Sunday March 21, 2027 3:00 pm
Gonzalo Grau “Odisea” concerto for cuatro and Orchestra, Jorge Glen – Soloist
Spanish and Latin American inspired concert
PROGRAM BOOK
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
- Jorge Glen
- Francisco Noya
- Ken Yanagisawa
Jorge Glen
Jorge Glem, a Latin Grammy winner and Grammy nominee, is a virtuoso of the Venezuelan cuatro, mandolinist, and producer — celebrated as one of Venezuela’s most treasured and innovative musical figures. Hailing from Cumaná, Venezuela and now based in the U.S., he has devoted his life to sharing the cuatro with the world and redefining its place in global music.
His extraordinary talent and sense of purpose have led him to perform solo concertos for cuatro with acclaimed conductor Gustavo Dudamel and world-renowned orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. Notably, his performance with the Simón Bolívar Symphony at the Edinburgh International Festival received an exceptional standing ovation, as did his other appearances.
In January 2025, Glem completed a European tour with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. His most recent appearance with Dudamel followed months later, during the New York Philharmonic’s summer series across New York City.
That series also marked Glem’s official debut with the New York Philharmonic, as he performed across four of the city’s five boroughs alongside the acclaimed conductor. This milestone marked not only a career highlight but also a new chapter in his mission to share the cuatro with broader audiences in the U.S.
In September 2022, he joined celebrated multiple Grammy-winning composer and pianist Jon Batiste as part of his ensemble for the sold-out American Symphony concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Glem has shared the stage with globally recognized artists including Paquito D’Rivera, Jordan Rudess, Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, Calle 13, Natalia Lafourcade, Gaby Moreno, Guaco, Desorden Público, Ensamble Gurrufío, Gualberto Ibarreto, Sofía Rei, Etienne Charles, and many more. Through these collaborations, he has fused the cuatro into genres ranging from jazz, salsa, and bluegrass to rock and pop.
In 2017, as part of his mission to raise awareness for the cuatro, Glem launched the social media movement #4CuatroMusic, which surpassed 1,000 posts in just three weeks. For Glem, the cuatro is far more than an instrument — it’s a vital part of his identity and a vehicle for his global artistic voice.
He is a founding member of the renowned group C4 Trío, winners of the Latin Grammy for the album Tembla, created in collaboration with Brazilian mandolin virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda. In 2020, C4 Trío was nominated for a U.S. Grammy for the album Tiempo al Tiempo, produced with acclaimed Nicaraguan salsa artist Luis Enrique. This nomination came after the group earned their second Latin Grammy — awarded in 2019 for Best Folk Album for the same project.
Jorge Glem has also been honored with awards such as El Silbón de Oro, Siembra del Cuatro, and three Pepsi Music Awards for his album En El Cerrito. With three solo albums under his belt,
he is currently collaborating with American accordionist Sam Reider, whose work blends jazz, bluegrass, and world music. Their joint album, Brooklyn-Cumaná, received a Latin Grammy nomination in 2023 for Best Instrumental Album.
He also performs in a duo with Cuban-Venezuelan pianist, composer, and arranger César Orozco, with whom he released the acclaimed 2019 album Stringwise.
Glem has participated in over 200 musical productions and continues to tour across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. He looks forward to many more collaborations that spotlight the iconic Venezuelan cuatro.
Francisco Noya
Francisco Noya is a prominent figure in the Boston and New England music scene, where he has earned a reputation as a versatile interpreter of symphonic and operatic literature. He served as music director of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra in Boston and Symphony by the Sea in Manchester. Mr. Noya currently serves as resident conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, where he represents the Philharmonic artistically and educationally throughout the Rhode Island community. He is also the music director of the New Philharmonia Orchestra in Newton, MA.
Noya is also a respected member of the conducting faculty of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In the fall of 2008, he began his tenure as music director of the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra, where he is actively engaged in the exploration of cutting-edge orchestral repertoire.
Noya began his professional career in his native Venezuela, as conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Valencia, one of the original ensembles of “El Sistema.” After earning advanced degrees in composition and conducting from Boston University, Noya was appointed to serve as assistant conductor of the Caracas Philharmonic and assistant to the music director of the Teatro Teresa Carreño, one of the most prestigious theaters in Latin America. Noya continued his conducting career in the United States by serving as music director of the Empire State Youth Orchestra in Albany, New York for ten seasons. During his tenure, he led the group on two European tours as well as in concerts at both Carnegie Hall in New York City and in Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood.
In the U.S., Noya has appeared as guest conductor of the Boston Pops, Baltimore, Nashville, San Antonio, and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, and the Cape Cod Symphony, among others. In addition, he has performed internationally with orchestras in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and Russia. In Venezuela, Noya has collaborated with “El Sistema,” teaching Master Classes and conducting orchestral performances throughout the country. For the past three seasons, Noya has been a guest conductor with the Orquesta Académica of Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
Ken Yanagisawa
Japanese-American conductor Ken Yanagisawa is the Music Director of the Boston Opera Collaborative and the Boston Annex Players, the Associate Conductor of the Boston Civic Symphony, the Assistant Conductor of the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music. He made his Japanese debut conducting Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Kansai Nikikai and the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra in February 2023 and will return in Fall 2026 to conduct Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito. A 2024 Aspen Conducting Academy Fellow and James Conlon Conductor Prize recipient, Ken has previously served as a Conducting Apprentice with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has assisted/covered the National Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Berlin Academy of American Music, and Berlin Opernfest, among others.
Ken recently completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting at Boston University under the guidance of James Burton and also holds graduate degrees in conducting from the Manhattan School of Music and a B.A. in music from Yale University. Prior to Yale he attended the New England Conservatory as an Undergraduate Diploma candidate for Oboe Performance under the tutelage of John Ferrillo. His other teachers include George Manahan, William Lumpkin, Bernard Labadie, and Tatsuya Shimono. In masterclasses and festivals, he has been taught by renowned artists and pedagogues such as Robert Spano, Leonard Slatkin, Mark Stringer, Dame Jane Glover, Gerard Schwarz, and Jorma Panula. He is deeply grateful for all the excellent guidance and mentorship he has received thus far in his life as a musician.