ATLANTIC CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA, INC.
VERO BEACH, FLORIDA

Atlantic Classical Orchestra, Inc. is a 501 (C) 3 organization. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of the Consumer Services by calling toll-free (1.800.435.7352) within the state. Registration does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by the state. Our Mission Since its inaugural season in 1989, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra’s mission has been to present classical music performances of the highest possible artistic level while encouraging and cultivating the appreciation of classical symphonic music by offering enriching, educational, and accessible musical experiences to Treasure Coast & Palm Beach County residents. Now, on its 28th season, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra continues to broaden its outreach as a primary cultural resource throughout the Treasure Coast & Palm Beach County area. The Atlantic Classical Orchestra’s Education Outreach Program seeks to foster the appreciation, cultivation and support of classical music performances and classical music by engaging with the community’s local schools and educational music programs. The orchestra’s main focus derives from its mission statement which seeks to offer “enriching, educational, and accessible musical experiences to Treasure Coast & Palm Beach County residents.”  As a cultural organization, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra understands the impact music has in the lives of children, young adults, professionals, families and retired adults. Therefore, for the 2017-2018 season, the ACO’s Educational Outreach projects include: The Rappaport Prize for Music Composition is a grant awarded to the Atlantic Classical Orchestra from the Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation in 2013. The mission of the Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation is to promote emerging and promising leaders in public policy, science and the arts. Consistent with that mission, the principal goal of The Rappaport Prize for Music Composition is to promote and recognize some of America’s emerging and most promising composers. Rappaport Prize Winners for The Commission Project: a “thoughtful and mature composer” by NPR, and “ferociously talented” by TimeOut New York. In June of 2011, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the Department of Education named Tao a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts awarded him a YoungArts gold medal in music. Later that year, Tao was named a Gilmore Young Artist, an honor awarded every two years highlighting the most promising American pianists of the new generation. In May of 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. . Commissioned in observance of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the work was described by the as “shapely and powerful.” Most recently, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia commissioned a new work for piano, orchestra, and electronics, Described as “absolutely beautiful” and “utterly satisfying” (Fanfare), Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian’s works have been commissioned and performed by major orchestras in the United States and abroad, including the Cincinnati Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Hong Kong Philharmonic, and by leading chamber ensembles and soloists such as pianist Yuja Wang, violist Roberto Díaz, guitarist Jason Vieaux, the Eroica Trio, the Arditti, Dover, and Biava string quartets, the Empire Brass, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, violinists Soovin Kim, Susie Park, and flutist Jeffrey Khaner. His music has been performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. He has served as composer-in-residence with the Green Bay Symphony and Chicago’s Music In the Loft Concert Series, and his works have been recorded on Cedille, Innova, and Pacific records. Zhou holds music degrees from Curtis Institute (B.M.), Juilliard School (M.M.), and University of Southern California (D.M.A.), is a first-prize winner of 2009 Washington Intl. Composers Competition and the ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Art Song Competition, and held composition fellowships from Tanglewood Music Center and Aspen Music Festival. His composition teachers have included Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Rouse, Richard Danielpour, Stephen Hartke, and Donald Crockett. He joined the music faculty at Colgate University in 2011. Visit Patrick currently studies with Michael Daugherty. Past teachers include Bright Sheng, Evan Chambers, Lesley Sommer, Bruce Hamilton and Roger Briggs. His music has been performed by Alarm Will Sound, The St. Louis Symphony, Evita Quartet, Calgary Philharmonic, and Cabrillo festival orchestra among others. His newest work (after River of Doubt) has been commissioned by the Caramoor Festival to be premiered by the Calidore String Quartet in July 2015. Jeffrey Parola, is an American concert music composer of choral, vocal, chamber, and large ensemble works. His compositions reflect a constantly evolving style and eclectic range of influences. Jeffrey’s music has been presented by institutions such as the National Collegiate Choral Organization and the Oregon Bach Festival, by instrumental ensembles such as the What’s Next? Ensemble, the Detour New Music Ensemble, the American Creators Ensemble, the USC Scholarship Brass, the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, and the SFCM New Music Ensemble, by choruses such as Choral Chameleon, the Ateneo Chamber Singers, and the San Francisco State Chamber Singers, and by conductors such as Vance George, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Andrew Mogrelia, Nicole Paiement, and Jonathan Velasco. Awards include the 2012 EAMA Prize, Jim Highsmith Orchestral Composition Prize, honorable mention for the 2009 EAMA Prize, and 1st place prize for the SFCM Art Song Composition Competition. Jeffrey recently completed his Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra, commissioned by the Florida-based Atlantic Classical Orchestra (ACO), which will be premiered in March of 2014 by the ACO and clarinetist Paul Green, conducted by Stewart Robertson.