Maestro Michael Nowak
Music Director
Michael Nowak began his music studies in the Rhode Island public school system, where he learned violin, clarinet and tuba. His interest in composition and conducting led him to Indiana University, where he met and became a student of the legendary violist, William Primrose, who inspired him to devote himself to the viola. Nowak has served as Assistant Conductor and violist with the Dallas Symphony, conductor of the Young Musicians Foundation Début Orchestra and the Monterey Chamber Orchestra, and has appeared in guest conducting engagements with the Oregon Mozart Players, the Oregon Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and the University of Southern California Chamber Orchestra. As a violist, he was a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with Sir Neville Marriner until 1980. He made his début as a conductor at Carnegie Hall in April 2001 with the San Luis Obispo Symphony.
In addition to his duties as Music Director of the Santa Maria Philharmonic Society, Mr. Nowak is also Artistic Director of Orchestra Novo in San Luis Obispo County. Maestro Nowak is active as a recording musician and conductor in the motion picture industry. Among the many notable films conducted by Michael Nowak are Academy Award-winning Life of Pi, King Kong, Under the Tuscan Sun, Bobby, American Gangster, Disney’s Bedtime Stories, The Kite Runner, and The Accountant. He also conducted the highly popular ABC TV show Once Upon a Time for 7 seasons.
Brynn Albanese
Concertmaster
Brynn Albanese is a well-known musician here on the Central Coast. She has performed with the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops. She lived and worked in The Netherlands for seven years with groups that included the Hague Philharmonic, Concertgebouw and Rotterdam orchestras. Upon her return to California in 2006, she was the Concertmaster of most of the local orchestras in San Luis Obispo County until 2020. She was also a member of the iconic world music ensemble, Café Musique from 2008-2020.
Brynn graduated from, the Music for Healing & Transition Program and the International End of Life Doula Association training in 2022. She works parttime as a Certified Music Practitioner for Dignity Health, South County providing therapeutic bedside sessions and in all units of the facilities. With the support of the non-profit Ecologistics, her work extends North to French Hospital and Sydney Creek Memory Care. Brynn is the Founder/Director of “Cambria Concerts Unplugged”, an acoustic music series in her home town of Cambria. It is widely recognized as one of the only “listening room” series of its kind in the area hosting a wide variety of groups covering all genres. To learn more, please visit: www.brynnalbanese.com