New Millennium Strings
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Kenneth Raskin
Guest Conductor
Kenneth Raskin is a young conductor worth watching. He has been the Principal Conductor of the highly regarded San Francisco Bay Area Concerto Orchestra since 1995 and was Conductor of New Millennium Strings in Berkeley during the 1998-1999 season. He has also served as Conductor of Khadra International Folk Ballet Orchestra of San Francisco and was founder and Music Director of Polished Brass in Oakland. In addition he conducted the first ever recording of the revised version of "The Mother of Us All" by Virgil Thomson for CRI Records. During the 2000 season he appeared as guest conductor for several concerts with the Toledo Symphony, receiving wonderful reviews from the musicians and the public alike.
Mr. Raskin received his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the esteemed graduate program at the University of Michigan School of Music, where he was awarded a full fellowship. His principal teachers have been Kenneth Kiesler, Frederik Prausnitz, and Michael Senturia. He has also participated in several summer workshops, including the Conductor's Retreat at Medomak, the Pierre Monteux School, and the Conductor's Institute, led by Harold Farberman.
Mr. Raskin pursued his career in conducting after distinguishing himself as a professional orchestral trumpeter, first as a member of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra in Israel, and later as a sought after freelance trumpeter in the San Francisco Bay Area.