Magic happened the evening of March 8, 2007 when on 24-hour notice, Alexander Platt stepped up to the podium with the Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia and guest artists, flutists Sir James and Lady Jane Galway at the inaugural Festival of the Arts Boca.

Darned if lightning didn't strike a second time on March 11 when Platt waved the downbeat on jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. "Magic like that is rare in any musician's career," said Platt recently at the Steinway Gallery in Boca Raton. "It's what we live for. The way the orchestra did so much in such little time was absolutely amazing." Platt wasn't the only one who sensed the magic. The board of directors and patrons of the Boca Symphonia were so impressed they offered Platt the permanent position of principal conductor and artistic advisor to the three-year-old orchestra.

"Alexander Platt is a rare combination of a star on the rise and an artist with great audience rapport," explains Marty Coyne, board chairman of the Boca Symphonia. "We operate on a very limited budget, and Alexander is more affordable than a Kurt Mazur, yet he is equally talented and he has the energy and motivation to help us fulfill our mission and our vision."

Platt is a young (age 42) conductor from an illustrious family who has amassed an impressive resume in a relatively short time. Born in New York City, Platt was educated at Yale College and was a Marshall Scholar at King's College in Cambridge, England. Platt became a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen and Tanglewood Festivals. He began his career as apprentice conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Opera. He serves as music director of the Waukesha (Wisconsin) Symphony and the Marion (Indiana) Philharmonic and recently concluded 12 years as music director of the Racine (Wisconsin) Symphony Orchestra. His summers are spent at the Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, New York, the oldest summer chamber music festival in the USA.

The summer of 2007 was particularly eventful for Platt. He began in May as resident conductor of the Chicago Opera Theatre, where he led the premiere of the complex double bill of Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" and Schoenberg's "Erwartung." Platt's recording of Kurka's "The Good Soldier Schweik" earned raves in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. His "Death in Venice" earned a five-star review in the financial Times of London. His performance of John Adams' "Nixon in China" was TimeOut Chicago's No. 1 choice of the Top 10 classical music events of 2006. In July he made his New York debut in Central Park with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and two week later he made his Canadian debut at the Banff Festival. Later this year he makes his debut with the Flagstaff (Arizona) Symphony and the Lexington (Kentucky) Philharmonic.

"My main goal is to help the Boca Symphonia grow as an organic arts organization," Platt states. "Boca Raton is a kind of cul-de-sac community, but that's where Festival Boca can be a success as a high-profile, two-week event with glitz and glitter that brings the whole community together." More immediately, Platt leads the Boca Symphonia in a 2:30 p.m. Sunday concert at Roberts Theatre on the campus of St. Andrew's School, 3900 Jog Road, Boca Raton. The program includes Haydn's Symphony No. 97 in C minor, Britten's "A Charm of Lullabies" featuring mezzo-soprano soloist Julia Bentley and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major.

"They are three great pieces of music that don't have much to say intellectually, but are beautiful," says Platt. "I know Julia from Chicago, and her singing of Britten's Lullabies is simply gorgeous."