Andrews University Young Artist Concert

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Limited FREE tickets available to Andrews University music majors and minors, the Enjoyment of Music class, current Andrews University students and current Andrews University staff. You can pick up your ticket at the Howard Center office.

Andrews University Symphony Orchestra’s "Young Artist Celebration (Part I)"

Featuring soloists: Simon Luke Brown (violinist & composer), Emily Jurek (piano) and Jeremy Jerim Myung (violinist)

Featured composer: Max Keller

Conducted by: Nehemias Calsin, Kristii Rasmussen & Chris Wild

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Andrews University Department of Music was able to continue the annual Young Artist Competition this year, with faculty members listening to students audition for the opportunity to perform with the Symphony Orchestra back in November. From a large group of talented musicians, four students were selected to perform with the orchestra—for our upcoming Feb. 13 concert, we welcome Simon Luke Brown (violinist & composer), Emily Jurek (piano) and Jeremy Jerim Myung (violinist). Due to the considerable length of this year’s solos, one of the winners (pianist Nathaniel Cogen) will perform with the orchestra on March 13.

The concert will begin with two of the best known concertos of the 19th century Romantic tradition, each renowned for how it showcases the lyrical range of the violin and the piano. Pianist Emily Jurek opens the evening with the first movement of Frederic Chopin’s "Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor." After a brief pause to remove the piano from the stage, the concert will continue with the first movement from Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s "Violin Concerto in D Major," featuring violinist Jeremy Jerim Myung. Our third soloist will join the orchestra both as a violinist and composer, having written a new piece for the occasion titled "Rhapsody-Concerto in D minor." Simon Luke Brown’s composition utilizes all of the Orchestra’s members as it moves from stark dramatic moments to virtuosic flourishes and even a playful folk dance.

Following an intermission, the full forces of the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra will reassemble to perform Max Keller’s instrumental interpretation of the Creation story, titled "The Genesis." Both a native of Berrien Springs and alumnus of Andrews University, Keller now teaches music composition and music theory at Andrews University as a professor in the Department of Music. This performance of Keller’s "The Genesis" marks a return to his dissertation, titled "The Genesis: A Symphonic Work and Analysis," with an accompanying analysis published in the June 2017 edition of Catalyst. Structured in seven parts, his composition depicts the seven days of Creation, with six vivid musical illustrations followed by a seventh section titled "Sabbath," for which the orchestra rests. The responsibility of conducting "The Genesis" will be shared between two of our graduate students in orchestral conducting, Nehemias Calsin and Kristii Rasmussen.

Program:

Frederic Chopin—"Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor, 1st movement"

-Break-

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky—"Violin Concerto in D Major, 1st movement"

Simon Luke Brown—"Rhapsody—Concerto in D minor"

-Intermission-

Max Keller—"The Genesis"