Statue of Liberty ($100 - $249) Nathaniel CHASE, Hyun Joo JUNG & Jongku LEE, Ung Jin KIM, M.D., Christopher & Sharon Lee, Mielle Lee, Brian & Nancy McGREGOR, Kichol PARK & Inja KIM, Alanna STONE, William A. VERDONE, Anonymous Brooklyn Bridge ($50 - $99) Lorenza FELTON, Eun Joo KIM, Paul & Chuja KIM, Myung Ja MOON, Beth NAM Many thanks to the 11 individuals who became Friends of Ensemble 212 by contributing up to $49 last season.
Ensemble 212 would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their assistance in preparing for this evening’s performance: Chen CHU, Geumbee LEE, Mielle LEE, Il Chun & Sook Hee LEE, Karl WATSON The Bloomingdale School of Music, The Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church Visit our online boutique at www.instantencore.com/ensemble212. You can listen to recordings of past concerts, view our upcoming schedule, pictures, and much more! Get exclusive special offers to our upcoming concerts by joining our mailing list. You may sign up on our website: www.ensemble212.org Ensemble 212 is a proud participant in the WNYC, New York Public Radio® *STAR* Initiative. WQXR & WNYC’s Salute The Arts Ar Initiative is a free program that profiles small, cultural, non-profit organizations in the New York Metropolitan Area through on-air promotional announcements and website support.
MEET THE ARTISTS Yoon Jae LEE enjoys a multifaceted career as conductor, arranger, pianist, and musical entrepreneur. As Founder & Artistic Director of Ensemble 212, Mr. Lee has built the New York based orchestra into one of today’s finest young ensembles. Together they have received critical acclaim for innovative programming featuring works by living composers, arrangements of Mr. Lee, and exciting interpretations of the standard repertoire. Mr. Lee is a dedicated champion of new music. He has conducted numerous New York and world premieres of works by award-winning composers including Mohammed Fairouz, Huang Ruo, Daniel Felsenfeld, and KeChia Chen. This season, he is collaborating with composer Texu Kim as part of Ensemble 212’s Composer in Residence program. His list of appearances as guest conductor include the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Opera on Tap, New England Conservatory and has collaborated with distinguished artists including Nick Canellakis, D’Anna Fortunato, David Krakauer, members of the Attacca, Borromeo, Orion String Quartets, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Most recently, Mr. Lee was appointed Principal Conductor of the Albano Ballet Company in November 2014. Mr. Lee’s arrangements have been praised by audiences and critics alike. His orchestral transcription of Mendelssohn’s Octet “Incorporated winds and brass.....intelligently”, claimed David Patrick Stearns of the Philadelphia Inquirer when performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The New York Times described his chamber version of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony as “Illuminating..... with solos leaping out in unusually bold detail.” He is currently engaged in “The Mahler Chamber Project” to arrange all the symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde for chamber orchestra and is projected to be completed by 2020. A native of New York City, Mr. Lee is a second-generation Korean-American. He received degrees in piano and conducting from the Mannes College of Music where he was awarded the N. T. Milani Memorial Conducting Fellowship and the Peter M. Gross Fund. Mr. Lee also studied at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria. During that time he served as Assistant Conductor to the Salzburger Kammerphilharmonie. His conducting mentors include Dennis Russell Davies, David Zinman, Samuel Wong, David Hayes, Michael Charry, Murry Sidlin, and Arkady Leytush. Mr. Lee has participated in Kurt Masur’s conducting masterclass, the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute led by his keen interest in historical performance practice. He currently serves on the faculty at the City College of New York (CUNY).
Kyunghun KIM is the Music Director of The Doctors Orchestral Society of New York, the Principal Associate Conductor of Ensemble 212 (New York-based orchestra) and the Music Director of Ensemble Con Cuore, a chamber orchestra based in South Korea. He also holds a position as the Orchestra Director and string faculty at Lehman College in New York. Mr. Kim frequently appears as a guest conductor with major Korean orchestras such as the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, the SungNam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Korean Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Kim gave the World Premiere performance of a new chamber reduction of Gustav Mahler’s Second symphony by Yoon Jae Lee with Ensemble 212 and the Young New Yorkers' Chorus was hailed by SoundWordSight as “excellent performance”. Mr. Kim has held positions as Resident Conductor for The Chelsea Symphony Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor for both The Greenwich Village Orchestra and The New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble. Additionally, he has conducted The Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Queens Symphony Orchestra. Before graduating from The Julliard School in 2011 with a Masters in Orchestral Conducting with James DePriest, Mr. Kim was an assistant conductor of AXIOM, a contemporary music ensemble at the Juilliard School and was a conductor of the same school’s Music Advancement Program (MAP) orchestra during 2009-2011. Prior to this, he earned an Artist Diploma in Conducting in 2007 from The Curtis Institute of Music, under the auspices of Otto-Werner Mueller where he was an assistant conductor for a variety of opera projects. Born in Seoul, Korea, Mr. Kim began studying piano, violin, and composition at the age of five with his mother and later attended and graduated from Sunhwa Arts High School in 1995. While continuing his study in the U.S., his diverse musical interests and skills led him to different positions: pianist for the musical theater at The Boston Conservatory, where he holds a B.M. in viola performance; principal violist of The Boston Conservatory's Orchestra. He has attended numerous festivals, including the Wiener Meisterkurse (with Salvador mas Conde), The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (with Marin Alsop), and The Pierre Monteux School (with Michael Jinbo). In February of 2012, Mr. Kim was chosen as a participant in a Beethoven masterclass with Kurt Masur at the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to this, Mr. Kim has participated in master classes with Michael Tilson Thomas, Alan Gilbert, John Keenan, and Harold Farberman and he also was chosen as a semi-finalist and participated in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s the Sir. George Solti International Conducting Competition & Apprenticeship in June 2013. Mr. Kim currently lives and works in New York City.
Supporters of Ensemble 212 2014-2015 Season Grand Central ($5,000 - $9,999) George ROCKMAN, Esq., Anonymous Central Park ($1,000 - $4,999) Yoon Jae LEE Rockafeller Center ($500 - $999) Ok Hee KIM Times Square ($250 - $499) Etty & Jacob BOUSSO, Gary A. & Jane A. COLLIER, Anonymous Statue of Liberty ($100 - $249) Anonymous, Hai Won CHANG, Daesun KIM, Michelle LEANG, James YOO & Geumbee LEE, Eddie & Robin LOUIE Brooklyn Bridge ($50 - $99) Thomas GUTOWSKI, Sarah S. KANG, Paul & Chuja KIM Many thanks to the 2 individuals who became Friends of Ensemble 212 by contributing up to $49 this season. Current as of 2015-03-01
2013-2014 Season Grand Central ($5,000 - $9,999) George ROCKMAN, Esq., Anonymous Central Park ($1,000 - $4,999) Yoon Jae LEE Rockafeller Center ($500 - $999) Etty & Jacob BOUSSO, Hai Won CHANG, Gary A. & Jane A. COLLIER, Ok Hee KIM, Dr. Chul W. & Soon A. LEE, Peter & Soo Youn LEE, Daniel SOUZA, James YOO & Geumbee LEE, Anonymous, Campustar (U.S.A.) Inc. Times Square ($250 - $499) Marilyn IVY
Harry STAFYLAKIS (b. 1982, Montreal) is a Canadian-American composer based in New York City. Described as "dreamy yet rhythmic" (NY Times), his concert music strives for dramatic emotional and intellectual expression, integrating idioms drawn from classical and popular styles. With an intimate background in progressive metal and traditional Greek music, Stafylakis has developed a unique conception of musical temporality and rhythm, infusing his compositions with a characteristic vitality and drive. Stafylakis's works have been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, McGill Chamber Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, FSU Symphony, ICE, Mivos Quartet, Cadillac Moon Ensemble, Cygnus, Lorelei Ensemble, and American Modern Ensemble. He has been featured at New Music on the Point, Atlantic Center for the Arts, June In Buffalo, Composers Now, Providence Premieres, EAMA, York Guitar Festival, Cluster, and the Montreal International Classical Guitar Festival. Awards include the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, four SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers, and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and NYSCA. In 2015-16, Stafylakis will be composer-in-residence of the McGill Chamber Orchestra and National Academy Orchestra. Stafylakis holds a B.Mus. from McGill University. He is a doctoral candidate and Graduate Teaching Fellow at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, studying with Jason Eckardt and David Del Tredici, and serving on the music faculty at City College of New York. His doctoral research, supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, examines the conception of rhythm and meter in progressive metal. ––www.hstafylakis.com
ENSEMBLE 212 Board of Directors Yoon Jae Lee, President; William Verdone, Secretary; Kyunghun Kim, Dorothy Krakauer, George Rockman Esq., Legal Council Administrative Staff Chen CHU, Media Coordinator; Mielle LEE, Public Relations Coodinator Ensemble 212 301 West 45th Street #7J New York, NY 10036 646 266 9632
www.ensemble212.org info@ensemble212.org
Texu KIM’s works have been performed by Ensemble Modern (Commission, Germany 2012), Ensemble Intercontemporain (France 2012), Aspen Contemporary Ensemble (Colorado, USA 2012), Ensemble Reconsil Vienna (Austria 2013), Alarm Will Sound (Missouri, USA 2014), NOTUS: Contemporary Vocal Ensemble at Indiana University (Ohio and Indiana, USA 2014), Contemporary Directions Ensemble (Michigan, USA 2013), Indiana University Symphonic Choir (Indiana, USA 2013), Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Commission, South Korea 2011), Ensemble TIMF (Commission, Korea 2007/13), etc. His music has earned awards and honors from SCI/ASCAP Commission Competition (Winner, New York, New York, USA 2014), Mizzou International Composers Festival (Selected Composer, Missouri, USA 2014), The American Prize (Winner, Danbury, Connecticut, USA 2014), OSSIA NEW MUSIC Composition Competition (First Prize, New York, USA 2014), C4 Commissioning Competition (Finalist, New York, USA 2014), Gamma-UT Conference and Concert (Selected Composer, Texas, USA 2014) Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute (Selected Composer, Minnesota, USA 2012), the Aspen Music Festival and School (Fellowship Recipient, Colorado, USA 2012), Isang Yun International Composition Prize (Special Prize, South Korea 2009), Joong-Ang Music Concours (First prize, Korea 2006), Tongyeong International Music Festival Asian Composers Showcase (Selected Composer, Korea 2013). His upcoming performances include those by Minnesota Orchestra (Minnesota, USA 2015), C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective (New York, USA 2015), Butler University Chorale (Indiana, USA), in Ensemble Reconsil Exploring The World Festival (Austria 2015). Recently, he was appointed Composer in Residence of Ensemble 212 in New York as well as the Korean Symphony Orchestra, which will premiere two of his orchestral pieces in 2015. Along with his contemporary music, Mr. Kim’s arrangement/orchestration works have been commissioned and performed widely, as in the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games (Russia 2014), Insbrook Music Festival (Missouri, USA 2013), in Piece & Piano Festival (Korea 2012), by New York Classical Players (New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, and Los Angeles, USA 2014) and Ensemble Mode (Illinois, USA 2012), to name some recent examples. His arrangements are featured on three albums of soprano Sumi Jo – “Libera (Deutsche Grammophon-labelled, 2011)”, “Ich Liebe Dich (Decca-labelled, 2010)”, and “Missing You (DG-labelled, 2009)”. He has also participated as an arranger in albums of Harpist Jung Kwak (2011), Daegum (Korean traditional wind instrument) player Jeong-Seung Kim (2011), violinists Suyoen Kim (DG, 2010), Chee-Yun (Decca, 2008), pianist Yeol-Eum Son (2008), to name a few. Additionally, he wrote more than 50 songs for toddlers, which were published by Bicycle Korea (2008). Texu’s principal teachers are Claude Baker, Sven-David Sandström, David Dzubay, Unsuk Chin, and Sangjick Jun. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in composition with minor in electronic music and music theory at the Indiana University Jacobs
School of Music, where he served as an Associate Instructor in music theory as well as the president of Student Composer Association. He holds a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in composition from Seoul National University, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. In 1998 he was a silver medal winner at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Melbourne, Australia. For more information on Texu Kim and his music, please visit www.texukim.com. Hailed by music critic Kyle Gann as a “precociously interesting composer”, Erica BALL’s works have been heard across the country in Chicago, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Her music has been performed by numerous ensembles including the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Colorado Quartet, the Arneis Quartet, pianist Blair McMillen, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and the American Symphony Orchestra. Erica’s choral work Adon Olam was awarded the Helen L. Weiss Award by the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. Her concerto for viola was awarded the David Halstead Prize for best composition by the University of Pennsylvania in 2013. Erica holds a BA in Music from Bard College, where she studied with Joan Tower. During her studies at Bard she was awarded the Theodore Presser Award, the college’s highest award for musical excellence. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in composition as a Benjamin Franklin Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studies with Jay Reise, James Primosch, and Anna Weesner. Erica is the Mellon Graduate Education Fellow for the 2014-2015 academic year. In addition to her work as a composer, Erica remains active as a violinist, pianist, and educator, with a special interest in bringing contemporary music to new audiences. Leo GEYER is a 23-year-old London born composer and conductor. He studied on the prestigious Joint Course at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music, graduating with The Soroptimists International of Manchester Award for Composers/Conductors. Leo also attended the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts to study conducting with Prof. Uroš Lajovic. Leo has been awarded various accolades for composition including the RNCM Gold Medal Award, ESO & PRS Composition Competition and the Philip Bates Prize. Leo has written for ensembles including Psappha Ensemble, Opera North and the Manchester Camerata. His music has been performed in the US, Austria and across the UK, including at the 20x12 Olympic New Music Weekend, Aldeburgh Festival and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Recent composition projects include a work for the BBC Singers, an aria for Opera North and a dance piece for Rambert Dance Company.
Leo works at The Royal Opera House as a cover conductor for The Royal Ballet as well as holding conducting positions with the Settle Orchestra and Khymerikal (contemporary chamber ensemble). He is also the Artistic Director and co-founder of Constella Ballet & Orchestra, whose performances have received critical acclaim including the production of Leo’s opera The Mermaid of Zennor, which was hailed by The Times as “imaginative and beautifully shaped”. Recent conducting engagements include covering Manon with The Royal Ballet, a live broadcast of Leo’s Sideshows on the BBC Radio 3 with Khymerikal and a triple bill production at Sadler’s Wells with Constella Ballet & Orchestra. Composer and pianist Anthony GREEN works primarily with sound textures in dynamic processes. His approach to composition comprises an awareness and respect of the past co-mingled with a desire to push for the new of the present and the future. His 100+ works have been performed, workshopped, and diffused in over a dozen countries by ensembles and soloists such as Ashleigh Gordon, Guido Arbonelli, ALEA III (with Gunther Schuller), the Playground Ensemble, Écouter, Ossia New Music Ensemble, the Fidelio Trio, members of Ensemble Mise-en and the Callithumpian Consort, and Alarm Will Sound, to name a few. He has been a resident artist at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. He is also the co-founder, co-artistic director, and composer-in-residence of the new Boston-based organization "Castle of our Skins", dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music. As a pianist, he has performed as a soloist, vocal accompanist, chamber pianist, and orchestral pianist at venues such as Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Amsterdam Conservatory, Steinway Hall in New York City, and other venues in the US, the Netherlands, and South Korea. He actively premieres works by students and colleagues, and has personally worked with David Liptak, George Crumb, and Steve Reich for performances. More information can be found on www.anthonyrgreen.com. Adrian MOCANU was born in Kyiv, Ukraine on August 30, 1989. He graduated from Kyiv International University in 2010 with a degree in cinematography. In 2014, he graduated from the National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts with a Master’s degree in musicology and a graduate work “The phenomena of the creative work of composer Alexander Mosolov in the context of artistic processes in early XXth century”. Adrian Mocanu is currently a student at the P. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, studying music composition with Professor Yuri Ishchenko. Besides some evident theatrical and picturesque qualities of his music, one of his most important musical interests is the fascination with Eastern culture and its fusion with Western composition techniques.