Noted violinist Soovin Kim returns for VSO Masterworks Series concert

American violinist Soovin Kim will be guest soloist for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Masterworks Series opening concert on Saturday, October 24 at the Flynn Center in Burlington.  It is fitting that this young star will launch the 75th anniversary season for the VSO.  A Vermont Youth Orchestra alumnus, he returns to Vermont to team with his former teacher, VSO Music Director Jaime Laredo who will conduct the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor by Jean Sibelius.  This exciting concert, rescheduled from a March 2008 snowstorm blackout, includes Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish” by Robert Schumann and Radiance by VSO New Music Advisor David Ludwig.   VSO Principal Oboist Nancy Dimock will perform as oboe soloist.  The concert at the Flynn Center begins at 8:00 p.m.

Soovin Kim is a talented young player who, building on the early successes of his prize-winning years, has emerged as a mature artist, equally gifted in concerto, recital, and chamber music repertoire.  Kim was scheduled to perform the Sibelius concerto last year when Burlington was shut down by a heavy snow storm.  The power went out just before the concert was to begin, but for the loyal audience that remained Soovin Kim went on to play Chaconne by J. S. Bach in the near-dark theater.  It was one of those breathtaking moments in music one never forgets.

Born in the United States (and raised across Lake Champlain in northern New York) into a family of non-musicians, Soovin Kim was given a violin at age 4, at his request.  At 15, he was accepted to the Cleveland Institute of Music, and ultimately moved to the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Jaime Laredo and received his Bachelor of Music Degree in 1999.  He has worked with some of the finest pedagogues and artist-teachers in the world blending qualities from various violin traditions.  His musical activities encompass a wide range of repertoire from Bach to the works of living composers.  Kim’s fifth recording was released last year.  Today he plays on a 1709 Stradivarius, the “ex-Kemper.”

Nancy Dimock regularly performs throughout the northeast.  She has served as  principal oboist of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, has performed on the Prairie Home Companion radio show and PBS Great Performances television broadcast, and

on numerous recordings.

Composer Jean Sibelius, Finland’s greatest composer, was born in 1865.  He described himself as a “dreamer and poet of nature.”  His love of nature, fierce nationalism and reverence for Finnish history and myth, were evident in his musical works.  His only violin concerto, written in 1903, belongs to the romantic tradition of the 19th century, and requires a particularly high level of technical facility on the part of the soloist. 

German composter Robert Schumann may be the purest embodiment of early romanticism in music.  His “Rhenish” symphony is derived from impressions of festive life in the Rhineland where he moved with his wife, noted pianist Clara, and children to serve as music director in 1850.  It is a work characterized by joyousness, exuberant fancy and extraordinary inventiveness.  The first movement contains brightly colored music, with parts resembling a good-humored peasant dance.  A later theme, the so-called “cathedral scene” inspired by a visit to the newly completed Cologne Cathedral, reflects religious solemnity.   It is a triumphal work, especially considering the mental disorder already disturbing the unhappy composer.

The music of contemporary composer David Ludwig has been performed internationally by leading musicians in some of the world’s most prestigious venues. Ludwig wrote Radiance in upstate New York during the summer of 2003.   “That area of the world is alive with glowing, radiant things in the summertime,” Ludwig says, “and these fireflies, stars, long sunsets, and burning campfires became one with the piece and inspired the title.”  In this luminous piece Ludwig sought to capture the warm evening and its incandescent surroundings in a short work for oboe and string orchestra.   Ludwig was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, received a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory, and his Masters Degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music.  He continued post-graduate work at The Curtis Institute of Music and the Julliard School, and recently completed the doctorate program at the University of Pennsylvania.  He joined the faculty of The Curtis Institute in 2002 where he serves as the Composition Department Coordinator.  Ludwig also serves as the VSO’s New Music Advisor.

A free pre-concert discussion, “Musically Speaking,” moderated by Walter Parker will be held at 7:00 p.m. for members of the audience.  The discussion will feature Jaime Laredo, David Ludwig and Soovin Kim, who will provide entertaining insight into the music, composer and musicians themselves.

Concerts by the VSO are made possible in part by the State of Vermont and individuals, businesses and foundations throughout Vermont.  Vermont Public Radio is the co-sponsor for the 2009/2010 season.  WCVT-FM is the 2009/2010 media sponsor and Northfield Savings Bank is the co-sponsor of the series.  Additional support is provided by the Concert Artists Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, and the Lintilhac Foundation.  The October concert is also made possible in part by Kittell Branagan & Sargent, and by Edwin and Nancy Colodny and Dr. and Mrs. Edward S. Emery, III.

Subscriptions for the five-concert Masterworks series range from $68 to $269, $40 for students.  Single tickets for the October opening start at $16.  For additional information or tickets, please call the FlynnTix Regional Box Office at (802) 86-FLYNN (863-5966), the VSO office at 800-VSO-9293, extension 10, or visit the new VSO website at www.vso.org.

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