Conductor Nell Flanders to Join The Chelsea Symphony

The Chelsea Symphony, featured in the hit Amazon show Mozart in the Jungle, announces the appointment of conductor Nell Flanders to their conducting staff.

Ms. Flanders takes the podium on October 27 and 28 in her first official concert as TCS conductor, joining the ranks with Matthew Aubin, Reuben Blundell, and Mark Seto in leading concerts throughout the 2017/18 season. Ms. Flanders was chosen from a field of four finalists after a year-long selection process with dozens of candidates.

Every concert by The Chelsea Symphony features soloists, composers, and conductors taken from the ensemble. This is a collective of New York City professional freelancers coming together to create meaningful, self-governed concerts-a unique model in the classical world.

Nell Flanders' conducting credits include performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Chelsea Symphony, Mannes Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall, the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, and the Riverside Orchestra. She served as a cover conductor for JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic during the 2014-15 season and was the assistant conductor at Peabody Opera Theater during 2016-17. An enthusiastic proponent of contemporary music, Ms. Flanders has conducted many orchestral premieres with groups such as Mannes American Composers Ensemble, The Secret Opera Company, Peabody's Now Hear This, and The Chelsea Symphony. In May 2016 she conducted the premiere of Jochem Le Cointre's opera Steppenwolf.

A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory with a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance and a minor in piano performance, Ms. Flanders also received a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from Mannes College of Music. She is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree in orchestral conducting with Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory.

Highlights of The Chelsea Symphony's 2017/18 season include:

- Five World Premieres by emerging New York City composers

- John Luther Adams' Become Ocean at the American Museum of Natural History on Earth Day (April 22, 2018)

- Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 ("Pastoral")

- Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, op. 82

Reserved seating tickets for each concert can be purchased individually for $25. Pay-what-you-wish general admission tickets available at the door.

The Chelsea Symphony, hailed as an "enterprising group of young musicians" by Time Out, upends the traditional hierarchy of the classical orchestra: members rotate as featured soloists, conductors, and composers. The self-governing ensemble aims to be a cultural focus for Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood and to present vibrant concerts of inspiring symphonic music both old and new. In recent years, The Chelsea Symphony has expanded its reach with performances at Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Symphony Space, Bargemusic, the United Palace Theatre, and New York Fashion Week. In December 2014, The Chelsea Symphony performed at Alice Tully Hall for the premiere of the Golden Globe winning Amazon Original Series Mozart in the Jungle. Musicians from the orchestra can also be seen throughout the critically acclaimed series. In the 2016-17 season, The Chelsea Symphony launched an ambitious outreach initiative in collaboration with the New York City Department of Correction, becoming the first orchestra to present programming at Rikers Island Correctional Facility.

Photo Credit: Ann Walsh