GUEST CONDUCTOR - ALEXANDER FOKKENS

Alexander Fokkens’ extensive experience, both local and international, his professionalism, and his intense passion for music have led to him becoming one of the most sought-after conductors in South Africa. He has spent the last 20 years exploring ways to make music with people from all walks of life and a variety of backgrounds.

His conducting has seen him on many different podiums ranging from those in front of professional orchestras all over the world to string ensembles made up of 12 year old musicians. In each and every performance, residency or workshop, he strives to achieve his goal of creating a sense of community in the music making and engaging the souls of the performers in the final performance. People find the answers that they seek in life in the music that they experience, be it playing or listening. He believes that as an artist, it is his responsibility to help people on their individual journeys to find their answers.

After returning to South Africa from the USA in 2005, Alexander was involved in many different areas of classical music in South Africa , and held a number of posts including Artistic Director and CEO of the Free State Symphony Orchestra, conductor of the Free State Youth Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Symphony Choir of Cape Town, Music Director and Conductor of the University of Cape Town String Ensemble and Symphonic Band and Resident Conductor of the University of Cape Town Symphony Orchestra.

Graduating from the University of Cape Town in 1998 with a BMus in Orchestral Studies (Double Bass), Alexander then went to America and furthered his studies at Texas Christian University, where he obtained his Masters in Double Bass performance and completed 3 years of Studies in Theory and Conducting.

Mr. Fokkens is currently the Music Department Chair and Conductor of Ensembles at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.

Soprano Laura Levoir completed her undergraduate degree at the Juilliard School in New York City where she made her recital debut at Alice Tully Hall, performed the role of Contessa in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, and toured the U.S. and Europe with Juilliard415. She graduated with her Master of Music degree from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, where she was the soprano soloist in John Rutter's Requiem and in operatic scenes as Ann Trulove (The Rake's Progress), Blanche de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro). Dr. LeVoir recently received her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with specializations in voice performance, pedagogy, and Polish song.

While in Cincinnati, she performed as a soloist with Collegium Cincinnati and Cincinnati Song Initiative, and she gave the North American Premiere of Sixten’s Johannespassionen and did a recording of an English translation of the same work. residing in Minnesota, Dr. LeVoir is an in-demand performer as the resident soprano soloist for the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale and frequently performs locally and nationally with renowned companies such as Minnesota Opera and Theater Latté Da.

Mezzosoprano Emily Ball is currently a student at Calhoun Community College, preparing to ultimately pursue a degree in Music Education. She graduated from Sparkman High School in 2023 and while at Calhoun, studies voice with Granville Oldham. Emily placed first in her category at Trumbauer as a sophomore in 2022. Her most recent role was that of Asaka, Mother Earth in Sparkman High School’s production of “Once on this Island” in 2024. She can occasionally be seen singing the National Anthem for a few Saddle Clubs on Saturdays around Alabama, and then hopping on her horse to compete just minutes later. In recent years, she has placed at the state-wide horse shows, as well as earning herself a handful of high-point buckles every year since 2017. Performing musically has been a passion of Emily’s since she could carry a tune, and she is excited about the opportunity to sing with Decatur Orchestra Sul Ponticello.

Tenor Camron Gray is a native of Winchester, Tennessee who has performed solo recitals, concert repertoire, and opera across the United States since 2010. As a soloist in recent years audiences have heard Mr. Gray at Michigan Opera Theatre as Police Buddy #1 in Blue (a role Mr. Gray originated at The Glimmerglass Festival in 2019), Opera Naples as Scalia In Scalia/Ginsburg (2020), and The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème. Mr. Gray has been awarded and recognized with various scholarships such as being a District Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2018) and was a Albert Rees Davis Scholar from the S. Livingston Mather Scholarship Competition in Cleveland, OH (2017). He has also performed as an ensemble member in Show Boat with The Glimmerglass Festival, Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer.

and Bilodeau's Another Brick in the Wall with Cincinnati Opera (2018), and various bit roles in performances at the University of Michigan (U-M). He completed both his Master of Music in Vocal Performance (2018) and the Specialist of Music Degree in Vocal Performance (2021) from the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) at U-M. Mr. Gray is a passionate singer, speaker, educator, and life-long student both on and off stage. He has studied and taught a variety of subject areas such as K-12 music, voice, acting, language acquisition, public speaking & presentation, and served as an artistic consultant for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in opera. He is a passionate lover of music, language, education and loves to learn about people finding commonality and connection wherever he is. You can follow him at CamronGrayTenor.com as well as on social media.

Bass Andrew Nalley completed the Master of Music degree in Voice Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Houston. A recent transplant to the Twin Cities metro, he made his Minnesota debut as Alcindoro in a production of La bohème with Theater Latté Da. Elsewhere, Andrew has performed leading roles such as the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Thomas Putnam in The Crucible, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and the title role of Don Giovanni. He has been a winner and a finalist in competitions including Alabama’s MTNA Young Artist Voice Competition, the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs, and the Alabama Music Teachers Association. He now resides in Roseville, Minnesota and is often seen performing with the Minnesota Opera, An Opera Theatre, and other local companies.

RACHMANINOV PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2

BRAHMS SYMPHONY NO. 2

JOSEPH FLEETWOOD, PIANO

Joseph comes from an extraordinary musical lineage. His first teacher was Katherine McLauchlan, a pupil of Tobias Matthay (teacher of Myra Hess, Maura Lympany, Clifford Curzon). Joseph's last teacher, of seven years was Scottish pianist George Donald, who was a pupil of Karl Ulrich Schnabel and Aube Tzerko. Schnabel and Tzerko were both pupils of Artur Schnabel, who was in turn a Leschetizky pupil. Leschetizky was taught by Beethoven's favourite student, Carl Czerny.

 Joseph has performed throughout Europe and the USA in Vienna, Milan, Naples, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and many other places. As a concerto soloist Joseph has performed many of the great piano concertos including Tchaikovsky 1 and 2, Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Rachmaninoff 1 and 2, Beethoven 1 - 5, Mozart 21, Shostakovich 2, Grieg, Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue and Mendelssohn 1

Joseph has worked with many outstanding and celebrated musicians including Josef Swensen, Gianandrea Noseda, Artur Pizarro, Malcolm Martineau, Karen Cargill, Miranda Keys, Stephen Clark, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the orchestras of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal College of Music.

Joseph's playing has been broadcast on BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC Radio Scotland, and regional stations throughout the UK as both live performances and CD recordings. His debut CD featured some popular and lesser-known works by Edvard Grieg. In 2020 his recording of J.S. Bach's Partitas was released on Sheva and has sold a staggering 750,000 downloads. In 2024 Joseph will record a further album of J.S. Bach’s music including the Italian Concerto and Inventions, also for Sheva Records. Joseph is also working with filmmaker Gabriel Wolf in Berlin on a short film project which will involve recording Rachmaninoff’s Preludes Op.23. 

In 2016 Joseph was commissioned to compose a short piece of music for Piano Restorations Ltd in the UK, and the resulting piece has been filmed and made into a TV advert for the company. The video, which was posted on classic FM’s Facebook page, has received over 620,000 views and is currently the most viewed video on their page. Outside of the world of classical music, Joseph was invited by Sotheby’s on behalf of the Freddie Mercury estate to advise them on the sale of Freddie’s piano in 2023.

Joseph holds degrees from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Royal College of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Alabama, and has taught at the University of St. Andrews, the University of Aberdeen, and Alabama Center for the Arts. 

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