University Orchestra’s spring concert to feature Patterson, soprano Leiva

  Arts+Culture  

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The La Sierra University Orchestra will present an evening of works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in an annual spring concert performed by La Sierra’s talented, young musicians.

Soprano Susana Leiva will perform opera arias during the La Sierra University Orchestra Spring Concert. Following graduation, she will pursue opera studies at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Soprano Susana Leiva will perform opera arias during the La Sierra University Orchestra Spring Concert. Following graduation, she will pursue opera studies at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Michael Patterson, La Sierra University Orchestra assistant conductor and performance certificate major is heading for Bard College Conservatory of Music after graduation.
Michael Patterson, La Sierra University Orchestra assistant conductor and performance certificate major is heading for Bard College Conservatory of Music after graduation.

The performance will be held on Sat., May 13 at 8:15 p.m. and will feature senior music major, soprano Susana Leiva under direction of performer’s certificate student Michael Patterson, the orchestra’s assistant conductor. The evening’s repertoire will include Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 4” and opera arias.

Leiva was born in Santiago, Chile and began piano lessons at age 4 with Georgina Gonzalez at the University of Chile. She has participated in several master classes under the tutelage of Faith Esham, Fabiana Bravo, Museop Kim, and other top-tier opera singers. She is currently performing with choral ensembles directed by Ariel Quintana, Sergio Leiva, and Earl Richards.

In recognition of her work, Leiva won first place in the Rain Cross Chorale Competition in 2013, and second and first prizes in the Marguerite Marsh Scholarship Competition in 2013 and 2014, respectively. In 2016 Leiva was chosen as the winner of the grand prize of La Sierra University’s Concerto Competition and the Opera Guild Vocal Competition. She has been accepted into the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and will continue her studies in opera.

After graduating from La Sierra, Patterson plans to continue studying orchestral conducting at Bard College Conservatory of Music in New York. He has lived and served as a musician in Southern California for most of his life. He is currently the assistant conductor of instrumental ensembles at La Sierra where he actively works with the university orchestra, wind ensemble, and big band. He also serves as assistant director of the Dana Point Symphony and the Loma Linda University Church Sanctuary Orchestra. Patterson is music director and founder of the PianoForte Symphony Orchestra. He is currently studying toward a performer’s certificate in conducting at La Sierra. 

With an interest in both piano and bassoon, Patterson has performed with the New England Youth Ensemble and the Loma Linda University Sanctuary Orchestra. Patterson also composes music and is currently studying under Ken Narducci, La Sierra’s director of theory and composition studies, as a private composition student. Patterson’s last composition, “Symphony of Our Father,” was written in 2012 for full orchestra. It was premiered at the Loma Linda University Church by the PFSO. He has approximately 30 compositions under his name.

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