The Korean Cultural Society of Boston Presents A Classical December Evening at Jordan Hall

BOSTON - Oct. 15, 2013 - PRLog -- Boston, MA--The Korean Cultural Society of Boston will present "A Classical December Evening at Jordan Hall" on Friday, December 6, 2013, 8 PM at NEC's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston.  This brilliant concert program will feature pianist HaeSun Paik, cellist Yeesun Kim, violinist Nicholas Kitchen, harpist June Han and violist Julianne Lee, in a variety of intriguing chamber and solo settings within a program that features compositions by Martinů, Young Ja Lee, Beethoven and Johannes Brahms.  Tickets at $50, $30 and $15 are on sale now at http://kcsboston.org, at www.tix.com, at the Jordan Hall Box Office at 33 Gainsborough Street or by calling: 781-223-4411.  Jordan Hall is wheelchair accessible.

"A Classical December Evening at Jordan Hall" will open with a wonderful duo--the wife and husband team and highly-regarded Borromeo String Quartet members, Yeesun Kim and Nicholas Kitchen.  They will perform Martinů's Duo No. 1 for Violin and Cello, H. 157.  When Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů wrote this piece, he was still an avid experimenter and often individual movements within Duo No. 1 show stylistic variation. The Preludium (Andante moderato) unfolds smoothly but with strikingly dissonant harmonies. The more traditional Rondo (Allegro con brio) moves with vital, pulsing rhythms that suggest Czech folk influences. Martinů wrote the duo for two virtuoso musician friends and the technical possibilities of the instruments are exploited to their fullest extent in the two brilliant cadenzas.

The next piece on the program will be a Boston Premiere.  Aquarelles pour Solo Harp, written in 1995, will be performed by harpist June Han. Winner of the 1986 Korean Composers Prize, composer Young-Ja Lee is also June Han's mother. Lee studied at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris, the Conservatoire Royale de Musique de Bruxelles and the Sorbonne, where she obtained a DEA Degree in musicology.  Currently, Lee is the chairman of the Korea National Committee of the Asian Composers' League, a member of the International Zonta Club and Contemporary Music Society in Seoul and the Vice President of the Korea National Music Committee of the International Music Council.  "I have tried on a plain water color canvas to portray a real life of a beautiful artist, who led a warm and peaceful life and reached the twilight of his life.  Passionate, intelligent, reasonable, yet reserved and sometimes fiery and fierce, these aspects of his long voyage were woven colorfully in these five pieces of music and which will reflect like a rainbow blessing upon all of us," writes Lee, as she describes her composition written for a professor named Sung-Jae, on his 70th birthday.

Pianist HaeSun Paik will perform Beethoven's 15 Variations and Fugue in E-flat major, 'Eroica,' Op. 35.  Composed in 1802, the piece is comprised of a set of fifteen variations for solo piano.  They are commonly referred to as the Eroica Variations because variations on the same theme were used as the finale of his Symphony No. 3 Eroica, composed the following year.

And finally, Brahms's G minor Piano Quartet will conclude the program with pianist HaeSun Paik, violinist Nicholas Kitchen, violist Julianne Lee and cellist Yeesun Kim.  Composed around 1857, Brahms modified the traditional sonata form with an abundance of themes. Depending on how you count, the exposition contains as many as four distinct themes. It also has a "false" development section, followed by a repeat of the opening theme, then the real development section. It's as if Brahms were daring the commentators to figure out the form.

About HaeSun Paik

Pianist HaeSun Paik has been hailed as a "sensitive and thinking musician first and an awesome technician second" by the Los Angeles Times, with a “big and individual personality” by the New York Times and whose performances are "a wonder-elastic, mercurial, charged with meaning, surprising” by the Boston Globe. Having won top prizes at such international piano competitions as the Queen Elisabeth, Leeds, William Kapel, and the Tchaikovsky, Ms. Paik has performed concerts around the world in solo recitals, concerti with orchestra, and as a chamber musician.

About Yeesun Kim

Hailed by the New York Times for her "focused intensity" and "remarkable" performances, cellist Yeesun Kim enjoys worldwide acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher.  A founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet, Ms. Kim has performed in over 20 countries, and in many of the world's most illustrious concert halls and Festivals.

About Nicholas Kitchen

Violinist Nicholas Kitchen's performing has taken him to over 30 countries all around the world.  He has performed in many of the world's great concert halls, among them the Berlin Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, Dvorak Hall in Prague, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Library of Congress in Washington.

About Julianne Lee

Julianne Lee has a distinctive career as both a violinist and violist, appearing frequently as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.  Currently Acting Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony, she has been a member of the violin section since 2006. Ms. Lee has toured with the Marlboro Music Festival as well as multiple international tours with the Australian Chamber Orchestra as Guest Principal Violist. In past summers she has been invited to perform at numerous music festivals including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber music at the Banff Centre, and the Marlboro Music Festival.

About June Han

Native Korean harpist June Han is an active proponent of chamber and contemporary music. She is a member of Ensemble Sospeso, Sequitur Ensemble, Ensemble 21, Manhattan Sinfonietta and Riverdale Sinfonietta, and has also performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Speculum Musicae, Music from Japan, the Group of Contemporary Music, Mabou Mines, Bronx Art Ensemble and Jupiter Chamber Players. An active orchestral player, she has collaborated with Orchestre de Paris, Kirov Opera Orchestra, Marinsky Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel and New York City Opera and frequently performs with the New York Philharmonic.

About the Korean Cultural Society of Boston:

The Korean Cultural Society of Boston strives to introduce and promote Korean arts and cultural forms to a broad spectrum of New England audiences and to promote and support professional Korean-American literary, visual and musical artists.  In addition the Korean Cultural Society strives to enhance the education of Korean culture and arts. Established on Sept. 8, 2012, the Korean Cultural Society of Boston is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (pending).