2020–2021
MUSIC AT EMORY
This pre-recorded virtual concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts schwartz.emory.edu/virtual-stage Box Office/Audience Information 404.727.5050 • boxoffice@emory.edu
Photographs and Recordings Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted. Event and Program Information Available online at schwartz.emory.edu Cover Photo By Mark Teague Acknowledgment Eternal thanks to Donna and Marvin Schwartz for their many contributions.
2020–2021
MUSIC AT EMORY
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra Virtual Spring Concert Paul Bhasin, conductor Jessica Stinson, orchestra manager Wednesday, May 5, 2021, 7:30 p.m. Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Virtual Stage
Program Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Piano K 299 II. Andantino
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Ryan Clever, flute; Micah Blair, harp; Skyler Feng, piano Two Excerpts from the Orchestral Repertory for Winds, Brass, and Percussion Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, “Resurrection” V. Choralmässig
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)
Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 77 II. Adagio
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Rhapsody in Blue George Gershwin (1898–1937) Skyler Feng, piano Winner of the 2021 EYSO Concerto Competition with Geoffrey Haydon, accompanist Excerpts from Symphony No. 4 in F Minor III. Scherzo IV. Finale
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra As one of the finest pre-college programs in the region, the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO) supports the pedagogy of school directors and private teachers while providing additional performance opportunities and ensemble experience. In addition, all students and parents are offered the opportunity for extensive pre-college counseling, assistance with college and scholarship applications, and related endeavors. The orchestra is open to string, wind, and percussion musicians from ninth through twelfth grade. The home of EYSO is the nationally renowned Emerson Concert Hall in the world-class Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Emory’s campus, where the orchestra performs three concerts during the school year. Members receive regular sectional instruction from Emory’s outstanding roster of artist affiliates, which includes the Vega String Quartet and members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In the 2009–2010 season, the orchestra was featured on the nationally broadcast From the Top, National Public Radio’s program dedicated to the most outstanding young musicians in the country. EYSO has also been featured at Spivey Hall, performed with guest soloists from several major American symphony orchestras, and has appeared in concert with Emory’s string quartet in residence, the Vega String Quartet. In 2014, the orchestra began a regular tour cycle with a performance at New York’s Lincoln Center attended by major donors and supporters of the program, Donna and Marvin Schwartz and Ted Turner. For the 2020–2021 season, EYSO activities were 100 percent virtual. Many thanks to the fantastic roster of 51 guest artists with whom the students worked, including members of the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Vega String Quartet, along with faculty members at the Manhattan School of Music, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Emory University, and many others. Their expert guidance helped to make this concert possible.
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Skyler Feng, piano Skyler Feng is a senior at Lambert High School in Suwanee, Georgia. He began playing piano at age six and currently studies with Ping Xu of North Dekalb in Georgia. Through the course of his studies, Feng has been the prizewinner of multiple solo piano competitions such as the GMTA Pre-College Piano Auditions, the American Protégé Piano and Strings Competition, and the Southeast Young Artist Piano Competition. He was also a pianist for the Georgia State University Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Gordon Vernick and Ben Weatherford. In summer 2018, Feng attended the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival, studying under Michael Chertock from the University of Cincinnati. He was also accepted as a piano major for Georgia’s Governor’s Honor Program in 2020. Feng has received master classes from renowned pianists such as Elena Cholakova, Igor Resniaski, and Geoffrey Haydon. As the president of his school’s Tri-M Music Honor Society chapter, and a contributor to the DoReMi Project, Feng incorporates his music into community service.
Paul Bhasin, conductor Paul Bhasin serves on the faculty of Emory as director of orchestral studies. He conducts the Emory University Symphony Orchestra and the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, and he teaches conducting. Praised for his crisp, clear conducting and highly expressive interpretations, Bhasin has led a variety of university, youth, and professional ensembles throughout North America and abroad, including performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and throughout the People’s Republic of China. Bhasin’s guest engagements include appearances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, American Youth Philharmonic, Williamsburg Symphony, New Jersey Youth Symphony, and at Interlochen Arts Academy. He has also led performances as a guest conductor with members of the Richmond Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra. Ensembles under his direction have collaborated with soloists from the 6
San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Richmond Symphony. He has led honor orchestras and served as a guest orchestral clinician throughout the United States, and presented at national conferences, including the Midwest Orchestra Clinic and the National Music Teachers Association Conference. An avid proponent of chamber music, Bhasin serves as music director and conductor of the Atlanta Chamber Music Festival. He studied chamber music under the Bogomolny Award–winning American Brass Quintet (Aspen/Juilliard) and the Naumberg Award–winning Empire Brass (Tanglewood). He has performed as a chamber musician on WFMT in Chicago, Detroit PBS-TV, at universities and festivals across the United States, and with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York. His chamber music program development experience includes work with Chicago’s Music Integration Project, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Musicorps program, and residency development with both the Grammy– winning sextet Eighth Blackbird and Percussion Group Cincinnati. Bhasin is an accomplished orchestral trumpeter, having performed and recorded with the Virginia Symphony and Opera, Columbus (Ohio) Symphony, New World Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and at the music festivals of Aspen, Tanglewood, and Ravinia. With these institutions, he has performed under the batons of Michael Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, James DePriest, and Gustav Meier, among others, and participated in the conductor training program at Aspen under David Zinman and Murry Sidlin. Bhasin is also a committed trumpet teacher. His students have attended prestigious conservatories and music schools and have won first prize at major competitions, including the National Trumpet Competition. 7
He has been featured as a soloist on National Public Radio, Detroit PBS-TV, the International Computer Music Conference, at the Chautauqua Music Festival, and at the International Dvořák Festival (Prague). Bhasin has recorded as trumpeter and conductor for both the Centaur and Interscope record labels. His 2015 Centaur Records release features the music of Brian Hulse and is performed by principal soloists from the Richmond and Virginia symphonies. A forthcoming CD project with Centaur will feature Atlanta Symphony Orchestra principals as concert soloists with Emory ensembles. Bhasin’s transcriptions and arrangements are published by Balquhidder Music and have been performed and commissioned in the United States and abroad by the St. Louis Opera Theater, Grand Tetons Festival Orchestra, La Unió Musical l’Horta de Sant Marcel·lí (Valencia, Spain), and the Washington (DC) Symphonic Brass. In 2015, Bhasin composed and conducted the orchestral score to 9/23 Films’ motion picture HOGTOWN (award-winner at the Berlin, Los Angeles, and Nashville International Black film festivals). Michael Phillips of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that the film was “ . . . scored beautifully by composer Paul Bhasin . . . better than the entirety of the last few features I’ve seen, period.” In 2016, reviewer Ben Kenigsberg of the New York Times named the film a Critic’s Pick and one of the Top 10 Films of 2016. Bhasin’s previous appointments include positions at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Triton College, and the College of William & Mary. He received his musical education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan.
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Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Orchestra Manager Jessica Stinson Flute and Piccolo Ryan Clever (Pinecrest Academy) Ivy Lee (Greater Atlanta Christian School) Jumi Park (Collins Hill High School) Oboe and English Horn Emma Gordon (Hillgrove High School) Calvin Hur (Milton High School) Christopher Lee (Johns Creek High School) Clarinet Daniel Cho (Alpharetta High School) Daniel Kim (North Gwinnett High School) Jason Mok (North Gwinnett High School) Bassoon Paola Irizarry Joffre (Mill Creek High School) Vishaal Kareti (Wheeler High School) Joshua Konfrst (Norcross High School) Kasey Park (Lambert High School) Saxophone Raymond Liu (Brookwood High School) Horn Aidan Christensen (Kell High School) Andrew Jutras (North Oconee High School) Hector Montalvo (Lanier High School) Milan Ronvelwala (Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology) Trumpet Jack Ramu (Forsyth Central High School) Roman Thomas (Parkview High School) Jonah Wu (Norcross High School) Trombone and Bass Trombone Devrim Abaci (Chattahoochee High School) Christopher Park (Parkview High School) Nathaniel Wasihun (Parkview High School)
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Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Tuba Dallas Pellom (Campbell High School) Timpani and Percussion David Espinosa (Denmark High School) Alex Holloway (Cambridge High School) Piano and Celeste Skyler Feng (Lambert High School) Harp Micah Blair (DeKalb School of the Arts) Violin Aaron Beraki (Brookwood High School) Kailyn Brown (Mountain View High School) Olivia Cai (Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology) Benjamin Cha (Peachtree Ridge High School) Kevin Chen (Norcross High School) YoonJi Cho (Chattahoochee High School) David Chung (The Paideia School) Sage Codispoti (North Gwinnett High School) Samay Desai (Alpharetta High School) Zoe Gotlin (Johns Creek High School) Nevin Gregory (Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology) Jeremiah Jung (Northview High School) Revin Jun (Northview High School) Grace Kim (Lakeside High School) Jeniffer Kim (Johns Creek High School) Minjae Kim (Lambert High School) Nathan Kim (North Gwinnett High School) Erin Kong (North Gwinnett High School) Thulsy Krishnan (Homeschool) Janice Lee (Chattahoochee High School) Alicia Li (Northview High School) Lily Lin (Woodward Academy) Amy Mo (Johns Creek High School) Lucas Nyman (Starrs Mill High School) Madison Park (River Ridge High School) Emily Rader (Homeschool) Meredith Salzinger (The Paideia School) Joshua Sampson (The Weber School) 10
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Violin (continued) Daniel Seog (North Gwinnett High School) Katie Shin (Mountain View High School) Lela Stair (Duluth High School) Lucas Stancill (North Gwinnett High School) Jodie Stone (Starrs Mill High School) Caeley Woo (Chamblee Charter High School) Jeffrey Xu (Johns Creek High School) Jean Yu (Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology) Diane Zhao (Northview High School) Stephen Zhu (Walton High School) Viola Daniel Boscan (North Atlanta High School) Nicholas Chang (Duluth High School) Cadence Claar-Pressley (Tucker High School) Kevin Cromer (Woodward Academy) JaeHyun Im (Northview High School) Kyle Lynch (Union Grove High School) Ted Paek (Lambert High School) Richard Rowe III (Marietta High School) Zoe Schwartz (Woodward Academy) Hannah Smallwood (Milton High School) Cello Jonathan Fuller (Grady High School) Tyler Gemmell (Mill Creek High School) Illana Hilley (The Galloway School) Dean Kim (Lambert High School) Jihoon Kim (Peachtree Ridge High School) Owen Lear (Midtown High School) Chungin Lee (Peachtree Ridge High School) Gabriel Liu (Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology) Juwon Lim (Kennesaw Mountain High School) Fiona McElroy (Decatur High School) Khalil Payne (McEachern High School) Matthew Seo (Johns Creek High School) Emma Surbrook (Johns Creek High School) Richard Wang (Starrs Mill High School)
Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra All musicians listed alphabetically within instrument section. Bass David V. Cooper (Druid Hills High School) Aiden Johnson (Mountain View High School) Peyton Lightcap (Brookwood High School) Tendekai Mawokomatanda (DeKalb School of the Arts) Audrey Nguyen (Alpharetta High School) Frank Zhou (North Gwinnett High School) Richard Zhou (North Gwinnett High School) Audio and Video Engineering Alice Hong, DMA
Music at Emory The Department of Music at Emory University provides an exciting and innovative environment for developing knowledge and skills as a performer, composer, and scholar. Led by a faculty of more than 60 nationally and internationally recognized artists and researchers, undergraduate and graduate students experience a rich diversity of performance and academic opportunities. Undergraduate students in the department earn a BA in music with a specialization in performance, composition, or research, many of whom simultaneously earn a second degree in another department. True to the spirit of Emory, a liberal arts college in the heart of a research university, the faculty and ensembles also welcome the participation of nonmajor students from across the Emory campus. Become a part of Music at Emory by giving to the Friends of Music. A gift provides crucial support to all of the activities. To learn more, visit music. emory.edu or call 404.727.1401.
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More events coming soon to the Schwartz Center Virtual Stage schwartz.emory.edu/virtual-stage Brahms Piano Quartet in G Minor ECMSA Cooke Noontime Series May 7 at noon
The season closes with Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G Minor which includes the thrilling “Gypsy Rondo’’ Finale. Members of the Vega String Quartet with pianist William Ransom perform.
Photo by Mark Teague
The Schwartz Center is a place where teaching, learning, and performance merge to create a vital arts presence for our community. To be the first to know about upcoming 2021–2022 concerts, sign up for the Schwartz Center’s regular e-newsletter at schwartz.emory.edu. At the Schwartz Center, students, faculty, and world-renowned guest artists combine their talents and hard work to share culture, beauty, and provocative work. The arts are among the most exalted and enduring achievements of civilization, and Emory University is proud to provide a place where cultivation of the arts can thrive.
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Music at Emory Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances and events. In a typical year, Music at Emory presents more than 150 events across multiple Emory venues; however, in this challenging season, we are committed to coming together virtually for a variety of musical offerings. For spring 2021 concerts, we remain steadfast in our mission and continue to present events virtually based on guidance from Emory University and public health officials. Please visit music.emory.edu for the most up-to-date schedule and announcements.
404.727.5050 music.emory.edu