ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Victoria Gau
Capital City Symphony, Artistic Director and Conductor
Now in her 25th 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.
Known as a strong advocate for American composers and for fostering ongoing expression in music, Ms. Gau has conducted numerous premieres, including works by Jorge Martin, Charlie Barnett, Scott Pender, Joel Friedman, and Alistair Coleman, among others.
Gau is in demand as a guest conductor and conductor/string educator at youth orchestra festivals and workshops. She is the former conductor of the Junior Summer String Institute Orchestra for National Philharmonic and the Young Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, an elite group of string players from the DC Youth Orchestra Program, as well as the Akron Youth Symphony. She has conducted youth orchestra festivals in Virginia, Ohio, and New York as well as Side-by Side events with DC-area youth orchestras and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Other recent appearances include the SOGO Conservatory Orchestra (Olympia, WA), the Vermont All-State Orchestra Festival, and the Maryland Senior and Junior All-State Orchestras.
Choral activities have included assisting in preparation of the 150-voice National Philharmonic Chorale for approximately 6 concerts per season, as well as serving as Co-Director of the National Philharmonic Singers, and Director and Co-Conductor of the National Philharmonic Summer Choral Institutes. Gau has guest conducted such choruses as The Metropolitan Chorus, Capitol Hill Chorale, and the Congressional Chorus. She is Director of Music at Bethesda Presbyterian Church.
Known for her ability to connect with audiences both on and off the stage, Ms Gau is also a popular clinician and lecturer on music. She formerly gave pre-concert lectures before all National Philharmonic performances, has been on the faculty of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of Johns Hopkins University, has been a guest lecturer for the Alexandria Symphony. And has taught music appreciation classes for the Monday Morning Music Club in Alexandria. She co-led a conducting clinic with Dr. William LaRue Jones at the ASTA National Conference in 2022.
Gau has served on the opera faculty at George Mason University, and worked with vocalists privately and in the Crittenden Opera Studio. She has toured with Cleveland Opera, performing throughout northern Ohio, as well as Odyssey Opera Theatre and the Baltimore Opera Company, performing educational outreach in schools throughout the state of Maryland. As a violist she has been an active freelancer, teacher, and 15-year member of the Envoy String Quartet. Ms. Gau holds degrees in Viola Performance and Conducting from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she won the Liberace Foundation Scholarship and the Phi Kappa Lambda Prize for Musicianship.
Allan Laiño
Congressional Chorus, Artistic Director & Chorus Master
American Prize winner Allan Laiño (“lah-EE-nyoh” or / la ‘ʔi njo / ) is the fourth Artistic Director of the Congressional Chorus. As a second-generation Filipino-American with wide-ranging musical influences, he aims to reshape the landscape of American choral artistry by creating an environment in which all voices can flourish.
Laiño has prepared choral ensembles for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop, BSO Pops and Jack Everly, NSO Pops and Steven Reineke, Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, and the Josh Groban Live National Tour. He has conducted onstage at Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Kennedy Center Opera House, and Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center. His performances have been televised on programs such as the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors, CNN’s Live from the Capitol: January 6, One Year Later, and EWTN’s Annual Christmas Concert for Charity broadcast to over 140 countries worldwide.
As Co-Artistic Director of Bridge, Laiño produced, edited, directed, and sang in America, You’re Beautiful, a short film that merged spoken word and choral music to examine racism in America. The film won the Black Truth Film Festival, Queens Underground International Black and Brown Film Festival, and Shortie Film Festival. As Co-Conductor of the Sunday Night Singers in 2012, he earned First Prize at the World Choir Games in the Mixed Chamber Choir Champions Division. He is the 2018 winner of The American Prize—Community Chorus Division, and was a finalist in two categories for the 2020 The American Prize in Composition. In 2021, Laiño was the music awardee for The Outstanding Filipinos in America presented at Carnegie Hall.
Steven Seigart
Congressional Chorus, Principal Collaborative Pianist
Dr. Steven Seigart is a conductor, organist, and composer based in the D.C. area. Dr. Seigart holds degrees in choral conducting and organ from the University of Maryland, Boston University, and the Eastman School of Music. He specializes in improvisation, has been featured on NPR’s Pipedreams Live!, and was a semifinalist in the National Competition in Organ Improvisation. He has held positions at the Church of St. Joseph (Bronxville, NY), Christ Church (Rochester, NY), St. Paul’s Cathedral (Syracuse, NY), and many others across the Northeast. He currently serves as Director of Music at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria, Virginia, and as Principal Pianist for the Congressional Chorus. He is also active as a collaborative pianist, continuo player, and composer, and resides in Burke, VA with his wife Suzanne and their dog, Schubert.