Wednesday, March 19, 2025
19.00h
Sala Oriol Bohigas – Ateneu Barcelonès
Carrer de la Canuda, 6, Barcelona
American classical music represents not only a diversity of styles but a diversity of identities, and musicians from all over the world who make the United States their home in the last century have enjoyed a unique integration of academia and philosophy with composition and performance.
One of the least explicitly stated questions that has been repeatedly explored is the diverse relationships people can have to music, rather than just the compositional intent in the musical work.
This program highlights this variety of experiences through voice (literally and figuratively) in humorous, poetic, and virtuosic contexts to celebrate American composer-performer-philosophers of the last 100 years
Concert Program
Sarah Gibson: you are still here for solo violin |
Leonard Bernstein: A Cycle of Five Kid Songs 1. My Name is Barbara |
Matthew Aucoin: Poem, Op. 1 for solo violin and voice |
Michelle Ross: Vignettes 1. Toujours Pour la Première Fois |
Charles Ives: Violin Sonata No. 2 1. Autumn |
Albert Markov: “Porgy” Rhapsody |
Marc Migó: Tres romances |
Personnel
Max Tan, violinist
Taiwanese-American violinist Max Tan has been praised as “eloquent” (New York Times) and “warmly rhapsodic” (Boston Globe) for “rhetorical playing that transcends the barlines” (Wieniawski Gazette). Forging a varied career as performer and educator, he has performed internationally on some of the world’s most venerable stages, soloing with the Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, The Juilliard Orchestra, amongst others. His performances have been broadcasted on WQXR (New York), WFMT (Chicago), WSMR (Sarasota), Musiq3 (Belgium), Polish Radio and Radio Poznan (Poland).
Recipient of the 2023 Gershen Cohen Violin Award, Dr. Tan made his Carnegie Hall recital debut with pianist Marisa Gupta on April 3, 2024. Notable festival appearances include La Jolla Summerfest, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, YellowBarn, Chelsea Music Festival, and Prussia Cove. He has given the premieres of works by important living composers in North America and Asia, including Sur la corde raide by French composer Jean-Frederic Neuberger, Phylogenie by Japanese composer Misato Mochizuki, Night Scenery by Chinese composer Sang Tong, and chamber works by Catalan composer Marc Migó. His writings about music have appeared in The Juilliard Journal in New York and L’education musicale in France, as well as Juilliard School Library Manuscript Treasures: By and for Performers published by Scala. Dr. Tan’s dissertation research centers on the provenance of unpublished arrangements of Chausson’s Poème and other notable works for violin, piano, and organ by Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, the first recordings of which will be released in the coming months. His performances of these newly uncovered works have taken place in New York and Sarasota, Florida. In October 2023, he gave a lecture-performance on Ysaÿe’s arrangement of Chausson’s Poème at the Tianjin Juilliard School’s library opening, and also taught seminars on performance practice to students at Tianjin Juilliard and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
A Harvard alumnus and current doctoral candidate at Juilliard, Mr. Tan is founder and artistic director of Soundbox Ventures, which launched the Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program, the 2024 Suncoast Composer Festival, as well as the Listen Hear Salon Concerts series. He is concertmaster of Opera Philadelphia and assistant faculty of violin and chamber music at Juilliard’s Pre-College, in addition to maintaining his private studio. His mentors at Juilliard include Catherine Cho, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman.
Jung-A Bang, pianist
Praised for her “charming and uncompromised virtuosic playing” by the Calgary Herald, pianist Jung-A Bang has appeared in prestigious concert halls across the world as a soloist and collaborative artist. Jung-A has performed in iconic venues, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall; Merkin Hall in New York City; Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center; Jordan Hall in Boston; Chicago’s Cultural Center (live-streamed by WFMT;) and IBK Hall at Korea Arts Center and Ewon Arts Center, both in Seoul, Korea.
As an avid chamber musician, Jung-A has spent summers at the Perlman Music Program as their Young Artist Fellow and at the Banff Chamber Music Residency Program with her duo, L’étoile, where her performances were praised for “forging a new path with the music and teaching not only a different way to play repertoire, but a new way for its audiences to listen too.”
Jung-A’s recent concert appearances include playing with the Rockport Festival Chamber Orchestra, where she was invited to perform recitals with the festival chamber orchestra, led by Earl Lee, the assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and violinist Danny Koo. At the NPR’s From the Top Showcase at Jordan Hall in Boston, Jung-A was invited to perform as a guest artist alongside renowned musician such as soprano Lauren Michelle and cellist Tony Rymer. She is also a frequent guest artist at the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, where she performed duo and chamber recitals with cellist Eunghee Cho and violinist Zenas Hsu.
As a sought-after collaborative pianist, Jung-A has worked on numerous concerts and recording projects with renowned musicians such as Radu Paponiu, Artistic and Music Director of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Julia Yang, the cellist of the renowned Merz Trio. Jung-A has also served as a staff pianist at the Banff International Music Program, the Aspen Music Festival, and prestigious music schools such as The Juilliard School and New England Conservatory. Her exceptional collaborative skills and ability to seamlessly blend her playing with other musicians have earned her a reputation as a reliable and versatile pianist who can excel in any musical setting. Jung-A’s passion for collaborative work extends beyond performance, as she also regularly engages in pedagogical collaboration with her colleagues and students to bring new perspectives and insights to their musical studies.
Jung-A earned a Bachelor of Piano degree from New England Conservatory, a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from The Juilliard School, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from New England Conservatory. Currently, she is a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Walnut Hill School for the Arts, where she continues to inspire and educate students while sharing her love of music through collaborative work and performances worldwide.
Marisa Karchin, soprano
Soprano Marisa Karchin is a compelling performer of contemporary music, art song, and opera. She is a doctoral student at The Juilliard School and a recipient of the 2023-24 Presser Award for her project bridging chamber music and environmental initiatives on Governors Island. An avid proponent of new music and interdisciplinary performances, she has performed diverse chamber music at Juilliard, including Pierrot Lunaire and Unsuk Chin’s Akrostichon-Wortspiel at Alice Tully Hall, and has recently performed with dance company Jody Oberfelder Projects, the Brooklyn New Music Collective, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Da Capo Chamber Players. She has premiered many works with the Chelsea Music Festival, and has held artist residencies at Yellow Barn and Avaloch Farm Music Institute with her chamber music collective, Glass Clouds. Marisa was awarded first prize in the 2018 Joy in Singing International Art Song Competition, and has been an artist in residence with Dayton Opera and Opera Saratoga.
