The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing ArtsSTEPHEN A. SCHWARZMAN, Chairman

MICHAEL M. KAISER, President

Patrons are requested to turn off pagers, cellular phones, and signal watches during performances.

The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in this auditorium.

TERRACE THEATER

Saturday Evening, October 29, 2005, at 7:30

25th Anniversary Galawith

International Sejong SoloistsHyo Kang, Music Director

andChee-Yun, Violin

Program

David Diamond Rounds for String OrchestraAllegro, molto vivaceAdagioAllegro vigoroso

Astor Piazzolla Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, (Arr. Leonid Desyatnikov) “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”

in F minor, Op. 80Otoño porteñoInvierno porteñoPrimavera porteñoVerano porteñ

Chee-Yun, Violin

Intermission

Franz Schubert String Quartet in D minor, D.810, (Arr. Gustav Mahler) “Death and the Maiden”

AllegroAndante con motoScherzoPresto

International Sejong Soloists performance is made possible in part by the support of theRepublic of Korea’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Samsung Electronics America, Inc.

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Notes on the ProgramBy Bob Massey

David Diamond’s Rounds for String Orchestra(1944) filled a special request. DimitriMitropoulos had been conducting a heavyslate of twelve-tone pieces with the Min-neapolis Symphony. It was, the conductorwrote, distressing music for distressing times.And he was fighting deep depression. “Writeme a happy work,” he instructed Diamond.

In those days, a “happy” work might bethe kiss of death for a composer. The SecondViennese school reigned, and tonal, post-Romantic music was dismissed as naïve,sentimental, even pandering. An astringent,medicinal sound was the vogue.

But an unhappy man doesn’t care abouttheory. So Diamond approached this post-Romantic piece with especial rigor. A tightlycomposed work, it employs canon and fugue,as suggested by the title. But Diamond re-frains from obvious melodic choices to en-sure a bright, but never saccharine, melody.

The three-movement piece is bookendedby two Allegro movements that pulse withinfectious enthusiasm and energy. They sup-port the poignant middle section like a pairof soldiers holding up a wounded comrade,bantering encouragement. The lovely, lyricalAdagio is an acknowledgement that hardtimes will come. But the third movement isa rousing, optimistic display that points theway forward.

Diamond’s approach worked. After aBoston Symphony performance of the piece,The New York Times critic Olin Downes pro-nounced it “admirably fashioned, joyous andvernal…there is laughter in the music. Andno waste notes!” Rounds has remainedDiamond’s most popular work ever since.

Astor Piazzolla, too, struggled with thetastemakers of his day. Feeling insecure as acomposer of populist tango music, he im-mersed himself in Bartók, Stravinsky andAmerican jazz. Like Aaron Copland, ElliottCarter, Virgil Thomson, and other buddingmodernists, he sought out the great Frenchteacher Nadia Boulanger.

In her wisdom, she sent Piazzolla home.His contribution to music, she said, wouldbe through his mastery of tango. In shortorder, he stirred the tango world into a frenzyby treating his modernist, jazz-inflected tangoas chamber music, rather than accompaniment

for dancers. So hated was this idea thatPiazzolla actually came to blows with a famousdancer of classic tango, Jorge Vidal.

Public success came slowly, but a fellowartist—playwright Alberto Rodriguez—com-missioned music for a new play. Critical re-ception to the piece, Verano Porteño,(“Buenos Aires Summer”) was so positivethat Piazzolla eventually wrote three more,named for the seasons, and assembled theminto a suite called Cuatro estaciones porteñas(“The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”).

Originally scored for violin, electric guitar,piano, bass, and bandoneon (a relative of theaccordion), the pieces remain rooted in Ar-gentinean dance. But their sly references toVivaldi, their nods to Gershwin and Elling-ton, and their sparkling modernism givethem a singular presence, wholly distinctfrom their influences. At once smoky, melan-choly, and vibrant, they conjure visions oftheir namesake city.

The set is frequently programmed as anexotic companion to Vivaldi’s Four Seasonsviolin concertos and has become a favoritework among Piazzolla’s sizeable body oftangos. But their success was hard won.

Yet, in their time, Piazzolla’s tangos haveenjoyed far more recognition than FranzSchubert’s string quartet received in his.Though he surrounded himself with friendsand admirers of his talent, Schubert’s workwent largely overlooked outside his nativeVienna. And in 1824 Schubert was sufferinga daily battle with his failing health. The Ro-mantic movement, with its view of death asone aspect of the cycle of life, was in fullbloom. Death was fashionable, and it temptedSchubert with promise of relief.

For this string work, Schubert took thethemes from his earlier song of the samename. The song’s lyrics, which tell of a youngwoman soothed and reassured by the specterof death, are masterfully distilled and recastby the composer into like musical sentiments.A number of the composer’s trademarks areaudible across the work’s four movements.

There’s the aggressive opening, whichemploys the rhythmic device of a quarternote followed by triplet eighths—a Schubertfavorite. Then the sweet, joyful theme of themaiden sweeps in. The second movement

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Notes on the Programestablishes the “death” theme, which variesonly slightly, as if to suggest death’s con-stancy. The third movement’s scherzo throwsin abrupt cadences and accents, as in a heatednegotiation. And the final movement buildsto a driving, inevitable conclusion. Deathwins the maiden’s hand.

But Schubert himself was too busy fordeath. He composed at a furious pace. In thesame year as “Death and the Maiden,” hewrote his Octet in F, the Divertissement a

l’Hongroise, and the String Quartet in Aminor, among many others. Clearly, he sus-pected that the maiden’s premature fatewould be his own. He would not have timeto compose according to popular taste orfashion, so he must compose for posterity.And his “Death and the Maiden” becamenot only one of his finest chamber works buta perennial favorite in the string repertory.In our time, the work loses none of its powerto shock and inspire.

Meet the ArtistsInternational Sejong SoloistsHyo Kang, Artistic DirectorVIOLINFrank Huang leaderAaron BoydJaewon ChoiAmy IwazumiJudy KangYu Jeong LeeJi In Yang

VIOLABeth GutermanRichard O’NeillMelissa Reardon

CELLOOle AkahoshiAni AznavoorianPatrick Jee

DOUBLE BASSRachel CalinStephen Sas

Praised as a “top notch conductor-lessstring orchestra” by the Washington Post,International Sejong Soloists (ISS) wasfounded in New York City in 1995 and metwith immediate success. Since its inceptionISS has given more than 200 concertsthroughout the United States, Europe, andthe Far East. Uniquely comprised of today’sleading young soloists, International SejongSoloists is known for its cohesiveness, beau-tiful sound, and refreshing musical style inperforming string orchestral works as well as

solo and chamber repertoire. Its 14 mem-bers hail from eight different nations: Au-stralia, Canada, China, Germany, Singapore,Bulgaria, Korea, and the United States.Each has a distinguished reputation as asoloist and chamber musician, confirmed byprize-winning performances at prestigiousinternational competitions (including theIndianapolis, Naumburg, Jacques Thibaud,Paganini, Hannover, and Nielsen competi-tions). The New York–based ensemble toursworldwide under the musical direction ofHyo Kang, a renowned professor of violin atThe Juilliard School.

ISS has given critically-acclaimed concertsat venues such as Carnegie Hall, LincolnCenter’s Alice Tully Hall, the KennedyCenter, the 92nd Street Y, Suntory Hall inJapan, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Eng-land, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, the Nat-ional Arts Theatre in Taiwan, and in the RisingStars Series at Ravinia. ISS was appointedensemble-in-residence at the Aspen MusicFestival in 1997, a post it still holds today. Itserves as host ensemble of the Great Moun-tains Music Festival and School in Korea.

Continually performing to capacity audi-ences, ISS has collaborated with artists suchas Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Kyung WhaChung, Vladimir Feltsman, Leon Fleisher,

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Meet the ArtistsLynn Harrell, Sharon Isbin, Cho-Liang Lin,Carmen Pelton, Gil Shaham, Kyoko Take-zawa, and Eugenia Zukerman. The ensemblehas been featured regularly on National PublicRadio’s Performance Today and in Novem-ber 2003 served as Young Artists-in-Residencefor the program. ISS was broadcast live onWFMT in Chicago from the Aspen MusicFestival, has been heard on New York’sWQXR Radio and WGCU Public Broad-casting in Florida, and has been seen on theDiscovery Channel. In December 2002 ISSgave a special holiday performance on CNN’sAmerican Morning with Paula Zahn, and onThanksgiving 2003 the ensemble performedwith Ms. Zahn as a special guest on the CNNprimetime news program Paula Zahn Now.

ISS has been selected to perform in honorof some of the world’s premier sportingevents. At the invitation of World Cup 2002committee, ISS performed for the FIFACongress, which represented 204 nations inSeoul, Korea. In June 2004 the ensembleperformed at the Olympic Torch Ceremonyat the United Nations Headquarters, as partof the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay.

International Sejong Soloists is known forits breadth of repertoire, which includeswell-loved classics and contemporary workswritten by composers across the globe. Theensemble confirmed their commitment tonew works by commissioning Murmurs inthe Mist of Memory, a composition by AugustaRead Thomas. The work, for 11 solo strings,was premiered at the Aspen Music Festival in2001 and ISS gave the piece its UK premiereduring the ensemble’s European debut at theManchester International Cello Festival inEngland in May 2004. ISS has given severaladditional premieres, including the New Yorkand Aspen premieres of Earl Kim’s DearLinda in 1999 and 2001, the New York pre-miere of José Bragato’s Graciela y BuenosAires—Concerto for Cello and StringOrchestra in 2002, and the New York pre-miere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Sinfoniettafor Strings. ISS recently recorded Sejong PlaysEwazen, works by Eric Ewazen, on the AlbanyRecords label.

The ensemble is involved in a vast array ofyouth development programs designed toboth introduce classical music to young au-diences and to cultivate promising classicalmusic students. ISS works to expose elemen-tary students to classical music through lec-ture concerts and demonstrations, in hopes

of developing an appreciation for and interestin further study of the genre. In December2003 at Zankel Hall at Carnegie, ISS per-formed a family concert of traditional dancemusic from around the world, hosted bystoryteller and spoken word artist CharlotteBlake Alston. Members of the ensemble pro-vide master classes for promising classicalmusic students at high school and collegelevels while on tour.

International Sejong Soloists enjoys sup-port from major corporations. The SamsungFoundation of Culture extends a generousloan of several instruments to the ensemble:the Guarnerius del Gesù violin “ex-Moeller,”Cremona (1725); the Antonio Stradivariusviolin “ex-Strauss,” Cremona (1708); aGasparo da Sálo viola, Brescia (ca. 1590); aMatteo Goffriller cello, Venice (ca. 1715);and a Luigi Mantovani bass (ca. 1810). Theensemble has made two recordings for theSamsung Classics label. ISS also performs ona J.B. Guadanini, Cremona, 1758, which ison loan to the ensemble from Mr. Higgin Kim,chairman of Byucksan Engineering. KoreanAir is the official airline of ISS.

ISS Sponsors include the Republic of Kor-ea’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sam-sung Electronics America, and Korean Air.

Hyo Kang, the artisticdirector of ISS, has leda flourishing and versa-tile career as violinist,teacher, and artisticdirector for the pastthree decades. He hasmade numerous con-cert tours in the UnitedStates, Europe, Asia,

Canada, and Central America. As a memberof the highly-acclaimed Theatre ChamberPlayers of the Kennedy Center inWashington, D.C., for more than 20 years,he has given many works their American pre-mieres and enjoyed musical collaborationswith such artists as Leon Fleisher, PinaCarmirelli, Walter Trampler, and AndréWatts.

Mr. Kang, a world-renowned violin teacher,has been on the faculty of the JuilliardSchool since 1978 and has given masterclasses in the United States, Korea, andJapan. He has also been on the faculties ofthe Aspen Music School in Colorado since1978 and the Japan-Aspen Music Festival in

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Nagano, Japan, from 1994 to 1997. He was avisiting professor at the Seoul National Uni-versity in 1994 and served as a judge in sev-eral international competitions, including theWieniawski-Lipinski in Poland. His studentshave distinguished themselves with top prizesat the world’s most prestigious competitionsand perform with major orchestras worldwide.Mr. Kang’s former students include Gil Sha-ham, Sarah Chang, and Chee-Yun, amongmany others.

Mr. Kang was born in Seoul, Korea, andgraduated from The Juilliard School, wherehe studied with Dorothy DeLay. Recently hewas the subject of a Korean BroadcastingSystem television documentary titled TeachingGenius—Juilliard Professor, Hyo Kang. In2004 the Korean government awarded himthe National Arts Medal, the highest honorof its kind.

In March 2003 he was appointed a cul-tural ambassador by the governor of Gang-won Province, Korea, and was asked to bringthe first international music festival to PyeongChang; Mr. Kang launched the Great Moun-tains Music Festival and School last summer,serving as its artistic director.

Violinist Chee-Yun’scombination of flawlesstechnique, beautifultone, and compellingmusical temperamenthas quickly capturedthe attention of themusic world.

An Avery Fisher Ca-reer Grant recipient andYoung Concert Artists

International Auditions winner, Chee-Yun hasperformed with many of the world’s fore-most orchestras, including the PhiladelphiaOrchestra, the London Philharmonic, theToronto Symphony, the Houston Symphony,and the National Symphony. Among hercareer highlights are performances at theKennedy Center’s gala farewell to MstislavRostropovich, the Mostly Mozart Festival’stour of Japan, a national tour with the SanFrancisco Symphony, performances acrossthree continents of the Penderecki Con-certo No. 2 with the composer at the podi-um, the premiere of Lou Harrison’s Suitefor Violin and String Orchestra, a perfor-mance with Michael Tilson Thomas in the

inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s ZankelHall, and the U.S. premiere of the Pender-ecki Sonata No. 2 with pianist Barry Douglasat the Kennedy Center.

Highlights of her 2005–06 season includeperformances with leading orchestras andchamber ensembles throughout NorthAmerica, Europe, and Asia, including theBuffalo Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony,Indianapolis Symphony, Honolulu Sym-phony, Symphony of Southeast Texas, Mo-desto Symphony, and California Symphony;a concert at the Kennedy Center with theInternational Sejong Soloists; and a WestCoast tour with the Spoleto Festival. Herinternational appearances include perfor-mances with Orquesta Filharmonica deBuenos Aires at the Teatro Colon in Argen-tina and the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Port-ugal, recitals at the Beethoven Festival inPoland, concerts with Barry Douglas in Man-chester, England, and two tours of Korea,including recitals at the Seoul Arts Center.This season will see the release of a new CDfeaturing works of Brahms and Strauss andthe recording of an all Mozart disc.

Her most recent recording, of the Pen-derecki Violin Concerto No. 2, on Naxoswas acclaimed as “an engrossing, masterlyperformance” by The Strad magazine and “aperformance of staggering virtuosity and mus-icality” by American Record Guide. Herrecent recordings on Denon Records includeLalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, Saint-Saëns’Violin Concerto No. 3, and a compilationCD of The Very Best of Chee-Yun.

In 1993 Chee-Yun returned to Korea toreceive the Nan Pa award, the country’s high-est musical honor. She was honored in a dif-ferent manner in the United States, when shewas invited to perform at the White Housefor President Bill Clinton and his guests inhonor of the recipients of the NationalMedal of the Arts.

In addition to her active performance andrecording schedule, Chee-Yun gives masterclasses around the world. She serves as theresident Starling Soloist and adjunct professorof violin at the University of CincinnatiCollege-Conservatory of Music, and visitingprofessor of music (violin) at IndianaUniversity School of Music.

Chee-Yun’s award-winning Web site canbe viewed at www.chee-yun.net.

Meet the Artists

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The Korean Concert Society (KCS) cele-brates 25 years of presenting Washington-area recital debuts of international artists ofKorean heritage—and the tenth anniversaryof the founding of International SejongSoloists (ISS)—in a gala concert with violin-ist Chee-Yun this evening.

Since 1980 KCS has introduced over 40unknown extraordinary young musicians andensembles to the Washington metropolitanarea, including International Sejong Soloists(1998) and Chee-Yun (1988). Together ISSand Chee-Yun will perform David Diamond’sRounds for String Orchestra (1945), AstorPiazzolla’s Cuatro estaciones porteñas (ar-ranged by Desyatnikov in 1995 for GidonKremer), and Franz Schubert’s “Death andthe Maiden” String Quartet (arranged byGustav Mahler) .

A Truly Grassroots Cultural Organization The Korean Concert Society was founded inthe spring of 1980 by nine families from theWashington metropolitan area. As a volun-teer non-profit organization, its mission is toprovide D.C.-area debut opportunities togifted young musical artists of Korean her-itage from all over the world and to promotethe enjoyment of Classical music.

In the beginning, the Society selected theartists by recommendations of friends. Themembers paid for the cost of hall rental,transportation for the artists, and advertise-ment. The artists from out of town stayed inmembers’ home to minimize costs. As theKorean-American community grew over theyears, the community support for the Societyalso grew. It took about ten years before theSociety could raise enough money from gen-erous contributors to pay for the cost of pre-senting an artist at the Kennedy Center oncea year. Then it took another few years beforethe Society could afford to pay a tokenamount to the artist for his or her perfor-mance. Now KCS holds an annual formalaudition to select the artist and pays theartist $2,500 for appearing at the KennedyCenter. The Society’s growth over the yearshas been an indicator of the cultural maturityand sophistication of the Korean-Americancommunity in Washington area. In this way,Korean Concert Society is truly a grass-rootscultural organization.

Distinguished AlumniMany of these musicians, presented by KCSas unkowns, have gone on to distinguishedcareers. Chee-Yun (’88) is a top-rated soloviolinist in the U.S., Europe, Japan, andKorea. David Kim (’82) became the con-certmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra,Catherine Cho (’91) is a respected teacher atJuilliard and one of the top chamber musicperformers in the U.S., and Sungwon Yang(’93) is one of the most respected celloteachers and performers in Korea. SoovinKim (’95) was the first American to win thePaganini Competition in 24 years and theyoungest winner ever (1996), and DanielLee (’97) was recently named principal cellistof the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Inter-national Sejong Soloists (’98) became theensemble-in-residence at the Aspen MusicFestival and is now also the host ensemble ofthe Great Mountains Music Festival andSchool in Korea.

The Next 25 YearsThe Society plans to continue its role of dis-covering young talented performers andbridging the cultural experiences betweenKorean-American and mainstream Americanlives. It also plans to increase the frequencyof its presentations and to include additionalvenues to expand its reach. The Society ap-pointed Jeeyoung Kim as the first Composer-in-Residence in 2003 and plans to expand itsactivity to discover and support creative tal-ents of Korean heritage in the coming years.The Korean Concert Society will continueto embrace the classical music art form butalso will expand its support to mixed mediaperforming arts.

For more information about the KoreanConcert Society, including information onthe next talent search for 2006, visitwww.KoreanConcertSociety.org.

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SUPPORTERS

TRUSTEESMr. and Mrs. Iktae Jang

SPONSORSMr. and Mrs. Joung R. CookDr. and Mrs. Jong Ahn Park

Mrs. Chaiha K. RheeDr. and Mrs. Benjamin Whang

PATRONSHae-Soon Hahn and Steve RosenbaumMr. and Mrs. Suk Hong ChoiAmb. and Mrs. Kyu Sup ChungDr. and Mrs. Young Ho KimMr. and Mrs. Shin Hern SongMr. and Mrs. Myung Hoon ChooMr. and Mrs. Yong Keun ChaMr. and Mrs. Chong Sun ChayMr. and Mrs. Sung H. HahmDr. and Dr. Yong S. HongMr. and Mrs. Chang Won KimMr. and Mrs. Jindo KimMrs. Myong Cha KimDr. and Mrs. Ryun H. KimMr. and Mrs. Seung Koo KimDr. Suzanne H. Kim, DDSDr. and Mrs. Karl Edward KohMs. Ann Myongsook Lee

Daeyong and Youngja LeeDr. and Mrs. John Jong-Kook LeeMrs. Joyce Ock LeeDr. and Mrs. Sang Nam LeeVirginia and Wanchul LeeMr. and Mrs. Yung Mook LeeChang and Young OhMr. and Mrs. Charles Eun-Ho PangMr. and Mrs. Stanley ParkMr. and Mrs. Wonkook ParkDr. and Mrs. Hang Yul RheeDr. and Mrs. Kwang Wook RoweDr. and Mrs. Sang Kyun ShinMr. and Mrs. Chong Nak SonDr. and Mrs. Hang Jin YoonDr. and Mrs. Kenneth YoonDr. Un-Jin Zimmerman

OFFICERS

Benjamin Whang, PresidentJoung R. Cook, Artistic Director

Young Bo Whang, TreasurerJong Ahn Park, Secretary

Jungnim Cook, Public RelationsHyun Park, Public Relations

Kyung Jean Paik Kim, AuditorYong Woong Park, AdviserChung Jah Park, Adviser

Charles Eun-Ho Pang, President Emeritus

The Korean Concert Society would like to express its sincerest gratitude to the individual andcorporate contributors who wish to remain anonymous.

BENEFACTORSRumie Y. Cho Mr. and Mrs. Young Nam Chun

George and Jeannie Hong

STAFF FOR THE TERRACE THEATER*William J. Matson.................................Theater Manager Anne Vantine...........................................Box Office Treasurer Randy Howes.......................................................Head Usher Jeff Brown, Joe Stanton.............................Master Technicians

*Represented by ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers

The technicians at theKennedy Center are

represented by Local #22I.A.T.S.E. AFL-CIO-CLC,the professional union of

theatrical technicians.

Jordan Kitt’s Music is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston Piano,

the official pianos of the Kennedy Center.

22

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VIOLINHanwon Choi (1980)David Kim (1982)Jin Kyung Lee (1983)Sarah Kwak (1984)Sung-Won Yun (1987)Chee-Yun Kim (1988)Catherine Cho (1991)Mia Sohn (1991)Soovin Kim (1995)Ann Kim (1996), Ju-Young Baek (2000)Hyuk-Joo Kwun (2004)

CELLODavid Oh (1983)Ho Ahn (1983)

Helen Kim (1986)Wha-Jin Hong (1987)Sang Min Park (1990)Sungwon Yang (1993)Daniel Lee (1997)Patrick Jee (2002)

PIANODae Wook Lee (1981)Yong Hi Moon (1981)Young Ho Kim (1983)Henry Choi (1983)Sumi Kay (1983)Jin Yeo Choi (1983)Hae Kyung Lee (1985)Yun-Jung Chang (1987)Wonmi Kim (1989)

Lucille Chung (1994)Yung Wook Yoo (2002)

WINDWon-Jin Jo, Clarinet (2003)

VOICEJung Ae Lee (1982)Byung-Soon Lee (1999)

ENSEMBLEEuterpe Piano Trio (1992)

Kyung-Ah Kim (Violin)Yun Jung Huh (Cello)Kyung Un Rhee (Piano)

International Sejong Soloists(1998); Hyo Kang, MusicDirector

Past Performers

Korean Concert Society’s Presentation History

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