Conductor: Arturo Serna
Praised by critics as a master of drama and mesmerising impetus, Venezuelan / British conductor Arturo Serna holds a dynamic career as a conductor, cellist, teacher and organiser. He is a second-generation from El Sistema in Venezuela and was guided in his beginnings by his mother, who is a violinist member of the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra. He pursued further studies in France, Switzerland and England. He holds a Masters in Conducting with Distinction from the University of Surrey.
A conductor who perfectly captures the mood and also eases the audience through the different emotional states. Arturo is in charge of the Exeter Symphony Orchestra, Dorset County Orchestra and The Orchestra of The University of Bath. In addition, he has conducted many orchestras, choral societies and theatre productions as quality of guest conductor. Some ensembles include Haslemere Music Society, Sherborne Community Orchestra, Yeovil Community Orchestra, Bruton Choral Society, Wincanton Youth Theatre amongst others. He also held the baton as main conductor of the Axe vale Orchestra, Britport Chamber Orchestra, Shaftesbury Symphony Orchestra, Allington Strings & Wessex Strings. He has worked with soloists such as Lionel Handy, Natalie Clein, Hugo Svedberg & Simon Smith, amongst others.
As a cellist, Arturo has performed as chamber musician and soloist across the Americas and Europe and has won many prizes and awards during his career, such as Eversley award, Montague Scholarship, Carigest Award and Special Prize at the Carlos Prieto Latin-American Cello Competition, awarded by the late Maestro Aldo Parisot. Arturo has recorded for television and radio and has collaborated in many recording projects for other musicians and film music over the years.
Arturo has recently been appointed as Cello teacher at the Junior Trinity in London & Dumpton Preparatory in Wimborne. He also teaches at Canford School, Sherborne Girls, King’s Bruton School, and Leweston. Many of his former pupils are now studying at world-class conservatoires and universities or play active roles in the music profession.
Passionate about supporting the new generations of musicians, Arturo is also the Deputy Director of the Cherubim Music Trust, a national charity that loans professional-calibre instruments for five-year periods to advanced music students aged 15 and above, who cannot afford one that matches their ability.
Leader: Bärbel Glaser
Bärbel graduated with a Diploma in Orchestral Music and a Degree in Music Education from the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Academy in Leipzig in the former East Germany. Her teachers came from the Leipzig Radio Orchestra and the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and the Staatskapelle Weimar. She was an extra player for the Leipziger Komödie (Comedy House) and joined the Leipziger Radio Orchestra for several productions. In 1987 she joined the orchestra of the Zwickau Theatre, where she enjoyed playing a variety of music ranging from opera and musicals to symphony concerts, as well as touring through Eastern Europe and Italy with the Zwickau Chamber Orchestra. Since 2000 she has worked as a freelance musician in Dorset and Hampshire and has played with the Dorset County Orchestra, the Dorset Chamber Orchestra and the Wimborne Chamber Orchestra as well as many local choral societies. Since 2016 she is also the leader of the Magna Sinfonia, a Bournemouth and Poole based orchestra. As well as teaching privately and at local schools she enjoys performing chamber music with the Parry String Quartet and solo recitals.