2025/26 Season Concert #1

Ortiz, Brahms and Tchaikovsky

Kendall Square Orchestra
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA

Kristo Kondakçi, conductor
Sophia Szokolay, violin
Alan Toda-Ambaras, cello

GABRIELA ORTIZ Kauyumari
BRAHMS Double Concerto
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6

K²O opens its 2025–2026 season with The Wild and the Tame, a program that explores music at its most vivid and profound. Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari dances with luminous color and rhythmic vitality, drawing on the Huichol legend of the Blue Deer as a guide through uncharted soundscapes. Brahms’s Double Concerto, with Sophia Szokolay and Alan Toda-Ambaras, offers a rare and intimate dialogue between violin and cello. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 closes the evening in a sweep of passion, tenderness, and deep reflection — a work that continues to move and astonish listeners more than a century after its premiere.

Friday, Oct 10, 2025, 7:30 PM

Save the date! The Sanders Theatre Box office will open soon.

About Alan Toda-Ambaras

Cellist Alan Toda-Ambaras is celebrated for his dynamic performances and commitment to bridging art and social action. He has performed with esteemed artists such as Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, and members of the Silk Road Ensemble, and has appeared twice as a soloist with the North Carolina Symphony. Alan is a prize-winner at the 2005 Rostropovich International Cello Competition in Paris. His extensive performance schedule includes venues like Tokyo's Ohji Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the New England Conservatory, where his ensemble, The Frost Piano Quartet, made its debut in Jordan Hall. He is also a dedicated advocate for new music, premiering works by contemporary composers like Trevor Bača and Stephanie Ann Boyd.

Alan holds a B.A. in History of Art and Architecture from Harvard and an M.M. from the New England Conservatory, where he studied under Laurence Lesser. He is co-founder of the Eureka Ensemble, a Boston-based music organization focused on social action, and Project LENS, which connects music with interdisciplinary storytelling. Alan's passion extends to community engagement, performing and conducting workshops that explore the intersection of arts and humanities​.

About Sophia Szokolay

Canadian violinist Sophia Szokolay is celebrated for her “stirring and singing tone,” (Martha’s Vineyard Gazette), captivating audiences across Canada, the United States, and Europe. Currently based in Boston, she balances a busy concert schedule while completing her Doctorate at the New England Conservatory, where she also serves as Donald Weilerstein’s teaching assistant and leads a history course on Bartók’s String Quartets. This season, she joins the Kendall Square Orchestra as soloist in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and Grammy-nominated ensemble Palaver Strings on tour throughout the Northeast.

Sophia performs regularly with ensembles such as the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, Delirium Musicum, and Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra as principal second violin. She is a passionate advocate for new music, premiering works by composers like György Kurtág, James Lee III and Jörg Widmann and commissioning works from Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, Marc Migó, and Sam Wu. Her debut album “Collective Voices” features new commissions for violin and piano that addresses themes of cultural identity, migration, and finding home.

A dedicated educator, Sophia has held fellowships at The Juilliard School, working with various community programs at Opportunity Music Project and at Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School. In 2020, she performed online for ICU Covid-19 patients and their families across the United States with Project: Music Heals Us. Additionally, she curated an online Music and Movement class for toddlers, and led music appreciation workshops at Lenox Hill Women’s Shelter.

Sophia holds a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory and a Master’s Degree from Juilliard, studying under esteemed pedagogues including Catherine Cho, Miriam Fried, and Donald Weilerstein. Sophia plays on a violin by Gioffredo Cappa, generously on loan from Carriage House Violins. Beyond music, she is an avid runner and  is excited to be running the 2025 Boston and New York City Marathons.

Concert
FAQs

Sanders Theatre Information

Most of our performances take place at Sanders Theatre (45 Quincy Street, Room 027, Cambridge, MA 02138). Sanders Theatre is managed by Memorial Hall/Lowell Hall Complex at Harvard University.
T 617.496.4595 | E memhall@fas.harvard.edu

For history of the building, visit www.fas.harvard.edu/memhall

  • THE HARVARD BOX OFFICE

    Advance Sales: Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138; 617.496.2222 www.boxoffice.harvard.edu for calendar and hours

    Pre-Performance Sales: Sanders Theatre Open on event days only, two hours prior to scheduled start time. Closes 30 minutes after start time.

  • Accessible seating can be arranged through the Box Office. Sanders Theatre is equipped with Assistive Listening Devices, available 30 minutes prior to events. Parking for disabled patrons: Limited accessible parking is available at Broadway Garage. Contact University Disability Services for other locations.

    T: 617.495.1859 or email: disabilityservices@harvard.edu Please allow 3 business days for response.

  • Free parking for events at Sanders Theatre is available at Broadway Garage, corner of Broadway and Felton Street, from one hour pre- performance to one hour post. Parking for some events will be at 52 Oxford Street Garage. Please see specific event details for further information.

  • RESTROOMS are located on the lower level.

  • LATECOMERS will be seated at the discretion of management.

  • PHOTOGRAPHY AND RECORDING of any kind is not permitted in Sanders Theatre. Equipment may be confiscated.

  • Call 617.496.4595 or visit Memorial Hall 027. Harvard University is not responsible for lost or stolen property.

Discounted Admission