The Nashville Symphony has promoted two musicians to principal positions: TITUS UNDERWOOD, the orchestra’s acting principal oboe since September 2017, has been named principal oboe; KEVIN BATE, who joined the orchestra in 2015 and has served as assistant principal and acting principal cello, has been named principal cello.
Before joining the Nashville Symphony, Titus Underwood served as acting associate principal oboe of the Utah Symphony. He received his master of music from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Elaine Douvas. He earned his bachelor of music at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a pupil of John Mack, principal oboist of the Cleveland Orchestra. Underwood has performed as guest associate principal oboe of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra, and Florida Orchestra. He has also played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Puerto Rico Symphony, and San Diego Symphony. He was an oboe fellow at Aspen Music Festival and has performed at the Grand Teton Music Festival. He will serve as principal oboe at the Bellingham Music Festival in summer 2019.
Cellist Kevin Bate has performed as a featured soloist with orchestras throughout Europe and North America. He is principal cellist of Orchestra Kentucky and performs with the Gloriosa Piano Trio. He previously served as principal cellist and performed as a soloist with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, and Missouri Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Eykamp String Quartet, he held the position of artist in residence at the University of Evansville. A native of Milwaukee, Bate studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. He received a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a performance diploma from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied with János Starker.
Posted April 15, 2019
