Ithaca College Orchestras

Szeto, Kin

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Ithaca CollegeDigital Commons @ ICAll Concert & Recital Programs Concert & Recital Programs3-7-2019Graduate Conducting Recital: Kin SzetoKin SzetoIthaca College OrchestrasFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programsPart of the Music CommonsThis Program is brought to you for free and open access by the Concert & Recital Programs at Digital Commons @ IC. It has been accepted forinclusion in All Concert & Recital Programs by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC.Recommended CitationSzeto, Kin and Ithaca College Orchestras, "Graduate Conducting Recital: Kin Szeto" (2019). All Concert & Recital Programs. 5342.https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programs/5342Ithaca College OrchestrasOctavio Más-Arocas, music directorGraduate Recital: Kin Szeto, conductorFord HallThursday, March 7th, 20198:15 pm@ ITHACA COLLEGE School of Music ProgramFor Antonín, with Gratitude (Bohémsky) E. Jonah Bobo (b. 1997)World Premiere, IC Orchestras Fanfare ProjectChamber Symphony, op. 110a  Dmitri Shostakovicharr. Barshai(1906-1975)LargoAllegro moltoAllegrettoLargoLargo Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, op. 73 "Emperor"Ludwig van Beethoven(1770-1827)I. AllegroCelena Ho, pianoWinner of the Ithaca College High School Piano CompetitionIntermissionSymphony No. 9 in E Minor, op. 95 "From the New World"Antonín Dvořák(1841-1904)Adagio - Allego moltoLargoScherzo - Molto vivaceAllegro con fuoco Kin Szeto, conductorThis recital is in fulfillment of the degree M.M. in Orchestral Conducting. Kin Szeto is from the studio of Octavio Más-Arocas.Program NotesDmitri Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony, op. 110a   Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his String Quartet No. 8 (from which thisChamber Symphony is arranged, with the authorization ofShostakovich) in just three days, following several devastating eventsin his life. He had recently been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease,which would go on to debilitate his abilities as a pianist, and becauseof Khrushchev’s increasing pressure, he reluctantly applied to join theCommunist Party. At the time the quartet was composed,Shostakovich was near Dresden in order to compose a score for a filmregarding the bombing of Dresden during WWII. All these darkelements are present in the Chamber Symphony, from the lamentingfugue subject of the first and the last movements and violent assaultsof notes in the second movement to the sarcastic walts of the thirdmovement and the “knock of the Soviets” motive in the fourthmovement.    The piece was inscribed: “In memory of the victims of fascism andwar.” Despite this apparent dedication, Shostakovich probably had amore specific “victim” in mind: himself. There is evidence thatShostakovich considered committing suicide after returning fromDresden. Though he could not openly denounce the regime, he leaveshints in the music to suggest that the piece is a deeply personalstatement of his suffering. The aforementioned lamenting fuguesubject starts with the four-note motive: D-Es-C-H (In German, E-flat isEs, and B-natural is H), which are his initials in German: “D.SCHostakowitsch.” This motive recurs in every movement in variousform—elongated, shortened, repeated, transposed. He quoted severalof his own pieces as well, such as First Cello Concerto, Piano Trio No.2, and Symphony No. 1. Perhaps the most poignant of the quotationsis that of his opera Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk District, which wasdedicated to his late wife, heard here in the soaring cello solo.Despite the prevailing melancholy and sometimes violence, the pieceremains one of the most often performed piece of the 20th century,attesting to the power of deep emotional statements to speak acrosslarge spans of time. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 inE-flat Major   Though this concerto is universally known as the “Emperor”concerto, the name was assigned by the publisher withoutauthorizations from Beethoven. One could see how the E-flat concertowith a grand opening gesture may have been connected with thesymphony in the same key, titled “Eroica.” Regardless of its validity,the title does point to what makes the concerto remarkable—theelaborate and grandiose opening gestures played by the piano. Suchgestures were usually reserved for the end of movements in the formof a cadenza. However, in the case of the Fifth Concerto, the pianoopens with a cadenza-like statement before the orchestra plays theopening theme. He had introduced a formal innovation in the FourthPiano Concerto by having the piano play at the beginning of thepiece; here, he expands on that change and makes the pianounmistakably central in the piece right from the beginning, with all itsvirtuosity and lyricism. Program notes by Andrew J. KimAntonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9"From the New World"   The founder of the National Conservatory of Music in New York,Jeannette Meyer Thurber, brought the famous Czechcomposer—Antonín Dvořák—as the director of the NationalConservatory of Music (forerunner of today’s Juilliard School) in NewYork City in 1891. Mrs. Thurber hoped that the appointment of thiscolorful nationalist would help building a strong root of her institution,nurturing American composers, and heightening the competitivenessof compositions of her country.   During Dvořák’s contract as the conservatory’s director from 1892through 1895, he finished famous compositions such as the AmericanQuartet and Viola Quartet. However, his Symphony No. 9 “From theNew world” (popularly known as the New World Symphony) is one ofthe most eminent work of his and the genre ever. The birth of thissymphony was evoked by Dvořák’s utmost interest in music of NativeAmericans and African Americans. He first heard the spirituals fromHarry T. Burleigh, a gifted young African-American singer, whobecame one of his most talented pupils. This experience rapidlycaught Dvořák’s attention and became one of the influences of thesymphony. Whether Dvořák quotes those ideas as the actualmelodies has been a controversial topic, but Burleigh certainlyacquainted him with characteristics of the spiritual, including thepentatonic scale. The symphony is famously influenced by nativeAmerican music as well. In addition, it contains stylistic elements thatwere suggestive of Bohemian, German, and French. Despite theseeclectic musical elements, Dvořák himself once said “I should neverhave written the symphony ‘just so’ if I hadn’t seen America.   In this symphony, Dvořák treats some of the thematic materials asa unifying gesture that returns in each of the symphony'smovements. These include the soft fanfare-like horn’s theme, whichappears at the Allegro molto of first movement and the world-famousEnglish horn melody in the second movement. According to thecomposer, the programmatic elements that he uses in the second andthird movements were inspired by Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha. After a long development of the work, Dvořák brilliantly concludesthe symphony by combining the main themes from all fourmovements in a magnificent synthesis.   The New World Symphony was premiered in December 1893, at theCarnegie Hall with Anton Seidl conducting the New YorkPhilharmonic. At the premiere, the end of every movement was metwith thunderous applause and Dvořák felt obliged to stand up andbow. This performance brought the composer to the peak of hiscareer. The symphony later became a culture icon, so much so thatAstronaut Neil Armstrongtooka tape recording of the New WorldSymphony along during the Apollo 11, the first Moon landing, in1969. Program note by Kin Szeto Octavio Más-Arocas   Octavio Más-Arocas is a versatile and dynamic conductor whoseachievements demonstrate his talent and musicianship. Más-Arocas iscurrently the Music Director and Conductor of the MansfieldSymphony Orchestra in Ohio, Principal Conductor of the MarquetteSymphony Orchestra in Michigan, the Director of Orchestras andProfessor of Orchestral Conducting at Ithaca College in New York,Conductor-in-Residence at the Cabrillo Festival of ContemporaryMusic in California, and conductor of the Interlochen Philharmonic atthe Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan.    An award-winner conductor, Mr. Más-Arocas won the Robert J. HarthConducting Prize at the Aspen Music Festival, the FelixMendelssohn-Bartholdy Award, given by Kurt Masur, is the recipient ofthe Thelma A. Robinson Award from the Conductors Guild, a PrizeWinner of the Third European Conductors Competition, and a winnerof the National Youth Orchestra of Spain Conductors Competition. In2012, Mr. Más-Arocas was selected by the League of AmericanOrchestra to conduct the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in ashowcase event during the League’s National Conference in Dallas.    Chosen by Kurt Masur, Mr. Más-Arocas was awarded the prestigiousFelix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship. Consequently, he worked asMaestro Masur’s assistant with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestraand the Helsinki Radio Orchestra, and made his German conductingdebut with the Leipziger Symphonieorchester. The offer came afterMr. Más-Arocas’ New York debut concert sharing the podium withMaestro Masur and the Manhattan School of Music Symphony.    Mr. Más-Arocas served as Principal Conductor of the Green BaySymphony Orchestra, Wisconsin, and held the positions of Director ofOrchestral Studies and Opera Conductor at the Lawrence UniversityConservatory of Music in Wisconsin, Director of Orchestral Studiesand Associate Professor of Conducting at the Baldwin WallaceUniversity Conservatory of Music in Ohio, Director of Orchestras at theInterlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, Resident Conductor of theSewanee Summer Music Festival in Tennessee, and Assistantconductor of the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado. In 2013,simultaneously to his work with the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra,Mr. Más-Arocas was the Resident Conductor of the UnicampSymphony Orchestra in Campinas, Brazil, where he also was a VisitingProfessor of conducting at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas.Mr. Más-Arocas spends part of his summers in the Grand Traversearea, where he continues his association as conductor at theInterlochen Center for the Arts. In addition, he has worked with theAlabama Symphony Orchestra as a regular cover conductor.    In the last few years Mr. Más-Arocas has conducted orchestraacross North and South America and Europe including the FilarmonicaGeorge Enescu in Romania, the Orquesta de Valencia and GranadaCity Orchestra in Spain, the Leipziger Symphonieorchester inGermany, the Orquestra Sinfônica da Unicamp in Brazil, the GreenBay, Traverse City, Bluewater, Fort Worth, Spokane, Toledo, Phoenix,Memphis, Kansas City, and San Antonio Symphonies, the NationalRepertory Orchestra, the Manhattan School of Music Symphony, theorchestras of Viana do Castelo and Artave in Portugal, the InterlochenPhilharmonic, the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de MexicoPhilharmonic, the Rosario Symphony in Argentina, Kharkov Symphonyin Ukraine, the National Youth Orchestras of Portugal and Spain, thePescara Symphony in Italy, the Amsterdam Brass in the Netherlands,and the Ciudad Alcala de Henares Symphony. In addition, Mr.Más-Arocas has served as assistant conductor at the Madrid RoyalOpera House.    Mr. Más-Arocas was assistant conductor of the National RepertoryOrchestra, which he conducted in subscription, family, and popsconcerts. As the Resident Conductor at the Sewanee Summer MusicFestival he conducted the Festival, Symphony, and CumberlandOrchestras. Other festival appearances include the Aspen MusicFestival, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the FestivalInternacional Carlos Gomes in Campinas, Brazil, the Interlochen MusicFestival, the Bach Festival at Baldwin Wallace University, and theMidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music.    His ability to work, inspire, and transform young talents has leadhim to be a frequent guest conductor with prominent music educationorganizations and ensembles around the world. He has worked withthe World Youth Symphony Orchestra, the national youth orchestrasof Portugal and Spain, has conducted All-State Honor Orchestras, andhas been in residence with university orchestras in Chicago, Portugal,and Brazil. Mr. Más-Arocas has lead tours with the National YouthOrchestra “Templarios” of Portugal, the Interlochen Symphony, theBaldwin Wallace Symphony, and toured Argentina with the SilledaWind Symphony.    Mr. Más-Arocas is in demand as conducting teacher. He is on facultyon two of the world most competitive conducting workshops, theCabrillo Festival Conducting Workshop and the Ithaca InternationalConducting Masterclass, and he leads the very selective graduateorchestral conducting program at Ithaca College.    Mr. Más-Arocas is an alumnus of the prestigious American Academyof Conducting at Aspen, where he studied with David Zinman. Hecompleted doctoral studies and his main mentors include Kurt Masur,Harold Farberman, and Emily Freeman Brown.Kin Szeto  Kin Szeto began his conducting training at the Hong Kong Academyfor Performing Arts as a student of Perry So, First Prize winner of theFifth International Prokofiev Conducting Competition and formerAssociate Conductor of Hong Kong Philharmonic. His other conductingmentors include maestros Larry Rachleff, Donald Schleicher, MarkandThakar, Kirk Trevor and Tomas Netopil. In his early career, Szetoserved as a professional performer in traditional Chinese music. Hewas formerly the youngest member in the world-famous Hong KongChinese Orchestra. Szeto holds a Bachelor’s degree in Erhu andGaohu. Drawing upon his experience with Chinese music, Szetopursues a distinct and extraordinary conducting style.   As a recipient of the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Schemeand the Ithaca College Scholarship, Szeto is now pursuing his Master’sdegree in Orchestral Conducting at Ithaca College under thementorship of Professor Octavio Más-Arocas. Szeto is the co-directorof the Ithaca College Sinfonietta, guest conductor of the IthacaCollege Contemporary Music Ensemble, and cover conductor of theCornell Chamber Orchestra. He also recently guest conducted theOrchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes on a full production of IgorStravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale) in a short noticeand received great reception. He is also the assistant conductor forthe Ithaca College Orchestras and graduate assistant of conductingclasses. In addition, Szeto was awarded the title of "Hong KongScholars" and "Hong Kong Ambassador" by the Hong Konggovernment for his supreme performance in the industry. As aperformer, Szeto just won the Ithaca College concerto competitionwith the Erhu, for the first time in the long history of the college. He isgoing to perform with the Ithaca College Symphony in the comingconcert.   In past summer, with great honor, Szeto was invited to participatein conducting workshops in the renowned Cabrillo Festival ofContemporary Music and the inaugural season of Music in the AlpsInternational Music Festival.Celena Ho   Celena Ho began studying piano at age 4 with Dr. Tian Song.Celena has competed in and won many national and internationalpiano competitions such as Ithaca College Piano ConcertoCompetition; American Protégé Concerto Competition; Golden Era ofRomantic Music International Competition; American ProtégéInternational Music Talent Competition; American ProtégéInternational Piano and Strings Competition; American Association forDevelopment of the Gifted and Talented (AADGT) International YoungGifted Musician Festival "Passion of Music"; the 18th New York MusicCompetition; New York Music Teacher's Association Winners ConcertAudition; the 26th International Young Artist Piano Competition inWashington D.C.; SinoVision's Teen's Talent Show; Bradshaw & BuonoInternational Piano Competition; and the VII Chopin InternationalPiano Competition. As the winner of the competitions, Celena wasinvited to perform at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; WeillRecital Hall at Carnegie Hall; Aaron Copland School of Music atQueens College; Sam Levenson Recital Hall at Brooklyn College; andChrist & Saint Stephen's Church in New York. In 2016, Celena waschosen as part of American Protégé's Summer Gala and performed atthe distinguished Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.Also, in 2017, Celena was chosen to perform at Steinway Hall. Shehas been featured in the Sing Tao Newspaper and on Sinovision NewYork. In addition, Celena performed in the distinguished artist's, Dr.Joanne Polk's, master class (2011 & 2016). During the Summer of2018, Celena participated in the AFAF Music Festival in Europe,performing in the Schumann Museum in Zwickau, Germany andattending a master class with Professor Grigory Gruzman. She iscurrently a 10th grader of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music& Art and Performing Arts. Ithaca College Chamber OrchestraViolin I Viola BassPeter Nowak Simone Cartales Zane CarnesDaniel McCaffrey Alora Foster Katelyn Adams Emilie Benigno Maria DupreeEmily ScicchitanoCelloViolin II Wren MurrayTimothy Ryan Parham Melanie SadoffLily Mell Charlie SiegenerHenry SmithHelen Newell Ithaca College Symphony OrchestraViolin I Cello Clarinet Lucia Barrero Oliver  Grace Dashnaw § Steven FotiJenna Trunk Caroline Andrews • Emma GreyHarris Andersen Hideo Schwartz Alec TargettMasakazu Yasumoto Dylan CostaTyler Bage  Hannah Weibley Bassoon Rowan Whitesell Jennie Davis Emily Roach §Caroline Ryan Colleen d'Alelio Seth Barrett •Peter McGarry Elizabeth CarrollKatelyn Tai Katelyn Miller Horn  Marybeth MacKay Abigail Pugh Jacob FactorAidan Saltini Emma Brown-ShakleeViolin II  David Shane Elijah ZelayaAnna Lugbill Michael Zieglar Baily MackCassie Harrison Emma Scheneman Owen Lundeen (asst.)Allison Quade Margaret ChanDgybert Jean Trumpet Kathryn Andersen Bass Elliot LoweRachel Steiner Thomas Brody Shaun RimkunasAmanda Cain Adam SieglerAshley Apanavicius Matthew Suffern Trombone Katelyn Levine Sam Higgins Andrea DollingerLiam Mazierski  Ryan Petriello Matthew FloresJonathan Hoe Johanna Wiley (bass.) Viola Zachary NaughrightJessica Herman Trevor Tuba Sarah Nichols    Satchell-Sabalja   Jasmine PigottChristopher ChenSam Stein Flute  Timpani Molly Crocker Krysten Geddes • Dan SyvretMatthew Rizzo  Abby Ferri Bethany McLean § Percussion Dana Herbert (Picc.)  Giancarlo LevanoOboe Sarah PintoStefanie Nicou (Eng. • Principal in   Horn)      Beethoven   Bethany Cripps § Principal in Dvorak AcknowledgementsConcerts and Facilities      Webcasting         Erik Kibelsbeck    Luke Klingensmith   Library of Ensemble Music  Social Media    Becky Jordan    Jessica HermanGraphic Design    Emma Brown-Shaklee   Zane Carnes  * We would like to thank all faculties from the instrumentalstudios for their work.  * Particular thanks to Professor Calvin Wiersma, who coachedthe Chamber Orchestra on Shostakovich. Upcoming EventsApril 7th, 2019 at 4pm - Concerto and CompositionCompetition Winners with ICSO in Ford Hall    Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a         choreographed performance        directed by Professor Calvin Wiersma    Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44        Alexei Aceto, piano     Séjourné: Concerto for Marimba and Strings        Ujjal Bhattacharyya, marimba    Concerto for Erhu        Kin Szeto, erhu    Berrido: Danza Ritual    Rainous: Symphony for Postmoderns    Octavio Más-Arocas, conductor    Andrew J. Kim, conductorMay 5th, 2019 at 4pm - Ithaca College Orchestras and Choir inFord Hall    Beethoven: Egmont Overture    Bernstein: Chichester Psalms    Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5    Octavio Más-Arocas and Janet Galván, conductors    Kin Szeto, conductor

Graduate Conducting Recital: Kin Szeto

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Graduate Conducting Recital: Kin Szeto

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