Heights Chamber Orchestra Concert
Travis Jürgens, Music Director
Amy Lee, Violin
Newly appointed, Music Director Travis Jürgens served as Director of Music Ministry at Saint Ambrose Catholic Parish since 2020 and as Music Director of the fully professional Perrysburg Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he was the Music Director and Conductor of the Ohio Northern Symphony, and the Lima Area Youth Orchestra. He won 2nd Prize and the President of the Jury Award at the 2019 Bucharest Music Institute International Conducting Competition. He has conducted the Rochester Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, among others. He has collaborated with esteemed conductors, including Michael Tilson Thomas and Marin Alsop. He has been praised as “a superior conductor” and “well on his way to becoming a major conductor in the world of symphony orchestras” (Opus Colorado).
Violinist Amy Lee joined the Cleveland Orchestra as Associate Concertmaster in 2008. She has appeared as soloist several times, most recently in Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto. A native of Seoul, Korea, Lee made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 15 and enrolled at The Curtis Institute of Music when she was 16. After completing her bachelor’s degree there she went to The Juilliard School where she earned her master’s degree. She has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras in Europe and across the United States. In great demand as a teacher, Amy Lee has been appointed to the Oberlin Conservatory faculty as associate professor of violin. She coaches chamber music at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ms. Lee lives in Beachwood with her husband Frank Rosenwein (principal oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra) and her three sons Joshua, Julian, and Benji and dog. Amy Lee is sponsored by Terry Carlin, Violins
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major
Beethoven wrote the concerto for his colleague Franz Clement, a leading violinist of the day. The work was premiered on December 23,1806 in Vienna, the occasion being a benefit concert for Clement.
It is believed that Beethoven finished the solo part so late that Clement had to sight-read part of his performance.
The premiere was not a success, and the concerto was performed infrequently in the following decades.
The work was revived in 1844 with a performance by the then 12-year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the London Philharmonic Society conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Ever since, it has been one of the most important works of the violin concerto repertoire and is frequently performed and recorded today.
Vasily Kalinnikov – Symphony No. 1 in G minor
The Symphony No. 1 in G minor by Russian composer Vasily Kalinnikov was written from 1894 to 1895 and first published in 1900. The symphony is dedicated to Russian music critic and teacher Semyon Kruglikov.
After contracting tuberculosis in 1893 while serving as conductor of the Maly Theatre in Moscow, Kalinnikov moved to Yalta for a better climate. It was there that he composed his first symphony. Upon completion in 1895, the symphony's score was sent to its dedicatee Semyon Kruglikov, who was Kalinnikov's teacher and financial benefactor. Kruglikov recommended the work to the country's leading conductors. The score was also sent to Rimsky-Korsakov, who was less supportive of the score, particularly its technical aspects, but was overall impressed by the composition.
The symphony was premiered in 1897 at the Russian Music Society in Kiev.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2739277-0
