NEC Philharmonia + Shiyeon Sung: Gubaidulina, Hindemith, Dvořák
Tonight's NEC Philharmonia concert, led by guest conductor Shiyeon Sung, features Gubaidulina's Fairytale Poem, Hindemith's Violin Concerto performed by Yebin Yoo '24 MM, winner of the 2023-2024 Violin Concerto Competition, and Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 6 in D Major.
About Shiyeon Sung
The South Korean conductor Shiyeon Sung is a real trailblazer of her profession. She is the first female conductor out of South Korea to make the leap to the podium of internationally renowned orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 2023, she has been the Auckland Philharmonia’s Principal Guest Conductor.
When she was appointed assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2007, her reputation as one of the most exciting emerging talents on the international music circuit was already secure: shortly before, Shiyeon Sung had won the International Conductors’ Competition Sir Georg Solti and the Gustav Mahler Conductors’ Competition in Bamberg. During her three-year tenure in Boston, she began a close collaboration with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted their season-opening concert in 2007. In 2009, the orchestra established an associate conductor’s position especially for her, which she held until 2013. She was chief conductor of the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra from 2014 to 2017, during which time she led the orchestra to international success. Their concert at the Musikfest Berlin 2017 and the CD production for Decca with Mahler’s 5th Symphony were special highlights of her tenure. After her departure from Gyeonggi, Shiyeon Sung relocated to Berlin where she now resides, but remains a popular guest in her home country and regularly returns to the Korea National Opera and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
The list of orchestras that Shiyeon Sung has worked with since then is remarkable. It includes renowned European orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, and Bamberg Symphony, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition, she appeared as guest conductor at the Teatro Colón and the Stockholm Opera.
Shiyeon Sung’s 2023/24 season kicked off at the Hollywood Bowl in a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Following her successful debut with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in their Musica Viva series in July 2022 season, she was immediately re-invited for subscription concerts in November 2023. She also returned to the Royal Philharmonic for five concerts in February 2024 following her successful debut in December 2022. She will also make her debuts with the Detroit Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the Pacific Symphony and the Adelaide Symphony amongst others, and return to the Seattle Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife. In Asia, she will appear with the Hankyung and the Daejeon Philharmonic, the KBS Symphony Orchestra and the Kanagawa Philharmonic.
Born in Pusan, South Korea, Shiyeon Sung won various prizes as a pianist in youth competitions. From 2001 to 2006, she studied orchestral conducting with Rolf Reuter at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin and continued her education with advanced conducting studies with Jorma Panula at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.
This is an in-person event with a private stream available to the NEC community here: https://necmusic.edu/live
Sofia Gubaidulina | Fairytale Poem (Märchen-poem) (1971)
Program note
The piece was written originally for a children’s radio program based on the fairy tale, The Little Piece of Chalk, by the Czech writer, Mazourek. Gubaidulina writes,
I liked the fairy tale so much and it seemed so symbolic of an artist’s fate that I developed a very personal relationship with this work. The main character of this fairy tale is a small piece of chalk for writing on blackboards. The piece of chalk dreams of drawing wonderful castles, beautiful gardens with pavilions and the sea. But day after day it is forced to draw boring words, numbers and geometric figures on the blackboard, and in doing so every day it becomes smaller and smaller, unlike the children who grow every day. Gradually the piece of chalk is in despair increasingly losing hope it will be allowed at some point to draw the sun or the sea. Soon it becomes so small it can no longer be used in the school class and is thrown away. After which the chalk finds itself in total darkness and thinks it has died. This assumed darkness of death, however, turns out to be a boy’s pocket. The child’s hand takes the chalk out into the daylight and begins to draw castles, gardens with pavilions and the sea with the sun on the pavement. The chalk is so happy it does not even notice how it is dissolving in the drawing of this beautiful world.Paul Hindemith | Violin Concerto (1939)
Mäßig bewegte Halbe
Langsam
LebhaftYebin Yoo '24 MM
Violinist Yebin Yoo is one of the finest young artists of her generation, gaining a reputation as a highly sought-after soloist and chamber artist in Asia, Australasia, and the United States. Her first international recognition came at the age of 16, becoming the youngest-ever winner of the Gisborne International Music Competition, which was further endorsed by her sweep of all major national competitions in Australia by the age of 18. She was the winner of the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition, National Youth Concerto Competition, 3MBS ‘The Talent’ Competition, Preston Youth Concerto Competition, among many others.
Yebin has appeared internationally as a soloist with Korean Symphony S.O.N.G., South Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Preston Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Youth Symphony, Melbourne Youth Orchestra, Townsville Festival Orchestra, and Brighton Symphony Orchestra and has concertized in venues such as Japan’s Oji Hall, South Korea’s Lotte Concert Hall, Jordan Hall, Carnegie Stern Auditorium, Melbourne Recital Centre, and Ravinia Festival’s Bennett Gordon Hall.
An avid chamber musician, she was recently invited to the Marlboro Music Festival for both 2024 and 2025 seasons, and has collaborated with Midori Goto, Kim Kashkashian, Borromeo Quartet, Far Cry Ensemble, Max Levinson, Kim Kashkashian, Ayano Ninomiya, Timothy Eddy, Peter Stumpf, Alessio Bax, Colin Carr, Michael Kannen, and Frans Helmerson. She has also performed at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, ICEP Japan Tour with Midori Goto, Heifetz on Tour, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, Kronberg Academy Masterclasses and Concerts, and the Ashkenasi/Kirshbaum Chamber Music Seminar. Yebin is also a fanatic of Ysaÿe’s music, giving a recital of the complete set of Solo Violin Sonatas in 2021.
Yebin currently studies under Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory, where she was recently named the winner of the annual Concerto Competition. She currently plays on a J.B. Vuilliaume on generous loan from Reuning & Sons Violins.Artists- Yebin Yoo '24 MM, violin
INTERMISSION
Antonín Dvořák | Symphony No. 6 in D Major, op. 60
Allegro non tanto
Adagio
Scherzo (Furiant): Presto
Finale: Allegro con spiritoNEC Philharmonia
First Violin
Joshua Brown
Hannah Park
Rachel Yi
Anna Lee
Hannah Kim
Jisoo Kim
Tessie Katz
Gabriella Foster
June Chung
Rachel Wang
Michael Fisher
Cherin Lee
Min-Han Hanks Tsai
Chiung-Han Tsai
Second Violin
Nathan do Amaral Oliveira
Mitsuru Yonezaki
Felicitas Schiffner
Jusun Kim
Yixiang Wang
Caroline Smoak
Sydney Scarlett
YileiYin
Sarah McGuire
Wangrui Xu
Passacaglia Mason
Jiaxin Lin
Célina Bethoux
Viola
Anna Mann
Katie Purcell
Po-Sung Huang
Man To Kwong
Elton Tai
Sachin Shukla
Ru-Yao Van der Ploeg
Xinlin Wang
Eunha Kwon
Chi-Jui Chen
Cara Pogossian
Cello
Lexine Feng
Zac Fung
Hayoung Moon
Bennet Huang
J. Alexander Smith
Jonah Kernis
Claire Deokyong Kim
Joanne Hwang
Jung ah Lee
Zachary Keum
Jihyeuk Choi
Bass
Cailin Singleton
Gregory Padilla
Shion Kim
Colby Heimburger
Yihan Wu
Misha Bjerken
Flute
Jay Kim §
Subee Kim *
Elizabeth McCormack
Yechan Min ‡
Piccolo
Subee Kim ‡
Elizabeth McCormack §
Oboe
Sojeong Kim §
Kelley Osterberg ‡
Clarinet
Sarah Cho *
Xianyi Ji ‡
Chasity Thompson §
Bass Clarinet
Sarah Cho ‡
Chasity Thompson *
Bassoon
Evan Judson
Julien Rollins §
Andrew Salaru ‡
Jialu Wang
French horn
Jihao Li ‡
Willow Otten §
Noah Silverman
Qianbin Zhu
Trumpet
Daniel Barak
Matthew Milhalko §
Cody York ‡
Trombone
Eli Canales ‡
Quinn McGillis §
Bass Trombone
Ki Yoon Park
Tuba
James Curto
Timpani
Ross Jarrell §
Jakob Schoenfeld ‡
PercussionEli Geruschat *
Ross Jarrell
Michael Rogers ‡
Harp
Shaylen Joos
Piano
Yali Levy Schwartz
Principal players
* Gubaidulina
‡ Hindemith
§ Dvořák