PROGRAM:
Josef Sekon – Spin
Erich Wolfgang Korngold – Violin Concerto, feat. Nancy Zhou
Antonín Dvořák – Symphony no. 8
Classical music is always evolving, always being transformed by its many interpretations. Our Adaptations concert on November 2/3 will take us to a higher level of insight. Join Santa Cruz Symphony and Music Director Daniel Stewart as we explore the interplay of culture and art with works by Antonín Dvořák, Erich Korngold, and Josef Sekon.
Our dazzling soloist Nancy Zhou, Santa Cruz Symphony's own Artist in Residence and Concertmaster, will perform Erich Korngold's Violin Concerto—a piece originally premiered by famed violinist Jascha Heifetz. We'll also present the world premiere of Spin by Santa Cruz composer Josef Sekon. Finally, Antonín Dvořák's vibrant and lyrical Symphony no. 8 will blend Bohemian folk influences with lush Romantic orchestration, showcasing the composer's mastery of melody and orchestration.
This will be an unforgettable program to enchant your senses and elevate your spirit!
Free open rehearsal of Adaptations:
Friday, November 1 at 7:30 PM at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz
No reservations required
Evening performance of Adaptations:
Saturday, November 2 at 7:30 PM at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz
Pre-concert talk at 6:30 PM
Matinee performance of Adaptations:
Sunday, November 3 at 2:00 PM at the Henry J. Mello Center in Watsonville
Pre-concert talk at 1:00 PM
ABOUT OUR FEATURED SOLOIST
Santa Cruz Symphony’s Artist in Residence and Concertmaster Nancy Zhou has been described as “a probing musical voice infused with searing virtuosity.” Her musicianship resonates with a global audience and brings her on stage with leading orchestras worldwide.
Born in Texas to Chinese immigrants, Nancy learned the violin from her father. At 13 years old, Nancy made her orchestral debut with her hometown San Antonio Symphony. Later, she studied with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory while pursuing literature at Harvard University. She is an Associated Artist of the Queen Elisabeth Chapel, where she studied with Augustin Dumay.
Nancy has collaborated with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Munich Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and many more. She has performed with stellar conductors such as Jaap van Zweden, Sakari Oramo, Peter Oundjian, Eun Sun Kim, Christoph Poppen, and others of equal stature. She has performed at many international music festivals. In 2017, she was guest artist and faculty at Encore Chamber Music Festival. In 2018, she won the Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition.
Nancy loves chamber music and guiding young musicians. She holds master classes and private classes and serves as a guest educator at summer festivals. She teaches students all over the world from her online studio.
An explorer of nontraditional works, Nancy presented Zhao Jiping's first violin concerto and gave the US premiere of Unsuk Chin's "Gran Cadenza" for two solo violins with Anne-Sophie Mutter. She will soon perform Chen Qigang's "La joie de la souffrance" and has commissioned composer Vivian Fung to write a work for solo violin and electronics. The goal is to explore the intersection of Nancy's personal family oral history, folk minority culture, and music.
ABOUT OUR FEATURED GUEST COMPOSER
Aptos resident Josef Sekon received his Bachelor of Music from Kent State University, and his Master of Music in Composition and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois. He has taught at UC Santa Cruz, Cabrillo College, and the Federal University of Bahia in Salvador, Brasil. He has had seminars with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez. Since 2015, he has been Artistic Director of the Aptos Keyboard Series, featuring performances by more than 20 international pianists.
Sekon was Guest Composer in Residence in "The Music from Almost Yesterday" at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and was Guest Composer at the "East Meets West Festival" at University of Florida, Tampa. He served on a panel of judges with the Costa Rica Symphony Orchestra, choosing the Costa Rican Composition Contest winner.
His compositions include chamber works, a set of 12 solo piano works, a string quartet with a world premiere in 2021 by the Del Sol Quartet, and The Aptos Sound Project, which had its world premiere in 2022 under the baton of Maestro Danny Stewart and Santa Cruz Symphony.
ABOUT ERICH KORNGOLD
An Austrian composer who led the way in expanding the Romantic style, Erich Korngold’s innate talent was often compared with Mozart’s. Both Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss proclaimed him a musical genius at an early age. After earning accolades for composing operas and instrumental music in his youth, Korngold had a change in direction when he traveled to the US and quickly became a highly respected film composer in Hollywood. He completed 16 film scores and won Oscars for Anthony Adverse (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). His lush, operatic scores changed film music for many years; one of his scores even influenced John Williams’ work on the Star Wars (1977) project.
As World War II ended, Korngold retired from cinema music and began once again to compose for the concert and opera stage. His first completed piece was the Violin Concerto, and it became his most popular work. Famed violinist Jascha Heifetz played the premiere with the St. Louis Symphony in February 1947 to tremendous acclaim. One critic thought that the concerto would rival the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in concert halls.
By the later 1940s, Korngold’s lush, post-Romantic style had fallen out of favor except in the movies, but the 1980s his music experienced a revival. He is now considered the last great Romantic composer.
ABOUT ANTONIN DVORAK
A discussion of Antonín Dvořák's music often includes comparisons with other composers: the Classical sensibilities of Beethoven and Schubert, the Romantic instrumental mastery of Brahms, and the early fascination with Wagner and Liszt. True as these observations may be, they tend to veil the unique and truly original talent Dvořák possessed.
Dvořák's compositional output reveals several strengths. He was a master at orchestration, deserving to be placed on the same level as Berlioz, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Ravel. He developed concepts of melody, harmony, and rhythm that, while maintaining their Czech roots, spoke clearly in a more international language than many other "nationalistic" composers. Light-hearted spontaneity always reigned, as opposed to the more somber, intellectual use of Austrian folk materials by Brahms.
Symphony No. 8 is a good example of Dvořák at his most spontaneous. He developed the general structure of the entire symphony in about ten days. It took only 17 days to sketch out all the music, and one more month to finish all the orchestration details. This short compositional time does not mean that the symphony is not full of interesting ideas. The last movement is a complex exploration of form involving several variations interspersed with melodic twists and turns. Themes are often presented, then not developed as would be expected in a Germanic symphony.
Dvořák made an interesting statement about this work: he wanted to create "a symphony different from my other symphonies with individual thought worked out in a new way." Although the new ideas are abundant, they are still contained within the Classical framework that was always part of the composer's music. His Symphony no. 8 was premiered in Prague on February 2, 1890, with Dvořák himself at the head of the orchestra.