Who We Are
The Orchestra Unleashed (TOU) is a 50-piece modern orchestra seeking to redefine the experience of orchestral music. Our players are carefully selected both through an audition process and by invitation from all over the country. They have performed all over the world with traditional orchestras and independently, and are truly the best of the best. TOU is lead by artistic director and conductor Gustav Hoyer, who founded the organization in 2009 after noticing a disconnect between audiences and classical music.
For many people, today’s stereotype of an orchestra is that it’s inaccessible, and that live performances are mainly enjoyed by those who have the knowledge to understand Mozart or Beethoven. This is what we need to change. By purposely featuring music by living composers, collaborating with other mediums of art, and creating opportunities for our audience to interact with us, we hope to break that fourth wall and involve the whole room in the creation of a unique experience.
Our Artists
Artists
Jordi Alcaraz (courtesy of Jack Rutberg Fine Arts)
Myisha Arellano
Vera Armand [Body Blue, Fugue]
Seda Baghdasarian [Faith]
Jeff Bellerose
Suzette Belouin [Man and Woman]
Shant Beudjekian [An Interpretation of Life, The Dual of Life, Portrait of a Middle-Aged Man, Self-Portrait]
Jodi Bonassi [Point of View]
Judy Der [A Mysterious Woman]
Tina Dorff [War, Comatose]
Marylyn English [Fragments, Color & Fragments, Space]
Vivian Flynn [artist]
Domenico Foschi [At the fish market, Pine on gravel road, Ravenna, Waiting for the ferry]
Cathy Hill [Resurgam]
Eva Hyam [Hope, Worlds Connected, Fleeting Glimpse]
Sherri Kelcourse [Crows with Red Vines, Leave That Which Entangles]
Cheryl Kline [artist]
Frank LaLumia [A Wedding in Old Mexico, Don Quixote]
Joshua Liberman [photography]
Amandine Nabarra-Piomelli [Secret Love 2, Secret Love 1, Secret Love 4, Secret Love 10, Secret Love 11]
Gage Opdenbrouw [Another Spring Day, Young Couple]
Mark Roberts [In the Winter Orchard]
Kevin Rolly [Not for Me, Lifted, The Price, Before All, The Book of Threes, Forsaken "The Crucifixion"]
Mara Safransky [Little Dreams, Universal Principles, 3-Loves, Thought Formation, City's Rising, In the garden]
Leonard Roseley Samuels [artist]
Robert Gantt Steele [Pendant, Help]
Stephen Stuart [Basilica, Shadowlands, Sky Quarry, Remembering the Dream, Uplifting Moment, Windswept, Wings of the Fallen]
Poets
Howard Moore [Femme de la Nuit Noire]
Susan Sanchez-Barnett [Music]
Composers
Stephen Ashley Blake [With You Always]
Brynjar Bøe [Sarabande & Nostalgia]
Jenni Brandon [In the City at Night & Goldfish Songs]
Joseph Carrillo [Across an American Sky]
Michael-Thomas Foumai [Purgatorio]
Ehud Freedman: [Andante Scuro]
Anthony R. Green: [Chance]
Tyler Harrison [Train of Thought]
Gustav Hoyer [Abide With Me, Adventure at Sea, Rime of the Ancient Mariner]
Anthony Iannaccone [Colors of Dream]
Allen W. Menton [Hedgehog Hustle]
Michael A. Mogensen [Chapter Finál]
Alla Pavlova [Monologue]
John Snyder [Sarabande]
Natalia Rojcovscaia [Philosophy of Miracle]
Our Board
Gustav Hoyer, Artistic Director
The music of composer/conductor Gustav Hoyer has been heard in concert, in film, and on radio around the world. His music has been released on award winning and nominated CD releases. He has composed for a wide-variety of ensembles, but his great love is the richness of the orchestra. Born in Denver, CO, he was raised on a standard diet of American Pop music. His musical world was forever changed upon first hearing the orchestral music of Beethoven in High School. He has multiple degrees in music and has studied with some of the most celebrated composers of our time. His artistic passion is sharing orchestral music with audiences in a way that strips away their preconceptions of ‘classical music’ and its stereotypes, and invites them to experience the music in a personal and intimate way.
John Hester, Director of Operations
John Hester moved to Los Angeles from Northern California in 1987. He performs with many orchestras in Southern California such as the Pasadena Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, New West Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, San Bernardino Symphony, Santa Clarita Symphony, and Riverside Philharmonic as well as others. As a chamber musician his noted Los Angeles performances include new works by Esa-Pekka Salonen and William Toutant. He has performed in Europe as well as in music festivals in the U.S. including Round Top and Malibu Strawberry Creek. He holds a Bachelor of Music in performance from California State University Northridge and is currently pursuing graduate studies at California Institute of the Arts. His principal teachers were Charles Siani, Ed Meares, Peter Rofé, and further studies with Julius Levine. As a string bass teacher Mr. Hester is passionate about the encouragement and development of musicians both young and old. He has trained aspiring artists for international television performances with Disney’s Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra as well as working with students at the Idyllwild Arts Academy. As an adjunct faculty member he has taught at California State University at Northridge and currently teaches string bass at California Lutheran University as well as Pepperdine University.
Jenni Brandon, Composer Liason
Jenni Brandon (b. 1977) is an award-winning composer with music commissioned and recorded by many ensembles, and published by Boosey & Hawkes, Graphite Publishing and Jenni Brandon Music. She makes guest composer appearances at universities and festivals across the country. Her first self-produced CD, Songs of California: Music for Winds and Piano, released in 2010, was nominated for 10th Independent Music Awards. Jenni serves as the Artistic Director of Synchromy, a composers’ collective in Los Angeles. As a conductor, Jenni frequently makes guest appearances, leading her own works as well as standard repertoire and premieres of new choral works. She is the Music Director of The Concert Singers, the oldest independent choir in Los Angeles. Visit www.jennibrandon.com.
Joshua Liberman, Curator
Joshua Liberman is an acclaimed international photographer, based in Los Angeles, CA. He has photographed in over 30 countries, including Cambodia, Vietnam, Israel, Turkey, Tanzania, and Botswana, as well as throughout Europe and the United States. Joshua’s assignments have immersed him within some of the world’s most significant spiritual and cultural communities, including the Vatican; Jerusalem; Mt Athos, Greece; and Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Through his work, and his personal philosophy, Joshua strives to connect with the truest essence of the Human Spirit. His experiences across a wide diversity of cultures, religions and people have given him unique insight into the nature of humanity and the shared beliefs that unite the Human Race. More
Don Baird
A composer and clarinetist that has been involved in music since he was 7. He has performed asprincipalclarinetist in several symphony orchestras as well as involved as a recording artist for most major studios such as Warner Bros., Disney, MGM and many others. Today he specializes in writing, playing and producing his own projects and cds. He is also focusing on teaching advanced students, giving master’s classes on various topics from tone development to dynamic performance practices. His nature is invigorating and engaging which clearly radiates from him during his presentations, lessons and performances. More
What We Do
TOU plays classical music solely composed by living artists, and melds other mediums such as dance, photography, poetry, and food (just to name a few) into its one-of-a-kind performances to create a holistic, out-of-the-box experience of the modern orchestra.
Why We Exist
TOU’s mission is to bring the richness of the orchestra to new audiences. For many people, this ensemble can seem foreign, academic, and even boring. People who enjoy the arts might never find themselves drawn to attend a concert of “classical” music. We aim to show a new generation the irresistible charms of this sound. In a digital downloading era, we provide something that cannot be translated into bits and bytes: an encounter with living sound. This is a key way we are different from traditional orchestras—our unconventional concert experience focuses on music composed by living artists.