide-Tedesco (1894-1982), younger brother of Enrico Leide, was born in Sinigaglia, Italy, but grew up in Naples.
Educated at the University of Naples, Leide-Tedesco did his post graduate studies in Czechoslovakia (1925–1931), receiving his Doctorate in Philology and Sociology.
From 1922-1935 Leide-Tedesco conducted many of the leading symphony orchestras of Central Europe including the Philharmonics of Prague, Vienna and Pressburg.
Leide-Tedesco conducted the
New Chamber Symphony of New York City from 1932-1935. The first performances of his own compositions were broadcast during this time over the NBC chain from Rockefeller Center.In 1952 Rafael Kubelik conducted the first Chicago Symphony Orchestra
performance of Leide-Tedesco's For Harvest Time, Prelude of Dances.
Leide-Tedesco first visited the United States in 1912 and became a U.S. citizen in 1932. Between 1935 and 1945, he served with the United States Government where he was Chairman of Cultural Programs for the Office of Education. He also held positions with the United States Department of State and the Institute of International Understanding. He lectured widely in the United States and Latin America and campaigned for fairer immigration laws and better integration of new immigrants.
The Atlanta Musicians’ Orchestra was originally founded in 1999, and at the time, was known as the Atlanta Lawyers' Orchestra. It was modeled after established lawyer’s orchestras in New York, Boston and Chicago, and was created to bring together instrumentalists from the legal field to share their love of music.
Today, the AMO is led by Maestro Dahlan Robert Foah, who has done a tremendous job of increasing both the musical quality of the orchestra and the membership. The AMO perform six concerts a year, aiming to bring high quality music to the community and be an approachable ambassador to introduce new audiences to timeless classics.
Our roster today includes over 50 musicians from a variety of professional backgrounds. New members are welcome, and there are no auditions required. The orchestra is growing in scope and in skill, and in the next several years is planning several milestone performances while working to improve its supporter base. We hope you will continue to enjoy great music with us!