Bring your family on a journey to the mountains! Hear Caroline Shaw’s glorious and colorful orchestral adaptation of the beloved book, “The Mountain that Loved a Bird,” narrated by local poet Sati Mookherjee. We’ll tip-toe through the Hall of the Mountain King, hoping to escape A Night on Bald Mountain. In the hour before the concert begins, enjoy the hands-on experiences our Children’s Music Fair has to offer. (Sensory friendly only enter at 12:30pm)

Modest Mussorgsky
A Night on Bald Mountain

Edvard Grieg
In the Hall of the Mountain King

Caroline Shaw
The Mountain that Loved a Bird

Total Runtime: 35 minutes

CONDUCTOR BIO

Sebastian Serrano-Ayala

An advocate for the music of our time, Colombian-born conductor Sebastian Serrano-Ayala blends inclusive collaboration, and effortless conducting technique with fresh and timely musical interpretations.

Sebastian is actively involved with symphonic music and educational programs in the United States, and has been named Assistant Conductor with the Skagit Symphony for the 23/24 season. He also serves as Assistant Conductor with the Saratoga Orchestra, and has held Conducting Fellowships at the Allentown Symphony Orchestra and the Mostly Modern Festival in NY, where he premiered works with the American Modern Ensemble.

Other recent engagements have included the SJMEA Honor Orchestra, the Whatcom Wind Ensemble, and acting as cover conductor for Yakima Symphony.

Past performance highlights include a premiere and recording session with Symphony Tacoma, leading the Royal Military Chapel "Johan Willem Friso'' during the Dutch International Festival ‘BLOW’, and conducting The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in Washington, DC.

Sebastian was recently recognized for his leadership when he was a semi-finalist at the World Music Contest (WMC) - Conductor’s Competition. There, he worked with the Marinierskapel der Koninklijke Marine, the premier ensemble of the Netherlands military, and Blazerensemble Helicon, as well as the Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Air Force. He was also a finalist at the International Conducting Competition hosted by the Denver Philharmonic.

Through his research and programming, Sebastian advocates for the importance of contemporary music influenced by Latin America and his native Colombia. In Summer ‘22, he presented on these topics at a world conference of symphonic music in Prague, Check Republic.

Serrano-Ayala holds a DMA in Wind - Orchestral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and a MM in Conducting from Andrews University, both he was awarded full scholarship and teaching assistantships. He also holds degrees in music education from the Adventist University of Colombia (UNAC) and the Adventist University of the Philippines (AUP).

Additionally, Sebastian has taken part in masterclasses with conductors JoAnn Falletta, Dianne Wittry, Sarah Ioannides, Ankush Kumar Bahl, Lawrence Golan, Aram Demirjian, Mark Heron, Jan Cober, Mallory Thompson, Michael Haithcock, and John E. Williamson. Mentors include Anna Edwards, Terence Milligan, Kevin Holzman, Aik Khai Pung, Alan Mitchell, and Hugo Riaño.

Visit his website at www.sebastianserrano.co.

NARRATOR

Sati Mookherjee

Sati Mookherjee (SHAH-tee MOO-kher-jee) is a poet and lyricist. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals and anthologies like Salamander, The Laurel Review, Comstock Review, Cream City Review, and Sonora Review. Her collaborations with contemporary classical composers have been performed or recorded by ensemble (The Esoterics, Contemporary Chamber and Players) and solo musicians (Hope Wechkin, Leaning Toward the Fiddler). Recipient of an Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship Award, she is a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. A third book, Des, is forthcoming from Pulley Press in 2025.

Sati Mookherjee grew up in Bellingham, WA, the child of Indian immigrants, and spent the summers of her childhood in Kolkata (then Calcutta), India. She speaks fluent Bengali. She was graduated with a BA (English, Creative Writing, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) from the University of Washington, and a MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine. She has worked as a medical writer, a political campaign manager, and Policy and Special Projects Coordinator for the City of Bellingham. In 2011 she became the founding COO of Sedan Center, a child and adolescent mental and behavioral health clinic that serves children, families and schools in Whatcom and Skagit Counties. She presently serves on the Board of the Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival and is a former member of the Corporate Board of the Boys and Girls Club of Whatcom County, a founding board member of CommunityWise Bellingham, and former Board Chair of the Whatcom Community Foundation.

Sati is passionate about sharing the pleasures of this unique art form and loves being asked to speak to audiences of all kinds - healthcare professional groups, bookclubs, fellow poets.

She leads poetry workshops with writers of diverse ages and experience levels, from residents of Seattle’s Ida Culver House, to elementary, middle and high school students, community writers and community college and university students.