Capital City Symphony & Cantate
Conductor & Artistic Director
Conductor and Artistic Director
Maestra Gau
Victoria Gau is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Capital City Symphony (DC) and Cantate Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, and the former Associate Conductor of National Philharmonic. Guest conducting includes the Alexandria (VA) and Akron (OH) Symphonies, the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, the Kennedy Center Messiah Sing-Along and the Columbia Orchestra. She has served as Artistic Director of the Takoma Ensemble and Music Director of the Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra (VA). She has trained concert and opera choruses throughout the DMV and is also in demand as a youth orchestra festival conductor and clinician.
About Capital City Symphony
Based at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in the H Street Corridor, Capital City Symphony (CCS) serves both audience members and orchestra members. By engaging with CCS, our audience members support our musicians, hear high-quality live music at a reasonable price, and enjoy our concerts in a fun, intimate environment. Our orchestra members volunteer with our orchestra in order to have the opportunity to engage with the joy of symphonic music-making. CCS draws over 80 orchestra members annually from Washington, D.C.’s unique pool of talented amateur musicians – many of whom have extensive training through the college or conservatory level - providing them with an opportunity to reconnect with their passion for music-making. Under the leadership of Artistic Director and Conductor Victoria Gau, the orchestra performs fun, challenging, and exciting repertoire from the 18th century to today!
Now in her 28th season leading CCS, conductor, Victoria Gau has been lauded by critics for her “strong sense of style and drama” (Washington Post) and her “enthusiastic and perceptive conducting”, and brings a wide range of musical experience and expertise to her work. She is Music Director of Cantate, where she conducts the Chamber Singers and the Concert Choir.
Maestra Gau is well-known in the Washington DC area for her work as Associate Conductor at National Philharmonic. She has additionally served as Artistic Director and Music Director/Conductor of the Other Opera Company in Bethesda, Maryland, which she co-founded in 1992. and music director for such Washington area companies as The Washington Savoyards, Victorian Lyric Opera Company, Annapolis Opera Musicales, the Eldbrook Opera Ensemble, and the IN-Series. Guest conducting includes the Open Page Ensemble, Alexandria (VA) and Akron (OH) Symphonies, Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center Messiah Sing-Along. She has been active as Artistic Director of the Takoma Ensemble and is the former Conductor and Music Director of the Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra in Richmond, VA.
Capital City Symphony: Barnett Give me The Orchestra
Gau leads the Capital City Symphony in an interactive piece by composer Charlie Barnett she commissioned for concerts with National Philharmonic for school children.
Capital City Symphony: Excerpts from Sonata da Chiesa by Aldolphus Hailstork
Victoria Gau and the Capital City Symphony perform Adolphus Hailstork’s beautiful Sonata da Chiesa in their first live performance after the pandemic shutdown.
Cantate
Cantate is a leading choral organization in Montgomery County, Maryland, which serves a mission to build community through choral music through five varied and far-reaching programs. The 30-member Cantate Chamber Singers performs a broad range of choral literature of the past five centuries, championing neglected masterpieces and 20th- and 21st- century music, including premieres of choral works commissioned from young and diverse composers. Cantate Concert Choir, comprising 100+ voices, presents larger works, often in collaboration with area orchestras, including the National Philharmonic, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra. In partnership with Montgomery College, Cantate presents the annual Summer Choral Institute, offering "off-season" voice-building, choral training, and performance opportunities to singers from across the DC region. Committed to fostering and promoting the work of emerging talent as well as expanding the canon of choral music, its participant base, and its audiences, Cantate also offers the biennial Young Composers’ Competition and the Lift Every Voice oratorio fellowship for pre-professional BIPOC singers, both of which provide paid opportunities for performance, training, and advancement to artists from historically marginalized groups.
Rosephanye Powell, The Word was God
Victoria Gau and Cantate Concert Choir perform in Bethesda, MD in December ‘22. Cantate Concert Choir December 5, 2021 Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, Bethesda, MD
Arnesen, Magnificat excerpt
Victoria Gau and soprano Jennifer Casey-Cabot perform with Cantate Concert Choir in Bethesda, MD in December ‘23
Cantate Upcoming Events
Cantate proudly presents our 2024-2025 season, celebrating 40 years of building community through choral music. This exceptional season builds upon Cantate’s tradition of innovative programming, featuring large-scale works and intimate evenings, choral chestnuts alongside new compositions, and exciting collaborations that explore and expand the choral canon.
A 40th Anniversary subscription gives you access to all six season concerts of stirring choral music sung by both the Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers. Join us for Verdi’s immortal Requiem with National Philharmonic, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Carlos Simon’s Brea(d)th with Capital City Symphony. Enjoy an evening inspired by Shakespeare with The Firebird Project Theatre Company, and an oratorio showcase featuring our Lift Every Voice fellows. Revel in works by Benjamin Britten, Ola Gjeilo, Morten Lauridsen, Nathaniel Dett, Caroline Shaw, John Rutter, Jake Runestad, Jennifer Higdon, and more. Treat yourself to experiences ranging from a serene seasonal celebration with harp, to an exploration of the sacred with chamber ensemble, to full-scale orchestral productions. Subscribe today to experience all six concerts for the price of five!
