Mind and Magic is the title of the season opening concert for Toronto’s Kindred Spirits Orchestra. The opening night gala takes place October 18, and features violinist Jing Ye as soloist, with host Daniel Vnukowski.
Maestro Kristian Alexander will conduct a varied program that includes Mason Bates’ Sea-blue circuitry, Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred symphony.
Jing Ye, violin
Jing Ye, Concertmaster of the Kindred Spirits Orchestra, began playing as a child in her native China, and earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Central Conservatory of Music. She later went on to earn her Master of Music degree in Violin Performance University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Jing made her New York’s Carnegie/Weill Hall debut in 2002, and has performed recitals and as a soloist with orchestras across North America, China, Singapore, and Indonesia.
She previously played as a member of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. As a student, she was Concertmaster of the Philharmonia Orchestra of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and of the China Youth Symphony Orchestra. At 22, she became the youngest Principal Violinist of the China National Ballet Orchestra.
The Music
Mason Bates: Sea-blue Circuitry
American composer Mason Bates blends symphonic traditions with electronic soundscapes in a thoroughly contemporary style. The native of Richmond, Virginia studied composition and English literature at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. He later completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Prominent ensembles such as the San Francisco Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra have commissioned and performed this work. He composed the music for the GRAMMY-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (2017). Sea-blue Circuitry is composed in a free-flowing mode, much like the currents of water that are its inspiration, and incorporates unusual instrumentation and sounds — like chirping trumpets, and even an old typewriter.
Lalo: Symphonie espagnole
Symphonie espagnole, with its emphasis on the solo instrument, is usually treated as a violin concerto. Though he was born in Lille, France, Lalo’s family had Spanish origins. He began his career as a violinist and chamber musician, only taking on composition later in life. Opera was the king of the Parisian music scene in the mid-19th century when Lalo was active as a composer, but it would be his Spanish roots that eventually made him famous. His Symphony espagnole was written for Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasota. Lalo composed it in five movements as a kind of hybrid form somewhere between a concerto and symphonic suite. It was a success on its premiere in 1875, and would spark a wave of enthusiasm for romanticized Spanish-themed music.
Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony
In B minor is subtitled “Symphony in four scenes”. The composer wrote it in 1885 based on Byron’s poem with the same title, published in 1817, at the request of Russian nationalist composer Mily Balakirev. It’s the largest of Tchaikovsky’s programmatic works, both in length and instrumentation. Each scene depicts part of Byron’s poem, which revolves around the melancholic, alienated titular hero. From the brooding first movement as Manfred, represented throughout the work by a recurring melody, begins wandering through the mountains, the second depicts fairies in the Alps. The third movement sees him passing by pastures and the simple life of the mountain folk. The powerful finale revolves around Manfred’s vision of his own death and redemption.
The Concert: Mind and Magic (October 18)
Audiences can arrive early and stay later to add to the experience.
- 7:10 p.m. Pre-concert talk: Mihaela Cudalbu, musicologist
- 7:20 p.m. Prélude: pre-concert recital: Johann Strauss Jr., Voices of spring waltz; The blue Danube waltz with Alexander Gangurean, violin; Lusine Navoyan, cello
- Intermission discussion and Q&A with Jing Ye and Daniel Vnukowski
- Post-concert reception
Find show details and tickets [HERE].
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