THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2018-2019 51
Sought after for her
insightful interpretations
and dynamic
presence, New Zealand
born conductor
Gemma New is
music director of
the Hamilton Philharmonic
Orchestra,
resident conductor
of the St. Louis Symphony
Orchestra and
music director of the
St. Louis Symphony
Youth Orchestra. She was recently appointed principal
guest conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra,
a position she will assume in the 2019/20
season.
During the 2018/19 season, New makes debuts
with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann
Center, San Francisco Symphony for Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 9, Toronto Symphony, Detroit
Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Los Angeles
Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Symphony,
Rochester Philharmonic, Calgary Philharmonic,
Florida Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony,
Louisiana Philharmonic, Charlotte Symphony,
Tucson Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Winnipeg
Symphony and Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester
in Germany. In April 2019, she leads a second St.
Louis Symphony subscription week on a program
of works by Adès, Mozart and Strauss.
In 2017, New received a Solti Foundation U.S. Career
Assistance Award. Her guest conducting has
taken her internationally with orchestras such as
the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Helsingborgs
Symfoniorkester, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Filharmonia
Szczecin and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne,
the Auckland Philharmonia, Christchurch
Symphony, Opus Orchestra and more.
A former Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los
Angeles Philharmonic, New served previously as
associate conductor of the New Jersey Symphony.
She has received conducting fellowships at Aspen
Music Festival, Salzburg Festival and Tanglewood.
New holds a master’s of music degree in orchestral
conducting from the Peabody Institute, and graduated
from University of Canterbury in New Zealand
with a bachelor’s of music in violin performance.
Sarah Shellman is
currently principal
second violin with
The Florida Orchestra;
she joined the
ensemble as a section
violinist in 2002.
She last appeared
as a soloist on the
TFO Masterworks
series in March 2011,
performing Thomas
Ades’ Violin Concerto
Concentric Paths. She’s also been featured on the
Coffee series programs performing “Winter” and
“Spring” from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Bach’s
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor with Nancy
Chang.
During the summer, Shellman performs as a member
of the orchestra at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary
Music (Santa Cruz, California). She is an
advocate for the performance of works by living
composers as well as for the expansion of diversity,
equity, and inclusion initiatives within the classical
music profession.
Shellman graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory
of Music in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in music
and the University of Houston in 2000 with a master’s
degree in music. While living in Houston, she
played with the Houston Grand Opera, Houston
Ballet, and as a freelance musician. In addition to
her work on the modern violin, she has also performed
with several early music ensembles as a violinist,
violist, and mezzo-soprano.
GEMMA NEW
Guest Conductor
SARAH SHELLMAN
Violin