Nazareth College's Department of Music presents "The Best of East and West" Sunday, January 18

Related Media

Mimi Hwang, Nazareth College Department of Music

ROCHESTER, NY (12/23/2014)(readMedia)-- Nazareth College's Department of Music is pleased to present The Best of East and West as part of its Faculty Recital Series on Sunday, January 18, 2015, at 3 p.m. in the Gerald G. Wilmot Recital Hall. The concert will feature Nazareth College Department of Music faculty Mimi Hwang (cello), who will be joined by Patricia Sunwoo (violin), David Brickman (violin), Melissa Matson (viola), Natasha Farny (cello), and Elinor Freer (piano) in performing Sound of the Five by Chen Yi, as well as works by Debussy, Arensky, and Zhou Long.

This performance is free and open to the public.

The The Best of East and West program will consist of:

• Sound of the Five by Chen Yi

• Wild Grass by Zhou Long

• Four Pieces by Russian composer Anton Arensky

• Cello Sonata by Russian composer Claude Debussy

Sound of the Five by Chen Yi is written for solo cello and string quartet, and was commissioned by the Eastman School of Music for the Ying Quartet and Hwang. It was premiered in Kilbourn Hall in November 1998. The piece includes four movements-Lusheng Ensemble, Echoes of the Set Bells, Romance of Hsiao and Ch'in, and Flower Drums in Dance-which were written for Western instruments to reproduce the sound of traditional Chinese instruments.

"While it's always exciting to have a piece written for you, I haven't played this in a while and wanted to share it with the Nazareth and Rochester communities," Hwang offered. "I decided to design a program around it, hence the East/West theme. The challenges lie in creating the sounds of the Chinese instruments, something I don't do very often. Although I am of Chinese descent, I was born and raised in Los Angeles and did not grow up hearing these instruments. I'm learning how to imitate them as any Westerner would."

Joining Hwang in performing Sound of the Five will be Patricia Sunwoo (violin), David Brickman (violin), Melissa Matson (viola)-the three are her colleagues in the Amenda Quartet-and Natasha Farny (cello).

The other East-themed piece on Hwang's program is Wild Grass by Zhou Long for solo cello, which she described as being "based on the forward of the same name by the Chinese writer, Lu Xun."

Married to each other, Chen Yi and Zhou Long both serve on the composition faculty at The Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The West-themed works on the program are by Russian composers Anton Arensky and Claude Debussy. Hwang described Arensky's Four Pieces as "gems; romantic in style and lyrical (Arensky's greatest musical influence was Tchaikovsky)." The final piece, Debussy's Cello Sonata, was one of the composer's later works and is a staple in the cello repertoire.

"Both Arensky's and Debussy's works suggest influences from both the Near and Far East, with the use of modes and pentatonic scales," Hwang said of her decision to include these works.

Pianist and frequent collaborator, Elinor Freer will join Hwang on the Arensky and the Debussy.

ABOUT MIMI HWANG

The daughter of Chinese immigrants, cellist Margery (Mimi) Hwang was born and raised in Los Angeles. She was a founding member of the Franciscan String Quartet, first-prize winner of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and top prizewinner of the Evian International String Quartet Competition. The Quartet performed in concert halls throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Casals Hall in Tokyo. The Quartet held the position of Wardwell Fellows at the Yale School of Music and was Quartet-in-Residence at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, where Hwang was on the faculty of the Department of Music. She has recorded for Verdi Records. She has also performed with the Tokyo, Ying, Colorado, and Ciompi Quartets, as well as Raphael Hillyer, Laurence Lesser, and Michael Tree. She was a member of the Peabody Trio, winners of the Naumberg Chamber Music Award. As a soloist, Hwang has performed with the Beijing Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. She received her master's degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a bachelor's degree with distinction at the New England Conservatory of Music, and studied with Bonnie Hampton, Laurence Lesser, Paul Katz, and Eleonore Schoenfeld. She was a founding member of the Cello Divas and Quartos and has appeared in the Aspen, Banff, Norfolk, Roycroft, Skaneateles, and Yellow Barn festivals.

Hwang is currently a lecturer in Music at Nazareth College, an assistant professor of Chamber Music at the Eastman School of Music, and a founding member and cellist of the Amenda Quartet. She is also Co-Artistic Director of Yellow Barn Music School and Festival's Young Artists Program, a three-week summer chamber music program for talented high school student, held in Putney, Vermont. Ms. Hwang serves on the Board of Trustees of the Rochester Area Community Foundation, where she chairs the Program-Distributions Committee. She also serves as a Trustee of the Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester and lives in Brighton with her two daughters.

ABOUT THE NAZARETH COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

The Department of Music at Nazareth College integrates intensive studies in music (musicianship and performance), with professional programs and the liberal arts, for a truly unique experience that prepares students for careers in music and equips them with the skills to share the art of music in a variety of capacities.

Each degree program is designed to prepare students not only for careers within the various degree areas, but also for exciting endeavors that will perpetuate and sustain the art of music in local and global communities.

The department is a vibrant community of musicians focused on the art of music, the professional domains of knowledge within the musical career areas, and the relationship of these areas to the liberal arts. For more information, visit: www.naz.edu/music.

ABOUT NAZARETH COLLEGE

Nazareth College's academic strengths cross an unusually broad spectrum of 60 majors, including education, health and human services, management, the fine arts, music, theater, math and science, foreign languages, and the liberal arts. The coeducational, religiously independent, classic campus in a charming suburb of Rochester, N.Y. challenges and supports 2,000 undergrads and 800 graduate students. Nazareth is recognized nationally for its Fulbright global student scholars and commitment to civic engagement. Rigorous programs, an uncommon core, experiential learning, career skills, and a global focus prepare graduates for not just one job, but for their life's work. For more information, visit naz.edu.

# # #