Orchestra Faculty

Adam Flatt - Orchestra Conductor (YAS)

Adam Flatt is a conductor who is recognized for “outstanding precision and style,” and a warm, engaging stage presence.

Music Director of the Newport Symphony, the only year-round professional orchestra on the Oregon coast, Adam also serves as Music Director of the Colorado Ballet in Denver, and is principal conductor of Emerald City Opera, a summer festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  He appears as a guest with ensembles all over the United States.

When Marin Alsop invited Mr. Flatt to join the Colorado Symphony as Associate Conductor in 2001 he began a five-year tenure during which he conducted over 250 performances with the orchestra, including classical subscription, parks, outreach, special event performances, and live broadcasts for radio and television.  He created and hosted family and educational concerts that reached tens of thousands of children and families in the region.  Adam was the first conductor for “Spirit of the Season,” a holiday concert of the Colorado Symphony and choruses broadcast on Colorado’s CBS-4, which has become a beloved annual television event.

In 2001 he also began his seven year tenure as Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra, during which the DYAO organization celebrated its 25th and 30th anniversaries.  He led the DYAO in acclaimed concerts at home in Denver and on tours to central Europe and South America.  Under his leadership, the DYAO was widely recognized as one of the most exciting and best-trained youth orchestras in the United States.

His professional career began with the position of conducting apprentice with the Oregon Symphony.

Mr. Flatt has guest conducted the orchestras of Alabama, Cheyenne, Dallas, Delaware, Houston, Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, Missoula, Monterey, Oregon, Sacramento, Saint Louis, San Juan, Santa Rosa, South Carolina, and many others.  Adam has appeared as a conductor at music festivals across the country including Bravo! Vail Valley, Cascade, Emerald City Opera, Green, Marrowstone, and Strings in the Mountains.

He has led performances with the major ballet companies of Portland and Salt Lake City as well as that of Denver.  

Also devoted to the operatic repertoire, Mr. Flatt returns each summer to conduct a production for Emerald City Opera, a festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  In addition, he has led productions for Colorado Light Opera, Eugene Opera, and  Colorado Symphony collaborations with Central City Opera and Opera Colorado, including the wildly popular “Opera on the Rocks” at Red Rocks.

Adam Flatt has his bachelor’s degree with honors in music from the University of California at Berkeley, and his master’s degree in conducting from the Indiana University School of Music.  He studied music for two years in Austria and Germany, and studied at the Aspen Music Festival.

Amir Kats - Orchestra Conductor (JSS2)

Now in his second year as Artistic Director of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, Amir Kats recently created a blog to make orchestral music more accessible to a wider audience. A familiar figure in the youth orchestra world, he previously conducted the Albuquerque Youth Symphony and Santa Fe Youth Symphony in New Mexico, where he was active as a conductor, educator and clarinetist throughout the state. Prior to New Mexico he lived in New York, serving as music director of the Gemini Youth Orchestras (Long Island), assistant conductor of the New York Youth Symphony, and faculty member of The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, teaching inner-city public school students. He has also been associated with the Philadelphia Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra and the orchestra of the Rockland Summer Institute. Mr. Kats spent the summer of 2005 on the conducting faculty of the internationally-renowned Interlochen Arts Camp, and joined the faculty of the Allegro Orchestra Camp in 2008.

Mr. Kats holds Bachelor of Music degrees in clarinet and music theory from the University of Michigan, Master of Music degrees in conducting and clarinet from Florida State University, and an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he held a Leopold Stokowski Fellowship and studied conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller. A native of Haifa, Israel, he was raised in the United States in a musical family, the son and grandson of pianists.

Charles Latshaw - Orchestra Conductor (JSS1)

A vibrant and versatile young artist, Charles Latshaw was named by the Vienna Philharmonic as 2007 Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellow, and was Conducting Fellow with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra until 2008. He is Music Director of the Bloomington (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic , and also serves as Music Director of the Columbus Philharmonic Youth Orchestras. Latshaw was selected to compete in the Cadaques International Conducting Competition in June 2008. He made his debut with the Indianapolis Symphony in March 2008, and the 2008-2009 season will also bring guestconducting appearances in several cities across the United States.

Latshaw’s career in music began in the field of education. After graduating summa cum laude from the Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education, he taught band, choir, general music, and musical theater to students in New England and the Midwest. He continues working with young musicians through the Columbus Philharmonic Youth Orchestra program, and has led “Side by Side” concerts for high school students with the Indianapolis Symphony, Columbus Philharmonic, and the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. He also holds a Master’s degree in Instrumental Conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with David Effron, Thomas Baldner, Imre Pallo, and John Poole.

An enthusiastic advocate of new music, Latshaw enjoys programming accessible and exciting modern works, often of his own commission. In the 2007-08 season, he led the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in several premieres, including “The Underground Railroad” by jazz legend David Baker. He strives to share his passion for new music with young people; he has commissioned and premiered two works with the Columbus Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.  Latshaw presented one of his premieres, Jonathan Wey’s “Koinonia,” to the 2006 Conductors Guild Conference as part of the New Music Project.

Comfortable in many idioms, Latshaw has held the position of principal trumpet in several orchestras. He has performed with jazz/big bands as a trumpet player, vocalist, and band leader.  He has appeared in roles with the Palace Professional Theater of Manchester and the New Hampshire State Opera. Performance tours have brought him to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, as well as across the United States.

Latshaw is also committed to innovative musical outreach. He was one of the first conductors to reach out to audiences through the internet. His conducting performances on Youtube.com have been viewed over 300,000 times, and he has a loyal following of subscribers to his performance videos.

Charles lives in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife, Kelley, and their dog, Lenny.

George Thomson - Orchestra Conductor (YAS)

George Thomson enjoys a multi-faceted career as a conductor, instrumentalist, and educator. He is currently in his eleventh year as Music Director of the Virtuoso Program at San Domenico School in San Anselmo, California, a unique opportunity for high school students to pursue intensive orchestral and chamber music training in addition to a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. The San Domenico Orchestra da Camera, under Mr. Thomson's direction, won "Grand Champion" awards at the 2005 and 2008 National Orchestra Festivals sponsored by the American String Teachers' Association. The Virtuoso Program was featured in the February 2004 issue of Strings Magazine, and performed on the nationally-broadcast radio program "From the Top" in February of 2006.

Mr. Thomson has also been Music Director of the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra since 2001; he conducts the Marin Symphony in their annual Family Concert. From 1994 to 2007 he worked as a conductor for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. As Associate Conductor, he conducted a subscription program as well as several rehearsals each season in the absence of Music Director Kent Nagano. He directed the Symphony's "Under Construction" series of new music reading events, and was also the Music Director of the Symphony's award-winning Music Education Program, which brings the orchestra into the Berkeley Public Schools in a series of innovative performances each season.

Raised in Sunnyvale, California, George attended the University of California at Berkeley where he received A.B. and M.A. degrees in Music, studying conducting with Michael Senturia and Philip Brett. He was for several years Music Director of the San Francisco-based new music ensemble EARPLAY, and has appeared as a guest conductor with many new music ensembles, including the Empyrean Ensemble, Composers Inc., and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. With the latter ensemble he conducted two works by Andrew Imbrie in a recording released in 2002 on the Albany Records label.

In addition to his work with contemporary music, George has been active in the historical performance movement. As a baroque violinist and violist he was a longtime member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the American Bach Soloists. From 1996 to 2005, he was Principal Violist of the Carmel Bach Festival, where he was a member of the Festival String Quartet.

Among the Bay Area ensembles with which George has appeared as a guest conductor are the Santa Rosa and Marin Symphonies, Berkeley Opera, Lamplighters Music Theater, and the Orchestra of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is currently serving as Interim Director of the Santa Rosa Symphony's Young People's Chamber Orchestra.