February 2019

Esther Yoo & OCM

THE VIRTUE OF EXTOLLING SOMETHING SMALL

Repertoire

J. SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto, in D minor, op. 47
A. DVORÁK: Symphony No. 8, in G major, op. 8

Performers

Orquestra Simfònica Camera Musicae
Clara-Jumi Kang, violin (New Soloist)
Tomàs Grau, conductor

Programme notes

For reasons beyond the Orquestra Simfònica Camera Musicae, violinist Esther Yoo cancels her performance due to illness.

Korean violinist Clara-Jumi Kang will be replacing Yoo at all concert dates with the OCM. An artist of impeccable elegance and balance that has built a great international career, acting with main orchestras and directors of Asia and Europe.

She has been awarded at the Tchaikovky International Contest 2015 and the International Indianapolis Violin Contest 2010. She has also been awarded with the first prizes in the Seoul Violin Contest (2009) and the Sendai Violin Contest (2010).

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Having the opportunity to listen to whom, in 2010, became the youngest awarded violinist of the prestigious Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition. So, performing this composer’s violin concerto is a joy and an honour.

Sibelius and Dvořák occupy a prominent place in the history of music for having far exceeded the challenge that musical nationalism set at the end of the 19th century: to achieve a balanced and coherent combination between the traditional and the modern. Finland and the Czech Republic obtained with these two composers an unprecedented international relevance in terms of musical creation, so that they turned that ‘small’ national music of those two ‘little’ countries into something infinitely bigger and irreplaceable.

The three movements of Sibelius’s extremely difficult Concerto (1903-1904) combine technical virtuosity and expressive demands with melodies inspired by traditional culture and the orchestration of great romantic composers such as Brahms. In the four movements of the Dvořák symphony (1889) we will be able to hear the influence on the rhythm of the Bohemian dances and the folk-inspired melodies in a symphony that stands out for its cordial and affectionate atmosphere.

Biography Clara-Jumi Kang

An artist of impeccable elegance and poise, Clara-Jumi Kang has carved an international career performing with the leading orchestras and conductors across Asia and Europe. Winner of the 2010 Indianapolis International Violin Competition, Kang’s other accolades include 1st prizes at the Seoul Violin Competition (2009) and the Sendai Violin Competition (2010).

Having made her concerto debut at the age of five with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Kang has since performed with leading European orchestras including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Belgique and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

In the USA she has performed with orchestras including the Atlanta, New Jersey, Indianapolis and Santa Fe Symphony Orchestras, whilst elsewhere highlights have included appearances with the Mariinsky Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, NCPA Beijing Orchestra, Macao Philharmonic and the Taipei Symphony.

A prominent figure in Korea, Clara-Jumi Kang has performed withall ofthe major Korean orchestras and in 2012 was selected as one of the top 100 “Most promising and influential people of Korea” by major Korean newspaper Dong-A Times. She returns annually to Korea for tours and was awarded the 2012 Daewon Music Award for her outstanding international achievements, as well as being names Kumho Musician of the Year in 2015.

She has collaborated with eminent conductors including Valery Gergiev, Lionel Briguier, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Andrey Boreyko, Christoph Poppen, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Temirkanov, Gidon Kremer, Gilbert Varga, LüJia, Myun-Whun Chung, Heinz Holliger and Kazuki Yamada.