2019-2020
CREATIVE REACTIONS CONTEST
DRAWING
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY CONCERTS CREATIVE REACTIONS CONTEST AWARD WINNERS
First Place Alyssa Cai ’20 Honorable Mention Nazdar Ayzit ’23 Eliana Gagnon ’23 Sam Melton ’23 Helen So ’22 Sandy Yang ’22
Left Serene Escape / Detail By Alyssa Cai ’20 1st Place
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Left to Right Untitled / Detail By Sandy Yang ’22 Honorable Mention Untitled / Detail By Eliana Gagnon ’23 Honorable Mention Untitled / Detail By Helen So ’22 Honorable Mention
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ABOUT THE 2019-2020 CREATIVE REACTIONS CONTEST Sponsored by Princeton University Concerts HOW MIGHT ONE visually represent the experience of going to a Princeton University Concerts event? Thirty-two Princeton University students, both undergraduate and graduate, signed up to take on this challenge as part of the sixth annual Creative Reactions Contest, one of several programs sponsored by the concert series to engage students in classical music. Getting free access to a range of Princeton University Concerts offerings — including traditional concerts, Performances Up Close with audience seated on stage, Live Music Meditations, and the Annual Chamber Jam — the students were offered the chance at a $1000 prize if they anonymously submitted a drawing of their experience, with an accompanying artist statement about their work.
Concerts, a small group of classical music-loving students whose mission is to increase student interest and participation in Princeton University Concerts programs. The contest is funded by Princeton University Concerts. Each year PUC presents a professional concert series featuring renowned classical musicians from all over the world. The Creative Reactions Contest seeks to further Princeton University Concerts’ mission by connecting students to the arts and celebrating classical music. The Creative Reactions Contest is dedicated to the memory of Vera Sharpe Kohn, a loyal member of the Princeton University Concerts Committee whose support and enthusiasm contributed to the health and well being of Princeton University Concerts.
The Creative Reactions Contest is hosted by the Student Ambassadors of Princeton University
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2019-2020 JUDGES
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Marsha Levin-Rojer Marsha Levin-Rojer is a visual artist who works and lives in Princeton, New Jersey, and is also a Princeton University Concerts subscriber. She has a background in mathematics and fine art, which includes a BA in Mathematics from Temple University and participation in the certificate program at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. The recipient of several awards for drawing and watercolor, her work has been included in the US Artists Exhibition at the Armory in Philadelphia and the NJ Arts Annual. She has exhibited widely, both regionally and internationally, and her work is held in private and public collections including the NJ State Museum, the Hunterdon Art Museum, The Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, Capital Health Regional Medical Center, and the Princeton Public Library. An active member of MOVIS, a multidisciplinary art group in Princeton, she is also a past president of the Princeton Artists’ Alliance. For PUC, Marsha created a set of three drawings-in-space entitled The Musical Line. Her most recent exhibition, Music Made Visible: Metaphors of the Ephemeral, was held at the Bernstein Gallery of the Woodrow Wilson School as part of the Gustavo Dudamel residency that celebrated PUC’s 125th Anniversary in 2018–19.
Mario Moore
Thomas G. Uhlein
Mario Moore is a Detroit native, currently residing in New York City. Moore received a BFA in Illustration from the College for Creative Studies (2009) and an MFA in Painting from the Yale School of Art (2013). He has participated as an artist-in-residence at Knox College, Fountainhead Residency, and the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.
Thomas Uhlein received a BA in Art from Penn State University and earned his MFA in Graphic and Interactive Design from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Upon earning his MFA, Tom spent fourteen years teaching visual communication as a tenured faculty member at William Paterson University. Tom is currently the graphic designer for Princeton University Concerts as well as the owner and creative director of Uhlein Design.
Moore’s work has afforded him many opportunities — from multiple exhibitions and featured articles including The New York Times. His work is included in several public and private collections which include the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Some of his solo show exhibits have been seen at the David Klein Gallery and The Urban Institute of Contemporary Art. His work is also included in Fired Up! Ready to Go! Finding Beauty, Demanding Equity: An African American Life in Art (2017) and The Studio Museum in Harlem’s catalog, Speaking of People: Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art (2014). He was awarded a Hodder Fellowship at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University in 2018.
Tom’s design work has been honored with awards of excellence in national and international publications and exhibitions, including: Print Magazine’s Regional Design Annual, Graphis, the Type Directors Club, the New Jersey Art Directors Club, the University & College Designers Association, International Academy of the Visual Arts Communication Awards, and the LogoLounge Book series.
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2019-2020 CREATIVE REACTIONS CONTEST WINNERS
Left Untitled / Detail By Sam Melton ’23 Honorable Mention
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Alyssa Cai ’20 • Serene Escape • Colored Pencil on Paper • 2020 Inspired by a Live Music Meditation featuring cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras
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FIRST PLACE Alyssa Cai ’20
Alyssa Cai is a senior in the Department of Architecture. Her winning submission, titled Serene Escape, is a colored pencil on paper drawing in response to a Live Music Meditation that she attended in February, featuring cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras. In her accompanying artist statement, she shared: “As I sat down in the soaring space of Richardson Auditorium and gazed up at the geometric scaffolding, I felt enveloped by a golden light. Jean-Guihen Queyras’ playing was beautiful, and as I settled into the sounds of the strings and the silences (a wonderful component of reflection during meditation session), I felt transported to other worlds. I could close my eyes and imagine a scene of complete serenity, an escape from the stresses of Princeton, which is what I tried to convey in my work.”
Jean-Guihen Queyras’ playing was beautiful, and as I settled into the sounds of the strings and the silences... I felt transported to other worlds. Music has always played a central role in Alyssa’s life. From a young age, her family shared music by singing and playing the guitar and harmonica. While piano remains her main instrument, she also participated in school bands on the flute and mellophone, drawn to being part of the large, rich sound of a group. She recounts participating in the Rose Bowl Parade and President Obama’s second inaugural parade with her high school band as particular highlights. And Alyssa brought her love of ensemble playing to the Princeton Pianists Ensemble during her undergraduate career. Alyssa entered the Creative Reactions Contest intrigued by the “idea of making art according to a musical experience, which is not something I’ve tried before. Working through the aural and visual inspiration of the concert ignited a fresh form of thinking and creating art — something I hope to continue experimenting with.”
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HONORABLE MENTION Nazdar Rosna Ayzit ’23
Nazdar Rosna Ayzit is a first-year student, hailing from Istanbul, Turkey. She is considering a concentration in Economics and Certificates in Creative Writing and Entrepreneurship. Having played the piano for eight years and attended classical music concerts and operas in Istanbul, she now describes herself as “an occasional performer, singing in the dorm showers.” Missing the artistic pursuits in her life which have been overtaken by the demands of her academics, Nazdar entered the Creative Reactions Contest as a way to make time for music and art and to reconnect with what she has “always loved the most: to get inspired and to create.”
Music, arts, and stories are all faces of the same complex, beautiful story of a life. The all-Beethoven program that Nazdar attended for the contest, performed by violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and pianist Alexander Melnikov, was the first concert that she attended on campus. For her, “music, arts, and stories are all faces of the same complex, beautiful story of a life,” a concept that she translated into a pencil drawing narrating an imaginary story that she found within the music. “My emotions during the concert were floating freely with the music in the air of Richardson, enwrapping and tickling each soul there until they landed on their vessel, the lady next to me. She was there alone, just like me... just after the piano began to set the scene and the cello began to flirt with the violin in all its playful nature, the perfect lady leaned her cheek to her palm and sighed. Never have I seen such a scene of palpable memory, offering the tiniest glimpse for a bystander like me to a life richer than her pearls, deeper than the auditorium. For the duration of the concert, she stayed in that pose, lost in lived moments of music.”
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Nazdar Rosna Ayzit ’23 • Untitled • Pencil on Paper • 2020 Inspired by the All-Beethoven program performed by violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and pianist Alexander Melnikov
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Eliana Gagnon ’23 • Untitled • Charcoal/Pencil on Paper • 2020 Inspired by a Performance Up Close program with pianist Gabriela Montero
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HONORABLE MENTION Eliana Gagnon ’23
Eliana Gagnon is a first-year student, who is considering a concentration either in Psychology or in the Practice of Art, with an interest in African American studies. Having always been an avid music lover, both as a violinist and as a listener of a wide range of genres, she attended a Performance Up Close program with pianist Gabriela Montero as part of the contest. This was Eliana’s first encounter with a Princeton University Concerts event.
I could feel the music coursing through my veins... Inspired by Montero’s improvisations on popular themes suggested by the audience, Eliana submitted a drawing of a representational figure through which she conveyed the eradication of distance between Montero and herself through the music. She shared in her accompanying artistic statement, “I could feel the music coursing through my veins, as though I had become one with an instrument I previously had no connection to.”
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HONORABLE MENTION Sam Melton ’23
Sam Melton is a first-year student planning to major in Civil and Environmental Engineering. As a pianist, occasional guitarist, and composer, she entered the Creative Reactions Contest to combine her passions for music and drawing. An active participant in the arts on campus, Sam writes for the Princeton Triangle Club and is looking forward to having the Princeton University Players produce a staged reading of her original musical next academic year. Although she enjoys many different styles of music, Sam has not heard a lot of live classical music before coming to Princeton. The concert that she attended for the contest, featuring the Calidore String Quartet, was the first Princeton University Concerts event that she experienced, and she looks forward to “seeing even more live classical music in Princeton in the future.”
The music felt like it disrupted the rigid columns of Richardson Auditorium — and the rigid structure of my typical day. Fond of doing architectural sketches, Sam was initially inspired by Richardson Auditorium. Hearing music within the hall compelled her to relax away from the structure and embrace a more free-flowing and colorful approach to her drawing. “The music felt like it disrupted the rigid columns of Richardson Auditorium — and the rigid structure of my typical day.” The resulting piece, a colored pencil drawing, sets four colorful musicians and a dynamic representation of their music against the detailed backdrop of the concert venue.
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Sam Melton ’23 • Untitled • Colored Pencil on Paper • 2020 Inspired by the Calidore String Quartet
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Helen So ’22 • Untitled • Digital • 2020 Inspired by a Performance Up Close program with pianist Gabriela Montero
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HONORABLE MENTION Helen So ’22
Helen So is a sophomore in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, with a deep love for music. While she has played the piano for over thirteen years, she also plays the violin and clarinet. “Music is a crucial part of my life,” she explains. “My piano is not only an instrument for artistic expression but also a dear friend, one that I can vent to with Rachmaninoff and express my joys to with Chopin.” Helen attended a recital by pianist Gabriela Montero as part of the contest, for a program that included both composers, as well as improvisations. The final improvisation was performed in dedication to the dire political situation in Venezuela, Montero’s home country.
...to illustrate that culminating moment where she took that audience connection and played that song [for Venezuela], somber with a touch of hope, with her whole being... For her artwork, Helen “wanted to capture the emotional connection Montero managed to create with the audience during her concert…to illustrate that culminating moment where she took that audience connection and played that song [for Venezuela], somber with a touch of hope, with her whole being...to illustrate her concert’s joy, darkness, and sense of reciprocity.” This was her second year participating in the Creative Reactions Contest.
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HONORABLE MENTION Sandy Yang ’22
Sandy Yang is a sophomore pursuing a concentration in Molecular Biology with a Certificate in Global Health. Having played the piano throughout her childhood, she continues to turn to the instrument as a way to de-stress and spend time with her little sister, who plays the guitar and ukulele. Sandy remembers hearing pianist Lang Lang perform live when she was in elementary school, and since then she has enjoyed attending student performances and classical Chinese music concerts. “Music and art are both incredibly close to my heart,” she shared, “and I thought the Creative Reactions Contest was an exciting and unique way to be able to connect them and to foster a sort of appreciation for music that I hadn’t before.” Sandy attended a concert in February featuring violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and pianist Alexander Melnikov as part of the contest, in her first Princeton University Concerts experience.
Music and art are both incredibly close to my heart... Describing herself as a visual person, Sandy depicted her ability to hear narrative within music in an artwork that portrayed the musicians and concert hall transforming into an imaginative landscape. As a first time participant of the contest, she encourages other students to participate in future years.
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Sandy Yang ‘22 • Untitled • Watercolor • 2020 Inspired by the All-Beethoven program performed by violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and pianist Alexander Melnikov 19/20 CRC • 21
Art During a Time of Pandemic
The Creative Reactions Contest submissions were due at the beginning of April, after students were a couple of weeks into transitioning off campus to a to a remote curriculum due to the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic. Several Princeton University Concerts events that students had signed up to attend as part of the Creative Reactions Contest had been canceled. It became all the more crucial to provide a way for students to continue to engage with the series and with art. Students who did not have the chance to attend a live event were provided with the option of submitting a creative response to the memory of a past concert or to music to which they listened at home. As a result, the contest took on a new role: a respite from the stress of adapting to this new environment. “Working on an art project that allowed me to reflect on a positive campus experience was a relief from academics and other stresses during the first few weeks home,” wrote first-place winner Alyssa. “During a time of extreme uncertainty, there is at least the constant of art and music that we can continue to share with one another.
All of the submissions printed in this booklet represent the student’s own work in accordance with Princeton University regulations.
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www.princetonuniversityconcerts.org
SINCE 1894, the music of history’s most revered composers has been performed by the world’s most celebrated artists at Princeton University. In its 126-year history the series has presented many of the classical music world’s most important musicians, including violinist Isaac Stern, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the Budapest String Quartet and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy. Today, an extraordinary roster of musicians make their Princeton debuts each season and join this pantheon. Among them are some of the most highly regarded artists of our time...young musicians on the cusp of sensational careers...and riveting performers pioneering new forms of expression.
Marna Seltzer Director John Burkhalter Subscription Manager Kerry Heimann Operations & Patron Services Manager Dasha Koltunyuk Marketing & Outreach Manager Deborah Rhoades Accounts Manager Tom Uhlein Graphic Designer
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2019-2020 CREATIVE REACTIONS CONTEST www.princetonuniversityconcerts.org