NEC Philharmonia + Hugh Wolff: Chen, R. Strauss, Prokofiev

Presented by New England Conservatory at NEC's Jordan Hall, Boston MA

Apr 03 2024

Tonight’s concert features performances of Qigang Chen’s Wu Xing (Five Elements), Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration, and the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 with Changyong Shin ’24 AD as piano soloist. Hugh Wolff conducts the NEC Philharmonia

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Tonight's concert features performances of Qigang Chen's Wu Xing (Five Elements), Richard Strauss' Death and Transfiguration, and the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 with Changyong Shin '24 AD as piano soloist. Hugh Wolff conducts the NEC Philharmonia.

This is an in-person event with a private stream available to the NEC community here: https://necmusic.edu/live

ARTISTS
Changyong Shin '24 AD, piano
Qigang Chen | Wu Xing (The Five Elements) (1999)
Shui (Water)
Mu (Wood)
Huo (Fire)
Tu (Earth)
Jin ... view more »

This is an in-person event with a private stream available to the NEC community here: https://necmusic.edu/live

ARTISTS
Changyong Shin ’24 AD, piano
Qigang Chen | Wu Xing (The Five Elements) (1999)
Shui (Water)
Mu (Wood)
Huo (Fire)
Tu (Earth)
Jin (Metal)

Program note
“This commission [by Radio France] immediately raised all my interest, for the proposition coincided with a period of personal quest,” Chen wrote. “The challenge pleased me and I took it up as a style exercise, supported by the pressure of the duration [limitation]…
“Before going further in my process, I undertook to characterize each piece by a different symbol. From there was born the idea of representing the five elements (Wu Xing). Because according to the Yi King, five elements constitute the universe: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth….
“To characterize musically a symbol in an extremely short time and to present a tangible material in an abstract language were my lines of strength. But even more, to establish relationships between the materials, so that each element generated the next one, as if the last was the consequence of the first.”
The result was a small suite of five two-minute movements, with the five Chinese elements in an order based on generation (other orders traditionally suggest other themes, such as production or overcoming). According to the foreword in the printed score, water is the strongest element for Chen, but characterized by calmness. Wood is the richest element, with a lot of variations; fire represents life (warm, but not aggressive); earth, a generative principle, is the matrix; and metal refers to strength and light.
The Five Elements was a finalist in the 2001 Masterprize competition in the UK, and it has been recorded by Didier Benetti and the National Orchestra of France.

Richard Strauss | Death and Transfiguration, op. 24
Largo (The sick man, near death)
Allegro molto agitato (The battle between life and death offers no respite to the man)
Meno mosso (The dying man’s life passes before him)
Moderato (The sought-after transfiguration)

INTERMISSION
Sergei Prokofiev | Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, op. 16
Andantino – Allegretto
Scherzo: Vivace
Intermezzo: Allegro
Finale: Allegro tempestuoso

ARTISTS
Changyong Shin ’24 AD, piano
NEC Philharmonia
First Violin
SooBeen Lee
Hannah Kim
Hannah Goldstick
Hila Dahari
Olga Kaminsky
Sydney Scarlett
Felicitas Schiffner
Peixuan Wu
Passacaglia Mason
Chloe Hong
Emma Boyd
Joshua Brown
Ching Shan Helen Yu
Nathan do Amaral Oliveira

Second Violin
Julian Rhee
K. J. McDonald
Yixiang Wang
Eunha Kim
Gabriella Foster
Caroline Smoak
Joy Wei
Jordan Hadrill
Angela Sin Ying Chan
Claire Thaler
Harin Kang
Yebin Yoo
Célina Bethoux

Viola
Yi-Chia Chen
Peter Jablokow
Chengrong Li
Hyelim Kong
Man To Kwong
Ru-Yao Van der Ploeg
Xinlin Wang
Joy Hsieh
Eunha Kwon
Anna Mann
Adam Newman

Cello
Zac Fung
Lily Stern
Shijie Ma
Jihyeuk Choi
Jung ah Lee
Lexine Feng
Zac Fun
Thomas Hung
Soyeon Koo
Lillian Yim
Sophia Knappe
Michelle Jung
Miruna Eynon

Bass
Cailin Singleton
Gregory Padilla
Yihan Wu
Shion Kim
Isabel Atkinson
Misha Bjerken

Flute
Isabel Evernham
Honor Hickman
Jay Kim
Jungyoon Kim *
Elizabeth McCormack
Yechan Min ‡
Subin Oh §

Piccolo
Jay Kim

Oboe
Robert Diaz
Corinne Foley
Gwendolyn Goble *
Kian Hirayama ‡
Abigail Hope-Hull §
Christian Paniagua

English horn
Corinne Foley ‡
Kian Hirayama *

Clarinet
Xianyi Ji §
Phoebe Kuan
Yi-Ting Ma ‡
Chasity Thompson *

E-Flat Clarinet
Phoebe Kuan

Bass Clarinet
Phoebe Kuan ‡
Yi-Ting Ma *

Bassoon
Garrett Comrie *
Matthew Heldt §
Abigail Heyrich ‡
Wilson Lu
Carson Merrit
Jialu Wang

Contrabassoon
Carson Merrit *
Erik Paul ‡

French horn
Jihao Li ‡
Graham Lovely §
Willow Otten *
Qianbin Zhu

Trumpet
Ko Te Chen §
Matthew Dao *
Eddy Lanois ‡
Matthew Milhalko