NEC Philharmonia, NEC Symphonic Choir + David Loebel: Pärt, Mozart
NEC Philharmonia and NEC Symphonic Choir, led by David Loebel, join in a performance of Mozart's "Great" Mass in C Minor, K. 427 with vocal soloists Josie Larsen '25 AD, Yeonjae Cho '24 AD, Shiyu Zhuo '24 MM, Ruoxi Peng '25 GD, sopranos; Suowei Wu '25 MM, tenor; and Hyungjin Son '24 MM, baritone. Erica J. Washburn is NEC's Director of Choral Activities.
The program opens with Arvo Pärt's Fratres (Brothers) which has has been described as a “mesmerizing set of variations on a six-bar theme combining frantic activity and sublime stillness that encapsulates Pärt's observation that "the instant and eternity are struggling within us."
—There will be no break between Pärt and Mozart—
From David Loebel
Any composer setting the text of the Roman Catholic mass must surrender to the liturgical strictures it imposes on their musical thought. By contrast, Arvo Pärt’s Fratres (“Brothers” in Latin) evokes the simplicity, mystical awe and serenity associated with medieval and Renaissance vocal music. Existing in several versions for various combinations of instruments, Fratres springs from Pärt’s deep commitment to his Russian Orthodox faith, inviting the listener to a world of inner stillness and private contemplation.
Mozart’s Mass in C Minor is Janus-faced, its double choruses and fugues looking backwards to the complexities of Handel’s oratorios, while its soprano arias anticipate the memorable women who would soon populate Mozart’s greatest operas: Susanna, Donna Elvira, Fiordiligi and the Queen of the Night.
The story of the mass’ composition and its place in Mozart’s oeuvre gives rise to many questions:
Why was it composed? To give thanks for Mozart’s wife Constanze’s recovery from illness, to mark the birth of their first child or—in a modern, psychological interpretation of Mozart’s relationship with his father—as a peace offering to Leopold Mozart meant to reconcile him to his son’s marriage?
How committed was Mozart to Catholicism? Why does the Credo text break off just before it describes Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection?
And most important, why has the mass come down to us as an incomplete torso?
In his recent book, Mozart in Motion, Patrick Mackie offers this possible explanation:
An unfinished mass setting was in effect the gesture with which Mozart finally left Salzburg behind. The C minor mass was among the most ambitious works that he ever attempted, a sort of total statement on everything music could be, at this point in the 1780s at least. It was a total statement that he could not complete, any more than he ever found completely satisfactory ways of being both Leopold’s son and Constanze’s husband, or a church-going believer and an enlightenment freethinker. The mass is by turns poignant and stern, twinkly and sweeping, serenely sensuous and tightly argued…Maybe (Mozart) failed to pursue the mass once its momentum had lapsed because he found that its energies could pour into secular music. The lengthening melodies and the cascades of harmonic argument throughout his later works can seem to carry a dispossessed feeling for the eternal.
The Mass in C Minor unquestionably engaged Mozart’s musical imagination more than most—if not all—of his other sacred works. Despite the uncertainties surrounding it, it remains a priceless entry point into Mozart’s spiritual world.
– David Loebel
This is an in-person event with a public live stream: https://necmusic.edu/live
Arvo Pärt | Fratres (1977)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | "Great" Mass in C Minor, K. 427
Kyrie
Josie Larsen '25 AD, soprano
Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Laudamus te
Yeonjae Cho '24 AD, soprano
Gratias agimus tibi
Domine Deus
Shiyu Zhuo '24 MM, Ruoxi Peng '25 GD, soprano
Qui tollis
Quoniam
Josie Larsen, Yeonjae Cho, soprano
Suowei Wu '25 MM, tenor
Jesu Christe
Cum Sancto Spiritu
Credo
Credo in unum Deum
Et incarnatus est
Josie Larsen, soprano
Sanctus
Benedictus
Yeonjae Cho, Josie Larsen, soprano
Suowei Wu, tenor
Hyungjin Son '24 MM, baritoneArtists- Yeonjae Cho '24 AD, Josie Larsen '25 AD, Ruoxi Peng '25 GD, Shiyu Zhuo '24 MM,, soprano
- Suowei Wu '25 MM, tenor
- Hyungjin Son '24 MM, baritone
Tonight's soloists
Yeonjae Cho is a Korean lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in numerous operas, including the roles of Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Norina in Don Pasquale, Eurydice in Orphée aux Enfers, Diana in L’arbore di Diana, Setsuko in An American Dream, Aminta in Il Re Pastore, Mrs. Jenks in The Tender Land and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte. This season, she will be featured as Diana in La Calisto and Adele in Die Fledermaus at the NewEngland Conservatory. She has also performed the roles of Lucia from Lucia di Lammermoor, Tytania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Zerlina from Don Giovanni in the NEC Perkin Opera Scenes Program. Last April, sheperformed as a soprano soloist in the East Coast premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Conquest Requiem with NEC Philharmonia and Symphonic Choir inBoston’s Symphony Hall. Additionally, she was named as a Boston District Winner by the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and has been awarded NEC’s Wendy Shattuck Presidential Scholarship in 2023. She earned the bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Seoul National University with honors, and she earned a Graduate Diploma at New England Conservatory. She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Bradley Williams.
A current Artist Diploma student of Bradley Williams at NEC, Josie Larsen is a lyric soprano from Sammamish, Washington. She completed her Master of Music degree at New England Conservatory and her Bachelor of Music degree at Brigham Young University, both in Vocal Performance. Recently, Josie took the NEC stage as the Governess in The Turn of the Screw. Her upcoming Operatic performances at NEC include Mimi in La bohème and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Robert Tweten. Additionally, she is excited for an upcoming performance of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos with Hugh Wolf. Josie’s greatest joy from performing comes from the opportunity it provides to connect with others from all around the world in any language.
Ruoxi Peng is a Chinese soprano currently studying under the guidance of MaryAnn McCormick at New England Conservatory, where she is pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance. Ruoxi completed both her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees at New England Conservatory. Last April, Ruoxi played Britomarte in NEC's Spring Main Stage production of Soler's L'arbore di Diana, and in May she made her role debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Mass Opera. This was followed in July by her performance of Despina in Così fan tutte with Utah Vocal Arts Academy. Later this month she will be performing the role of Diana in NEC’s Main Stage production of La Calisto. She has also sung the roles of Zerlina, Serafina, Carolina, and Nellie in NEC’s Perkin Opera Scenes programs and has participated in various other NEC performances, including the Liederabend and Song and Verse recital series. Ruoxi recently won the Mozart Prize in UVAA’s Opera Competition, 2nd Place in the Mass Opera Vocal Competition and was the Semi-Finalist in the Camille Coloratura Awards.
Baritone Hyungjin Son, a native of South Korea, is an active opera, oratorio, and concert singer. Mr. Son has performed the roles of Uncle Bonze, Madama Butterfly; Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni; Doristo, L’arbore di Diana; Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte; Mr. Putnam, If I were you; “Pa” Zegner, Proving up; and Sir Thomas, Mansfield Park. He has also performed as a soloist for Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem with the BU Symphony Orchestra at Boston’s Symphony Hall. As a studio artist at Aspen Music Festival, he covered the role of Ford in Falstaff, with international bass-baritone Bryn Terfel in the title role and covered the title role in Don Giovanni as well. He was named an Encouragement Winner in 2020 and a district winner in 2022 in the Boston district of Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and he was named in the national semi-finals of Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He is pursuing master’s degree at New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Bradley Williams. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Seoul National University, and a graduate certificate from Opera Institute of Boston University. Recently, Mr. Son made his debut as Uncle Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Detroit Opera and Boston Lyric Opera.Suowei Wu is a tenor from Wenzhou, China. He is currently in hs first year of study for the Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance under the guidance of Bradley Williams. Prior to his graduate studies, he completed his Bachelor of Music degree at Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China, under the tutelage of Chuangliang Wang and Xiaomeng Zhang. A recipient of the National Scholarship award in China, Suowei was also a recipient of the academic honors scholarship award at Xinghai Conservatory of Music for three consecutive years and a Silver prize winner of the Wenzhou Young Singers Young Prix Competition. He was previously a tenor lead singer at Xinghai Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Choir.
Chinese soprano Shiyu Zhuo has been honing her skills in vocal performance for the past several years and is currently studying for her Master of Music degree at New England Conservatory. In the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Shiyu made her debut at The Wiener Musikverein as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel. In addition to her performance tonight as a soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, this year at NEC she will perform in the Liederabend series, will sing the role of Calisto in the November production of La Calisto, conducted by Robert Tweten, and will make her house debut as Musetta in La Bohème in February at NEC’s Jordan Hall.NEC Philharmonia and NEC Symphonic Choir
First Violin
Yebin Yoo
Min-Han Hanks Tsai
Jisoo Kim
Arun Asthagiri
Ioan-Octavian Pirlea
Chloe Hong
Emma Boyd
Olga Kaminsky
Emily Lin
Tsubasa Muramatsu
Second Violin
Rachel Yi
Hannah Park
Jusun Kim
Anatol Toth
Minami Yoshida
Jordan Hadrill
Peixuan Wu
Sydney Scarlett
Mitsuru Yonezaki
Viola
Nicolette Sullivan-Cozza
Sachin Shukla
Xinlin Wang
Bram Fisher
Katie Purcell
Yeh-Chun Lin
Sophia Tseng
Cello
Andres Sanchez
Zachary Keum
Max Zhenren Zhao
Lily Uijin Gwak
Lexine Feng
Nicholas Tsang Man To
Noah Lee
Bass
Shion Kim
Colby Heimburger
Alyssa Burkhalter
Cailin Singleton
Flute
Honor Hickman
Oboe
Gwen Goble
Kelley Osterberg
Bassoon
Abigail Heyrich
Jialu Wang
French horn
Grace Clarke
Noah Silverman
Trumpet
Nelson Martinez
Alex Prokop
Trombone
Quinn McGillis
Noah Korenfeld
Bass Trombone
David Paligora
Percussion
Liam McManus
Organ
Lingbo MaNEC Symphonic Choir
Aislin Alancheril
* Andrés Almirall
Genie Alvarado
* Charleen Andujár Ortiz
* Ilan Balzac
* Alexis Boucugnani
Emelia Boydstun
Peter Butler
Gia Cellucci
Coco Chapman
Baian Chen
Chen Chen
Daniel Chen Wang
§ Xingyan Chen
Bryan Chiang
Su Cong
Anjulie Djearam
Yuxin Duan
Ivy Evers
* Felix Feist
* Isaac Garrett
Timothy Goliger
Bailee Green
Siyuan Guan
Jialin Han
Thatcher Harrison
Cameron Hayden
Jinyu He
Jackie Hu
Jane Ai Jian
Yoomin Kang
Dohyun Kim
Ian Yoo Kim
Molly Knight
* Carol Krusemark
Jinyoung Kweon
Julia LaGrand
Yu Lei
Yali Levy Schwartz
Lucci Zimeng Li
Matthew Li
Pengyi Li
Qianqian Li
Shawn Xiangyun Lian
Hao Wei Lin
Nine Lin
Angelina Pin-Hsin Lin
* Sally Millar
Hannah Miller
Yechan Min
Samuel Mincarelli
Yowon Nam
Yuhang Nan
Grace Navarro
Daniel Oslin
Daniela Pyne
Quinn Rosenberg
Nancy Schoen
Samuel Schwartz
Yide Shi
* Tamir Shimshoni
Yunsun Shin
Eunchae Song
* Sara Stancliffe
Maggie Storm
Minhyuk Suh
Matthew Tirona
* Jane Tsuang
Valentine Umeh
Jason Vu
‡ Calvin Isaac Wamser
Chenzhou Stephen Wang
Haowen Wang
Tianyou Wang
Yinuo Wang
Zhaoyuan Wang
McLain Weaver
Lena Ying Ting Wong
Shanshan Xie
Ian Yan
Jasmine Enje Yang
ShengQiao Ye
*Aimee Yermish
Yuki Yoshimi
Henri Youmans
Jessica Yuma
Honghao Howard Zheng
* Maggie Zheng
Jiarui Gary Zhou
*community member
‡ Gloria incipit
§ Credo incipit