A Classical Concert Inspired by Photographer Helene Schmitz’s “Thinking Like A Mountain”
Ticket Available Here
Friday, 6th March
Doors open 6:30pm, Concert Begins at 7pm
FotograFiska New York 6th Floor
281 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10010
Duo for Violin and Cello, op. 7 (25’)
Zoltán Kodály (1882 – 1967)
******** Intermission **********
Sonata for Violin and Cello - Second Mvt (4’)
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
Three Pieces for violin and cello (6’)
Sven-David Sandström (1942 - 2019)
Passacaglia for violin and cello duo (7’)
George Frideric Handel – Johan Halvorsen (1864-1953)
Performers
Nancy Zhou violin
James Kim cello
Friday, 6th March
Doors open 6:30pm, Concert Begins at 7pm
FotograFiska New York 6th Floor
281 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10010
Duo for Violin and Cello, op. 7 (25’)
Zoltán Kodály (1882 – 1967)
******** Intermission **********
Sonata for Violin and Cello - Second Mvt (4’)
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
Three Pieces for violin and cello (6’)
Sven-David Sandström (1942 - 2019)
Passacaglia for violin and cello duo (7’)
George Frideric Handel – Johan Halvorsen (1864-1953)
Performers
Nancy Zhou violin
James Kim cello
Chinese-American violinist Nancy Zhou, emerging as one of today’s outstanding talents, is rapidly building an international profile after winning the inaugural Harbin International Violin Competition and the Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition in 2018. The past 18/19 season saw Nancy performing with the Shanghai Symphony/Jaap van Zweden and the Sichuan Symphony/Darrell Ang, as well as making her debut in Poland with the Grammy award-winning Kalisz Philharmonic/Adam Klocek. To cap off 2019, Nancy made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York String Orchestra/Jaime Laredo. Highlights from this season include Nancy’s debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival, Kansas Symphony/Peter Oundjian, San Diego Symphony/Eun Sun Kim, IRIS Orchestra/Michael Stern, Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra/Lio Kuokman, and Italy-based Padua Chamber Orchestra. Recital projects will bring Nancy to Korea, Russia, Spain, and Portugal. Additionally, she will go on tour with Long Yu and the China Philharmonic in the winter of 2020. To conclude the year and celebrate the centennial of Isaac Stern, she will collaborate with the Osaka Philharmonic under the baton of David Stern. From an early age, Nancy already gained experience by performing with an impressive list of orchestras. After making her debut in her hometown with the San Antonio Symphony at the age of 14, she went on to perform with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony, Tapiola Sinfonietta, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Shenzhen Symphony, among others. Among the conductors with whom she has collaborated are Sakari Oramo, Christoph Poppen, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Jurjen Hempel, Muhai Tang, Sebastian Lang-Lassing, and Ken-David Masur. Alongside projects as a soloist, Nancy holds interest in chamber music and in providing guidance to young musicians. Since 2015, she regularly visits Taiwan to give masterclasses. In 2017, she was invited by the Encore Chamber Music Festival to serve as guest artist and faculty member. As a recitalist, she has visited the Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Festpiele Mecklenburg-Vorpormmern, Festival de Coimbra, and the Marvao Festival. Currently, Nancy plays on a Joseph Guarneri violin from 1730-33 known as the “Le Sphynx”, which has been generously loaned to her from a private sponsor. |
Possessing “admirable tone and accuracy” (James Oestreich, New York Times), James Kim has performed concerti with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony and Royal Philharmonic in major venues in the United States and in Korea, working with conductors such as David Zinman, Michael Sanderling, Alexander Shelley, Matthias Bamert, Julian Kovatchev, and others. A recipient of Salon de Virtuosi’s Sony Career Grant and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship, James Kim made his first international appearance at the 2006 David Popper International Cello Competition in Hungary, where he received First Prize. He was a top prizewinner and special prize recipient in the 2015 Isang Yun International Cello Competition. He has given solo recitals at Kumho Art Hall, WQXR Greene Space, and Carnegie Hall. His Carnegie Weill Hall recital debut at age 19 sponsored by Yale School of Music received rave reviews, such as "this astonished and experienced connoisseur realized that James Kim is a miracle. Never before have I encountered such winged ease, such airborne joy, such silken smooth bowing and tone production. All of these facets were present at the service of stylistic knowledge, bracing rhythmic thrust and most importantly, an inviting warmth and modest honesty" (Harris Goldsmith, New York Concert Review). He is a member of Ensemble DITTO and Sejong Soloists. Upon graduating with an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School, where he serves as Studio Teaching Assistant to Joel Krosnick, he studies with Philippe Muller at Manhattan School of Music, where he is currently pursuing his Doctoral degree. He performs on a Matteo Goffriller cello from Venice ca. 1715, generously loaned by The Samsung Foundation of Culture of Korea and The Stradivari Society® of Chicago, Illinois. |
About the program
The programming is inspired by the exhibition “Thinking like a Mountain” by Helene Schmitz.
The program opens with the duo for violin and cello by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. His pioneering work in the study and collection of ethnic music – no one had cataloged and collected them so methodically before – this involved visiting remote villages in the mountains, often with close friend Bela Bartok, and recording folk songs by convincing the locals to allow allow them in.
The success of using folk tones to connect musicality and compositional language with the villages and the countryside has preserved the precious “nature of sound”. With the expansion of cities and progression of capitalism villages are facing complex issues everyday. Followiing a brief intermission – Ravel’s sonata will resonate with the work Turnings of fire, Transitions, Winter Forest, Abstractions, Untitled, The Plantation. The usage of the pizzicato in this movement recreates the visual of these photos sonically. The evening will conclude with Passacaglia’s duo for violin and cello will speak to the work “Thinking like a mountain”.
The historical background of the studies of Kodaly echoes strongly to Helene Schmitz’s exhibition “Thinking like a Mountain”. Helene says, “I wanted to portray the violent transformation of landscapes in the northern regions of Sweden and Iceland in our time. In my life, I have experienced that the concept of wilderness, and virgin land untouched by humans, has disintegrated.”
The program opens with the duo for violin and cello by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. His pioneering work in the study and collection of ethnic music – no one had cataloged and collected them so methodically before – this involved visiting remote villages in the mountains, often with close friend Bela Bartok, and recording folk songs by convincing the locals to allow allow them in.
The success of using folk tones to connect musicality and compositional language with the villages and the countryside has preserved the precious “nature of sound”. With the expansion of cities and progression of capitalism villages are facing complex issues everyday. Followiing a brief intermission – Ravel’s sonata will resonate with the work Turnings of fire, Transitions, Winter Forest, Abstractions, Untitled, The Plantation. The usage of the pizzicato in this movement recreates the visual of these photos sonically. The evening will conclude with Passacaglia’s duo for violin and cello will speak to the work “Thinking like a mountain”.
The historical background of the studies of Kodaly echoes strongly to Helene Schmitz’s exhibition “Thinking like a Mountain”. Helene says, “I wanted to portray the violent transformation of landscapes in the northern regions of Sweden and Iceland in our time. In my life, I have experienced that the concept of wilderness, and virgin land untouched by humans, has disintegrated.”
About Fotografiska
Fotografiska is an internationally renowned destination for photography, founded in Stockholm in 2010 and now expanding globally – first to Tallinn Estonia and now to New York City. More Info Here