October 2008 Archives

Sheng work lets symphony tap into Class of '78

By Janice Steinberg

Chinese melodies meet Stravinsky in the music of Bright Sheng, recipient of a 2001 MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant. Sheng's first harp concerto, "Never Far Away," will be given its world premiere by the San Diego Symphony with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis next weekend.

For the symphony's music director, Jahja Ling, "The wonderful thing about his compositions (is) he is able to fuse the Western and Chinese musical language."

What could be more appropriate, in the age of the Beijing Olympics and global Internet culture, than musical dialogues between East and West? In fact, Sheng is one of several prominent Chinese-American composers – along with Tan Dun, Chen Yi and Zhou Long – who mix elements of Chinese and Western music.

Read more about this at the Union-Tribune website:

   http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20081019-9999-1a19sheng.html

Juilliard String Quartet announces a new violinist for 2009/2010

On October 20, 2008 Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi announced that 36-year-old violinist and Juilliard alumnus Nick Eanet will join the Juilliard String Quartet as first violinist in July 2009. He also becomes a member of the Juilliard violin faculty beginning with the fall 2009 semester. A Brooklyn native, Nick is concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, former first violinist of the Mendelssohn Quartet, a former student of founding first violinist Robert Mann – a very natural fit for the Juilliard String Quartet Family.

Mr. Eanet follows violinist Joel Smirnoff as first violin; Mr. Smirnoff has become President of the Cleveland Institute of Music and performs with the Quartet through the 2008-2009 season, finishing his stellar tenure at Tanglewood on June 28, 2009.

Click to read the full press release and for the New York Times piece by Daniel Wakin that broke the story.