NEC Chamber Orchestra

The NEC Chamber Orchestra, NEC's conductorless orchestra, was created in 2000 by double bassist Donald Palma, a founding member of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

This group gives young players a chance to work together in a completely new way, each player taking full responsibility for the sound of the group. Palma's regular coaching is supplemented by other members of the NEC faculty.

Music of the classical era by Handel, Haydn, and Mozart is at the core of virtually every program, along with an occasional baroque work, as well as modern pieces.

Tonight's concert features two 20th-century works and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major, K. 595 performed by the winner of the Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, Wenbin Jin '13, a student of Hung-Kuan Chen.

Acclaimed by the music critics of Singapore as ＂…a pianist who expresses the greatest joy and wonderment in his playing. Everything comes across as fresh and unhackneyed, as he has always something interesting to convey…”

Wenbin Jin started playing piano at the age of 5. At the age of 12, he was accepted to the middle school attached to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing under Professor Zhang Jin. At the age of 18, he was accepted to Yale University to study with Boris Berman where he received a certificate of performance.  He has studied at NEC since 2009.

Jin has participated and won many important competitions.  Most recently he won the Second prize (with no first prize awarded), best performance of commissioned work, and best Chinese contestant prizes in the Sixth Shanghai International Piano Competition. As a prize engagement, he will give a solo recital and make a concerto appearance in Shanghai and Beijing in 2013.  He will also perform in the Piano Festival of Singapore the following year.  Jin has received top prizes in the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the Toyama Piano Competition, and the China National Piano Competition. He was also a semi-finalist in the prestigious Clara Haskil Competition in 2011.

Prior to the performance, there will be a pre-concert talk  at 7:15 pm. in Jordan Hall.  Called "Meet the Players" on the poster, it will feature five orchestra musicians who will go into depth about the music being played and will engage in informal conversation with the audience.

Finzi Prelude and Romance

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major, K. 595
Wenbin Jin, piano

Honegger Symphony No. 2

For a taste of the NEC Chamber Orchestra in 20th-century repertoire, here's Schoenberg's Transfigured Night from their previous concert.