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VIRGINIA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
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About the Maestro Luis Haza--Virginia Chamber Orchestra Music Director photo by Louis Sica 
A Washington Post music critic recently commended Virginia Chamber Orchestra Music Director Luis Haza for “infusing the orchestra with energetic excitement,” also characterizing the performance as “precisely in sync musically and metronomically.”
Luis Haza has led professional orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic. A guest appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra resulted in a CD on the RCA label which earned second place on their international list of best sellers. Other guest conducting appearances include the National Symphony Orchestra, where he also serves as covering conductor; the Masterworks Festival in New York State, the National Orchestras of Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador, and collaborations with soloists Mstislav Rostropovich, Arturo Sandoval and Horacio Gutiérrez. ”It is a joy to observe the way he (Haza) communicates with his orchestra and the alert response he gets,” wrote the late Joseph McLellan, former chief music critic at the Washington Post. “His conducting style is certainly enhanced by his long experience as an orchestral musician.” Luis Haza appeared with the National Symphony as soloist in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins in 2005, and has just returned from solo appearances with the National Symphony of Panama. He has been a member of the NSO’s first violin section for over 25 years. Appearing as soloist and conductor with the VCO in Mozart’s Concerto No. 3, his solo playing drew praise from the Washington Post for creating” drama not through aggressive athleticism but through emotional expression.” First Lady Laura Bush appointed Luis Haza to the President’s Commission for the Arts and the Humanities. In 2004 he received a national award from the American Immigration Lawyers Foundation. Past honorees include tenor Placido Domingo, author Bette Bao Lord, actress Maureen O’Hara ,and Noble Prize winning physicist Daniel Tsui.
The Recording Academy (GRAMMY Awards organization) Heros Awards are their highest honor presented in Washington. They recognize outstanding leaders and institutions that have improved the environment for the creative community. Honorees in 2002 included the American Youth Philharmonic (Luis Haza, Artistic Director). Maestro Haza conducted the American Youth Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall in 2004.
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