University Symphony Orchestra
April 29, 2003 :: No. 218
As conductor Kimo Furumoto closes his second
season with the University Orchestra at California State University,
Fullerton, the program has seen exciting growth in both enrollment
and in performances offered this year. The closing concert
is a varied one saluting our American heritage in with Copland’s
“Lincoln Portrait,” narrated by Cal State Fullerton
President, Milton A. Gordon. In choosing Copland’s “Lincoln
Portrait” and it’s narrator, Furumoto suggests, “I
think it is fitting that President Gordon, as the leader of our
University, deliver the eloquent words of Abraham Lincoln which
speak of the highest ideals of society and arouse a sense of patriotism
in the listener.” Also offering performances are this year’s
winners of the Music Associates annual Performance Awards competition—soprano
Suzanne Ma and pianist Soon Mee Kwon, and a special premiere of
CSUF graduate composer, Kenneth L. Field’s, “Song of
Ascent: A Spiritual Journey.”
Soprano Suzanne (Kyung Mi) Ma is
a senior studying voice with Andrew Parks at Cal State Fullerton.
A two-year recipient of a Lotte Johnston Scholarship, Ma has performed
with the Women’s Chorus under the direction of Vance Wolverton
has regularly with the Opera Theatre program directed by Janet Smith
and Mark Salters. Graduating this May, Ma has received a graduate
fellowship scholarship from the University of Michigan where she
plans to continue her studies in vocal performance.
Pianist Soon Mee Kwon, 21, is a student
of Eduardo Delgado at CSUF. The second recipient of the Alicia de
Larrocha scholarship, she has met and performed for the prestigious
pianist. She has been described as "a gifted interpreter of
Mozart's music," by Palos Verdes News, and has won numerous
awards including the Young Artist Guild Competition, the Southwestern
Youth Music Festival, the Long Beach Mozart Festival, the Los Angeles
Liszt Competition and the California Association of Professional
Music Teachers' Bartok and Honors Audition. As a chamber performer
she is a member of the KwonLam Trio, which has competed in the finals
at the Coleman and the Fischoff competitions.
Graduate student Kenneth Field first
studied composition in high school at Interlochen Arts Academy in
Michigan. He is currently completing his Master of Music degree
at Cal State Fullerton after graduating from the University of California,
Santa Barbara with a Ph.D. in linguistics in 1997. Recent works
include Suite for Right Hand Piano (2000); Passacaglia (2000) for
harpsichord, string quartet, and bass guitar; Meditation: Ex Nihilo
(2001) for piano and string quartet; fifty seven one (2002) a choral
piece for sixteen vocalists which incorporates extended vocal techniques
and linguistics dedicated to the victims and survivors of 9-11;
The Beatitudes (2002) for electronics; and Mass for Choir and Percussion
Ensemble (2003) - part of which will be premiered May 19th at his
Master’s Composition Recital. As a composer, he has been influenced
Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Górecki, John Taverner, and
Arvo Pärt. Of his compositions, Field says he “sees composition
as a form of prayer—listening and then speaking the eternal
Word in sound ikons or images.”
Furumoto, in addition to his teaching
responsibilities at Cal State Fullerton, is also music director/conductor
of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra in West Virginia. Previously,
he held the director of orchestral activities and chair, string
division at Ohio University, and music director of the Concert Orchestra
position at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of
Music. After completing a one-year position as conducting assistant
with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, he was invited to return
as a guest assistant conductor. He has also served as associate
conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Cincinnati
Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared as guest conductor with orchestras
both in the United States and Europe, and has worked with noted
conductors such as Leonard Bernstein and Robert Shaw.
Program: |
Prelude to Die Meistersinger ......................
Wagner
Piano Concerto No. 2 .................................. Liszt
with Soon Mee Kwon, piano
The Moldau from Má vlast ...........................
Smetana
Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana ....... Mascagni
Vedrai Carino from Don Giovanni ............. Mozart
with Suzanne(Kyung) Ma, soprano
O wär ich schoen from Fidelio ...................
Beethoven
with Suzanne(Kyung) Ma, soprano
Song of Ascent: A Spiritual Journey .......... Kenneth L. Field
Lincoln Portrait ..............................................
Copland
with CSUF President Milton A. Gordon |
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Media Contact: |
Elizabeth Champion, College of the Arts at 657-278-2434 |
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