David Navarro-Turres - Conductor
Chilean-Belgian conductor and arranger David Navarro-Turres has been acclaimed for his dynamic
performances, his commitment to innovative programming and his passion for artistic openness to
diverse audiences in Europe.
He currently holds the position of Music Director and Artistic Director of the Brussels Philharmonic
Orchestra (www.bpho.be), the chamber choir Serenata Vocale and the Ensemble Confluences.
As guest conductor, he has performed with orchestras such as the Belgian National Orchestra, the
ensemble EST-OEST, the ensemble Confluences, the Chamber Orchestra of Chile, the Pazardjik
Symphony Orchestra, the Commonwealth Symphony Orchestra, the Antofagasta Symphony
Orchestra, El Sistema Belgium, the Concepción Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Symphony
Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Royal Brussels Conservatory and the HKU Utrecht
Conservatorium Orchestra.
He graduated from the National Conservatory of the University of Chile and the Conservatoire Royal
de Bruxelles. He has received scholarships for conducting masterclasses in Zurich with David
Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra, in London with Benjamin Zander and the London Masterclass
Orchestra, and another with Guerassim Voronkov and the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra.
In April 2016, he premiered Sir Karl Jenkins' orchestral version of "The Armed Man" at the Palais des
Beaux-Arts in Brussels. In 2017 he conducted the opening concert of the BALKAN TRAFIK Festival
with Goran Bregovic and his composition of the Three Letters from Sarajevo. In 2022, together with
Ensemble Confluences, he opened the Festival of World and Sacred Music of the International
Festival of Contemporary Music in Mons and Namur (Belgium). It will continue with a series of
concerts of Hommage à Brel & Edith Piaf - the Symphonic Version, new Belgian composers, the
recording of Haydn's "The Creation" at Flagey's Studio 4, Mahler's "Titan" No. 1 Symphony for the
20th anniversary of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and Mendelssohn's "Elijah" at BOZAR. In
June 2022, it will continue with the closing concert with EULAT 4culture, an activity realised in
collaboration with the European Commission and the Latin American diplomatic representations. In
August and September 2022 he made his debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de
La Serena and the Joven Orquesta de Portugal; ending 2022 with a tour of the operetta "Barbe
Blue" in different cities of Belgium.
www.davidnavarroturres.com
Emma Watkinson - Narrator
British born Mezzo Soprano, Emma Watkinson began an appreciation for music at an early age. At age 16, a visit to the theatre, to see a National Youth Music Theatre Production of Pendragon, confirmed her desire and dream to be on stage. Thereon she began her career, playing in theatre pieces, musicals and operatic shows.
She has enjoyed a varied career thus far working across the UK, Ireland, Europe, and as far as Sydney Australia.
As a soloist, she has sung roles for the likes of English Touring Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Buxton Festival and The Gilbert & Sullivan Company.
Notable roles include Le Page, (Salome) WFO, Tessa (The Gondoliers) The G&SC and Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro) ETO, to name a few.
Elsewhere she has worked with Opera Australia, Grange Park Opera, Pavilion Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, La Monnaie, and currently with Opera Royal de Wallonie.
Concert Highlights include Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with the RPO at The Royal Festival Hall, London, and The Rachmaninov Vespers at Bristol Cathedral.
Emma studied at City University, TrinityLaban and The International Opera Academy, Ghent.
Mary Gow - Organiser & Pianist
Mary comes from Wellington, New
Zealand. She holds the degrees of BA
and B Mus from Victoria University,
Wellington together with the LRSM
and FTCL diplomas in piano. She
studied for five years at the Royal
Conservatorium of Brussels.
Former productions of The Snowman
have been teamed with a commissioned
work 'The Baboons who live
by the River', by Alexander McCall
Smith and Tom Cunningham; Carnival
of the Animals; Peter and the Wolf;
Tubby the Tuba; and versions of
Britten's Young Persons' Introduction
to the Orchestra. In addition to
The Snowman, Mary's other
Christmas passion is The Brussels Carol concert which will be held this
year on Sunday 17 December at 5 pm.
Russian pianist Nikolai Saratovsky is her newest project, organising concerts and representing him in New Zealand and Belgium.
