Yale Music in Asia
The School of Music undertook two ambitious
pre-Olympic projects simultaneously this summer in Asia. (See "Overture to the Olympics.")
"Musicathlon: The Conservatory Music Festival" was presented jointly by the
Yale School of Music and Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM), and
over a two-week period featured concerts, lectures, and master classes from ten
of the world's most renowned conservatories. In the meantime, the Philharmonia
Orchestra of Yale gave concerts in Korea and China, converging in Beijing with
the Musicathlon in its final days.
Musicathlon concerts ranged from
orchestral programs to chamber music and solo recitals, often showcasing the
national musical heritage of the participating conservatories. Alongside concerts,
each conservatory offered lectures for the general public and master classes
for young Beijing musicians. From Yale, horn professor William Purvis presented
a master class at the Central Conservatory, and Yale faculty percussionist
Robert Van Sice, with four members of Yale percussion, offered both a master
class and mini-recital.
The Musicathlon's concluding event
was a performance of Mahler's Second Symphony at the National Performing Arts
Center on July 24, featuring the Yale Philharmonia, members of CCOM's orchestra
and chorus, and Yale alumni singers Heather Buck ’96MusM and Mary Phillips
’93MusM, both on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera. CCOM faculty member
Yongyan Hu, a former student of the Yale School of Music, conducted.
Before that historic concert, the
Philharmonia had already been in Asia for more than a week. Taking up residence
in Seoul, the 92-piece orchestra spent four days with music director Shinik
Hahm rehearsing its tour program of music by Bernstein, Dvorak, Beethoven, and Saint-Saens,
along with three national anthems and encores based on folk tunes of the host
country. The Korean encore was an arrangement by Professor Thomas C. Duffy of a
folk song interwoven with "America the Beautiful," and in China the orchestra
played an arrangement of "Valley Mountain Sky" by Derrick Wang ’08MusM. The
Korean leg of the journey ended with a sold-out concert in the Seoul Arts
Center, featuring Korean violinist Sun-Mi Chang ’08MusM.
The Philharmonia then traveled to
Beijing where it performed its first Musicathlon concert to a sold-out house at
the Forbidden City Concert Hall. Then, after the July 24 Mahler concert, the
orchestra flew to Shanghai and played its fourth and final concert at the
Shanghai Grand Theater. The soloist at the Forbidden City and in Shanghai was
one of the school's most prominent alumni, the internationally renowned cellist
Jian Wang ’88Cert.
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