First Monday at Jordan Hall: Celebrating America

Duke Ellington | Come Sunday

Come Sunday Text:

Originally written in 1942 as part of the epic narrative suite, Black Brown and Beige, Come Sunday has become one of Duke Ellington's best known works.  Many singers have put their own stamp on Ellington's lyrics.  Naledi will sing a version based on Abbey Lincoln's classic rendition. 

Lord, dear Lord above,
God almighty, God of love,
Please look down and see my people through.

Lord, dear Lord above,
God almighty, God of love,
Please look down and see my people through.

I believe that God put sun and moon up in the sky,
I don't mind the grey skies, 'cause they're just clouds passing by.
He'll give peace and comfort to every troubled child,
Come Sunday, oh come Sunday, that's the day. 

Often we'll feel weary, but he knows our every care. 
Go to him in secret, he will hear your every prayer.
Lilies of the valley
They neither toil nor spin
And flowers bloom and, springtime, birds sing.  

Often we'll feel weary, but he knows our every care.
Go to him in secret, he will hear your every prayer. 
Up from dawn till sunset,
Man work hard all day,
Come Sunday, oh come Sunday
That's the day.

– Mahalia Jackson

Antonín Dvořák | String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, op. 77

I. Allegro con fuoco
II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
III. Poco andante
IV. Finale. Allegro assai

Jason Moran | Behind the Light (first performance)

Aaron Copland | Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 instruments

I. Very slowly
II. Allegro
III. Moderato (The Bride and her Intended)
IV. Fast (The Revivalist and his Flock)
V. Subito allegro (Solo Dance of the Bride)
VI. As at first (Slowly)
VII. Doppio movimento (Variations on a Shaker Hymn: Simple Gifts)
VIII. Moderato – Coda

Video recording by Nicholas Kitchen

* NEC student/alum

Guest Performers (for NEC faculty performers, please click names to view performer bio)

Naledi Masilo

Passionately pursuing her drive to explore the jazz tradition and her African heritage, Naledi Masilo — vocalist, composer, teaching artist and arts administrator — packed her suitcase and moved halfway across the world to surge a music career bubbling with opportunities. Naledi grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Relations and Sociology from the University of Cape Town. She is currently studying Jazz Performance at New England Conservatory, where she has been a student of Dominique Eade, Miguel Zenón, Nedelka Prescod and Mark Zaleski. In 2019, Naledi was a resident at the Kennedy Center through Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program, where she was mentored by the likes of Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jason Moran. She has also been invited to participate in the Banff International Jazz and Creative Music workshop in Calgary, Canada. Naledi is the Founding Director of The Dreaming Girls Foundation, a South African based non-profit organization that cultivates women and girls in the arts to be leaders and critically conscious members of society.

Ken Hamao

Described by the New York Times as having “especially eloquent playing,” Ken Hamao is a dynamic musician renowned for his sensitive interpretation. He performs on the viola in addition to the violin, and is an avid proponent of contemporary music.  

Ken is the newest member of the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet, the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music. Prior to joining the Parker Quartet, he was a member of the Ensō String Quartet from 2014 to 2018. As a much sought-after chamber musician, he has collaborated with members of the Borromeo, Cavani, Daedalus, Guarneri, JACK, Momenta, and Verona Quartets, the Horszowski Trio, as well as former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

As part of the Parker Quartet, Ken is on the faculty at the Department of Music at Harvard University and Guest Artist-in-Residence at the University of South Carolina. He was also a guest lecturer in violin at Dartmouth College, and has previously taught at the Astoria Chamber Music Festival, Banff Centre, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival, and SoCal Chamber Music Workshop. He has given masterclasses at Arkansas State, Lawrence, San Jose State, Temple, Utah State, and Washington Adventist Universities, University of Auckland, University of Iowa, and Victoria University of Wellington.

Recent engagements as a soloist include concertos by Giya Kancheli, Kurt Rohde, and Tan Dun, the latter of which with the composer at the podium. He also appears frequently with Argento Chamber Ensemble, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, New York Classical Players, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and Talea Ensemble. An active presence in contemporary music, he has worked in close collaboration with eminent composers of our time, including John Adams, Zosha di Castri, Chaya Czernowin, James Dillon, Brian Ferneyhough, Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas, Vijay Iyer, Paul Moravec, Andrew Norman, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sean Shepherd, Hans Tutschku, and John Zorn.

Ken attended both Columbia University and the Juilliard School as part of the Columbia-Juilliard Exchange Program, and received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Juilliard School. His mentors include Zakhar Bron, Ronald Copes, Masao Kawasaki, Robert ­­­­­­­­Lipsett, and Mark Steinberg.

Gabriela Díaz

Georgia native Gabriela Díaz began her musical training at the age of five, studying piano with her mother, and the next year, violin with her father. 

​As a childhood cancer survivor, Gabriela is committed to supporting cancer research and treatment in her capacity as a musician. In 2004, Gabriela was a recipient of a grant from the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, an award that enabled Gabriela to create and direct the Boston Hope Ensemble. A firm believer in the healing properties of music, Gabriela and her colleagues have performed in cancer units in Boston hospitals and presented benefit concerts for cancer research organizations in numerous venues throughout the United States.

A fierce champion of contemporary music, Gabriela has been fortunate to work closely with many significant composers on their own compositions, namely Pierre Boulez, Magnus Lindberg, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Lucier, Unsuk Chin, John Zorn, Joan Tower, Roger Reynolds, Chaya Czernowin, Steve Reich, Tania León, Brian Ferneyhough, and Helmut Lachenmann. Gabriela is a member of several Boston-area contemporary music groups, including Sound Icon, Ludovico Ensemble, BMOP, Dinosuar Annex, Boston Musica Viva, and Callithumpian Consort.  She plays regularly with Winsor Music, Mistral Music, Radius Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music and frequently collaborates with Alarm Will Sound, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICEensemble), and A Far Cry.

​In 2012 Gabriela joined the violin faculty of Wellesley College.  Gabriela is co-artistic director of the much beloved Boston-based chamber music and outreach organization Winsor Music.  Please visit winsormusic.org for more information!

Gabriela's recording of Lou Harrison's Suite for Violin and American Gamelan was highlighted in the New York Times Article "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music."

​Critics have acclaimed Gabriela as “a young violin master,” and “one of Boston’s most valuable players.” Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix noted, “…Gabriela Díaz in a bewitching performance of Pierre Boulez’s 1991 Anthèmes. The come-hither meow of Díaz’s upward slides and her sustained pianissimo fade-out were miracles of color, texture, and feeling.” Others have remarked on her "indefatigably expressive" playing, “polished technique,” and “vivid and elegant playing.”

Gabriela can be heard on New World, Centaur, BMOPSound, Mode, Naxos, and Tzadik records.

​Gabriela plays on a Vuillaume violin generously on loan from Mark Ptashne and a viola made by her father, Manuel Díaz.

Tae Kim

Hailed as a "highly skilled improviser" by the New York Times and "prickly and explosive" by the Montreal Gazette, Tae Kim's rare blend of rigorous execution and whimsical styling creates an interpretation of the classical repertoire all his own. Tae's recent program "words/not-words", dichotomy between texts and music in piano literature, features not only his classical improvisation on children's novel Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney but traditional repertoire ranging from Robert Schumann to haikus inspired pieces by Philippe Hersant. His unique talent for classical improvisation earned him "Prix d'interprétation André Chevillion–Yvonne Bonnaud" for the premiere of his work, Translate (2016) at the 12e Concours international de piano d'Orléans, as well as "Prix–Mention Spéciale Edison Denisov." Part of the Piano at South Station, Tae regularly played on Thursdays in the middle of a train station amidst the confused if not pleased onlookers and travelers. An avid collaborator, Tae regularly performs with Aliana de la Guardia, Andrew Eng, Augustine Gonzales, and is the pianist for the New England-based Revere Piano Quartet with Jin-Kyung Joen, Ron Gorevic, and Eugene Kim. He has studied with Jonathan Bass, Bruce Brubaker, Janice Webber, and Patricia Zander.

Alexis Lanz

Born in Nyon, Switzerland, Alexis Lanz currently resides in Jamaica Plain, MA, where he maintains a multi-faceted performing career. Lauded by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for his “astonishing fluidity”, he has been principal clarinetist of the Boston Ballet Orchestra since 2011. He has also performed with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, A Far Cry, Opera NH, Collage New Music, and Symphony New Hampshire. He completed his studies at New England Conservatory, where he received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. His teachers include National Symphony clarinetist Edward Cabarga, and Thomas Martin of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Hazel Malcolmson

Bassoonist Hazel Malcolmson is the acting Principal Bassoon of Orquesta Sinfonica de Estado de Mexico, and the Principal Bassoon of the Orchestra of Indian Hill where she will be featured as a soloist in the 2020-2021 season in Josef Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante.  She has performed as a guest with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, including their live recording of Richard Strauss’s Sinfonia Domestica in September 2019 and their European tour in May 2016.  She has also performed as a guest with the Boston Pops, The Florida Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, and the Boston area ensembles A Far Cry, Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, Emmanuel Music, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Radius Ensemble.  Hazel soloed in Richard Strauss’s Duet Concertino with Symphony Nova, in the U.S. premiere of Marc André’s da für Fagott und Ensemble with Ensemble Moto Perpetuo, and can be heard as the principal bassoonist in Mohammed Fairouz’s Sumeida’s Song with Mimesis Ensemble on the Bridge Records label.  Hazel received a master’s degree from New England Conservatory and her bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School and spent summers participating in Kent Blossom Music, Pacific Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra and Music Academy of the West.  Her major teachers include Richard Ranti, Judith LeClair, David Carroll, and Gregg Henegar.