Juneau Symphony welcomes new music director, celebrates supporters with first-of-its-kind reception
- Jasz Garrett
- Sep 25, 2025
- 5 min read
Attendees express their gratitude while cruising into ‘Bold Symphonic Horizons’
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
As Juneau’s rainy fall weather begins, so does the Juneau Symphony’s 63rd season with the theme of “Bold Symphonic Horizons.”
On Tuesday evening, 70 people hopped aboard the MS Nieuw Amsterdam for a reception with cocktails, appetizers and live music by Franz Felkl.
Felkl played his first concert with the symphony when he was 12 and continued until he was 18. He left Juneau to study in Fairbanks and then Florida before beginning a professional career in a string quartet. He and his wife decided to move back in 2019 and Felkl returned to the symphony.
He began playing the violin at the age of four. His first teacher was Guo Hua Xia, who is still a member of the symphony and a teacher. Felkl said they work together often.
“Growing up, Juneau was just so supportive, and the music community was so supportive of me as a young musician, and being able to join the symphony at such a young age was an incredible learning experience for me,” Felkl said.
Micaela Fowler has a cousin and niece who play in the symphony and said her great-grandfather played in the early days. She described herself as an enthusiastic listener. Fowler, director of Southeast Alaska government and community relations for Holland America Line, invited the Juneau Symphony aboard the ship.
“The symphony is just such an important part of our community, and we want to make sure that we are engaging and giving back and collaborating with organizations that matter to Juneau,” Fowler said. “Hopefully, this can be a model for things we can do in other Southeast communities as well.”
She grew up attending Juneau Symphony concerts and has fond memories of taking her children to events. Fowler said she feels lucky to have the experience and it’s one of the things that makes Juneau a wonderful place to live.
“I think you go to the symphony at the Juneau Douglas High School, which is where I went to high school, and if you close your eyes, in that auditorium, you could easily be in an auditorium in a big city with a professional symphony playing, because that’s the caliber of music that we have,” Fowler said.
Supporters of the symphony shrugged off their raincoats and listened to Felkl play the violin in the cruise ship’s lounge, catching up with board members and symphony leaders.
“It’s fantastic because the symphony doesn’t happen without the support of the community and people believe in the positive, good work that we do and just helping people feel joy and elevating our spirits,” Executive Director Charlotte Truitt said. “These people understand the vision of the symphony and know what it means to the community.”
She said the reception on Tuesday was a by-donation fundraiser for the symphony, raising more than $2,000. Holland America added $1,000. The event also welcomed new Music Director Brad Hogarth, who expressed his excitement about starting the season. He was selected as director this July through a membership vote with input from both the audience and musicians.
Hogarth lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is an associate professor of conducting at San Francisco State University and associate conductor of the Monterey Symphony. He serves as the music director at the Art Haus Collective and the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, and also plays trumpet with various other orchestras. He said he uses his passion for music education to inform his programming.
“I love just bringing sort of the excitement of some of the most thrilling and heartfelt repertoire,” Hogarth said. “I love introducing new pieces to not just the orchestra, but to the audience. So I love bringing the old classics, but also bringing some fresh voices that maybe people haven't heard. Representation is really, really important in my programming.”
Truitt and Hogarth said the first concert series, “Courage & Connection,” aims to bring the community together. This entire season embodies boldness, echoing a similar theme of its 60th season, “Epic.”
“Each of the concerts is going to feature a big, bold symphonic piece,” Hogarth said. “This first concert, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony. In January, it’s going to be Brahms’ First Symphony. In April, it’s going to be ‘Appalachian Spring’ by Copland. And then in June, it’s going to be ‘Star Wars.’ So like some big, epic music. That’s kind of the direction I wanted to go, like lots of really wonderful, huge pieces that the audience can really just envelop themselves in and get lost in.”
The kickoff to the season is scheduled for Oct. 4 and 5 at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Auditorium. Along with the Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, Hogarth will feature Dvořák’s “Carnival Overture” and Valerie Coleman’s “Umoja: An Anthem of Unity.” Coleman’s group Imani Winds visited under Juneau Jazz and Classics two years ago.
Hogarth will travel back and forth from San Francisco and Juneau for this season’s five concert events.
“I’m so excited to be here in Juneau,” he said. “The feeling was just of great community pride, warm, welcoming, exciting. The concert set that I did last year for my trial, we went to Sitka as well. So it was nice to bridge those communities together.”
He said he fell in love with Southeast Alaska by coming every December for the last 10 years for a holiday brass concert in Sitka. In April, for his music director audition, he took the entire orchestra on a boat to perform in both Juneau and Sitka.
“It seems like every time I’m here, we’re on some sort of boat, which is very exciting as well,” he said with a laugh.
Along with a bold lineup of fresh composers’ voices, Hogarth’s future goals include breathing new life into art by commissioning pieces from emerging composers.
“I’m really interested in highlighting the beauty of the landscape here, the glaciers and all the natural beauty in the area,” he said. “So I think that could be a really lovely inspiration for some compositions we’re hoping to commission. And also, just like people that are in different facets of the local community as well. We’ve got some in the works. We hope to be able to announce them soon.”
Another goal of his is to ensure as many people as possible can hear the symphony.
“I want to reach out and make sure that we’ve got a lot of students coming in, a lot of folks that have maybe never been to the symphony before, and see if we can include them in the community,” he said.
Hogarth was asked where he sees himself in five years.
“I see us being, not just a beacon of arts culture in Juneau, but I want to see us continue to bridge gaps in the community,” he said. “People that may not have known the symphony, or we’re incorporating other arts and other community organizations. I want us to be creating new art. I had a lot of fun going to Sitka last year. I think that would be cool to do that again — to literally reach out to another community and take the whole symphony there.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
