| Background: |
In collaboration the fourth annual Merging Voices:
Women in New Music Festival, Cal State Fullerton’s
University Orchestra together with faculty cellist Bongshin
Ko and the University Singers present a special concert—A
Celebration of Women in Music. In conjunction with the
concert renowned composer Joan Tower will offer a special
a pre-concert lecture.
With conductor John Alexander opening the concert,
the University Singers and Orchestra will offer selections
by Holst, Ravel and two unpublished works by Lili Boulanger
which were premiered by the Pacific Chorale under the
direction of John Alexander. The second half of the
orchestra concert, with Kimo Furumoto at the helm, highlights
two extraordinary women in music — Joan Tower
and her work For the Uncommon Woman, and cellist Bongshin
Ko who recently returned from a whirlwind tour of Europe.
She will be performing one of the public’s favorite
concertos, Dvorak’s concerto in B minor.
Born in 1938, Joan Tower is at the
forefront of today's contemporary music scene. Her bold
and energetic music, with its striking imagery and novel
structural forms, continues to win large, enthusiastic
audiences. In addition to commissions from nearly every
major orchestra in the United States and several around
the world, she has received grants from the Guggenheim
and Koussevitsky Foundations, among others. She was
a founding member of the Da Capo Chamber Players, winners
of the 1972 Naumburg Award, with whom she played piano.
She is currently the Asher Edelman Professor of Music
at Bard College, where she has taught since 1972. In
her work For the Uncommon Women Tower pays tribute to
adventurous women who take risks.
"Achieving an identity in music depends on risk,"
explains Tower. "If you don't take any risks, your
particular compositional talents never shine through.
Of course, the word 'risk' is a very complicated and
subjective one, and it can lead you to compose music
that is alternately aggressive, lyrical, simple, or
complex. Creating 'high-energy' music is one of my special
talents; I like to see just how high I can push a work's
energy level without making it chaotic or incoherent."
Praised by critics for her “mastery of the instrument”
with “great warmth and beauty,” cellist
Bongshin Ko has appeared worldwide as a soloist and
chamber musician. She has performed and taught at music
festivals throughout the world, including Schleswig-Holstein
Musik Festival, Kronberg Cello Festival, American Cello
Congress, Silva Centennial Celebration and Seoul International
Music Festival. She has collaborated in performance
and recording with Sir George Solti, Mstislav Rostropovich,
Gunter Schuller and others. Serving as a chairperson
of the American String Teachers Association Annual Solo
Competition regional finals Ko is assistant professor
of music, and teaches cello at California State University,
Fullerton.
The University Orchestra, directed
by Kimo Furumoto, is dedicated to the training of outstanding
instrumentalists in the performance of a wide range
of styles in the orchestral repertoire. In addition
to the regular concert series, the orchestra collaborates
in performances with university choruses, Opera Theater,
CSUF faculty-artists and internationally renowned guest
artists. Students are regularly presented with numerous
opportunities to study orchestral repertoire in master
class settings with CSUF faculty artists, regional professional
orchestra musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic
and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra as well as internationally
acclaimed performers and teachers including Yo-yo Ma,
Fredell Lack, the Turtle Island String Quartet and others.
The 55-voice University Singers have
toured Europe, as well as Canada, Hawaii and the United
States. Under the direction of John Alexander, they
performed with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Pacific
Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and this
year marks the fifth consecutive season they’ve
joined the Boston Pops on their Holiday Pops concert
tour. Internationally acclaimed for their exquisite
musicianship they have been invited to perform at conferences
and conventions throughout the world. |
