April 3, 2019 (Wed) 7:30pm @ West Village Concert Hall (Room 175)
Program:
Jennifer Higdon, Autumn Music
*Kedi Zheng, flute
*Samantha Boss, oboe
Ted Gurch, clarinet
*Austin Matthews, bassoon
*Isaac Tomblin, horn
Korngold, String Sextet, Op.10, mvts. I & IV
Dr. Grant Gilman (guest artist), violin
*Arvind Ramaswami, violin
*Cameron Chong, viola
*Emma Axelson, viola
*Thomas Evans, cello
*Youngho Yoo, cello
Schoenberg, pierrot lunaire
Helen Kim, violin/viola
Brad Ritchie, cello
Tim Whitehead, piano
Jessica Petrasek, flute/piccolo
Ted Gurch, clarinet/bass clarinet
Wanda Yang Temko, soprano
Chaowen Ting, conductor
Guest Artists:
GRANT GILMAN, VIOLIN
Dr. Grant Gilman is an active guest conductor and violinist. Most recently running the orchestra program at Norfolk Academy, Dr. Gilman recently finished his DMA at the University of Cincinnati College‐Conservatory of Music. He has conducted orchestral and opera performances in Cincinnati, Virginia, Texas, New York City, Baltimore, New Jersey, and North Carolina. Gilman served in conducting positions with organizations including the Round Rock Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Gilman earned both a BM in violin and MM in conducting at the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore.
TED GURCH, CLARINET
Ted Gurch is the Associate Principal/E-flat Clarinetist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 1989. Prior to coming to Atlanta, he served for three seasons as Principal Clarinetist with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he was also active in the school’s jazz program as a saxophonist, and he has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony as a concerto soloist on both clarinet and saxophone. He has also appeared locally as a soloist with the Atlanta Wind Symphony, the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra, the Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra and the wind ensembles of Emory University, Kennesaw State University and Georgia Tech, and has performed with the chamber music ensembles Luna Nova, Thamyris, Bent Frequency, Sonic Generator, Atlanta Winds, and the Atlanta, Riverside and Georgian Chamber Players.
HELEN HWAYA KIM, VIOLIN
Helen Hwaya Kim made her orchestral debut with the Calgary Philharmonic at the age of six. She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops at Boston’s Symphony Hall, as well as with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Kim earned her Bachelor and Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School, where her teachers included Hyo, Kang, Cho-Liang Lin and Dorothy DeLay. While at Juilliard, she served as Concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and was the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition at both the pre–college and college levels. She is the recipient of more than one hundred national and international awards. She won the prestigious Artists International Competition in New York and, as a result, gave debut recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall and the Aspen Summer Music Festival. A native of Canada, Ms. Kim has been engaged as soloist by many of Canada’s leading orchestras, including the National Arts Center Orchestra, Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Windsor, Regina, Victoria and Prince George Symphonies. She has also appeared as soloist with the DeKalb, New Orleans, Aspen and Banff Festival Orchestras, and with orchestras in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland. Ms. Kim has toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and the Santa Fe, La Jolla, Highlands-Cashiers, Amelia Island, Zenith and Sitka International Chamber Music Festivals. Ms. Kim currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as Assistant and Associate Concertmaster for the Atlanta Symphony for three seasons. She is currently the Assistant Concertmaster of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and serves as Professor of Violin and Chair of the String Department at Kennesaw State University.
JESSICA PETRASEK, FLUTE
Jessica Petrasek is an Atlanta-based flutist. She is the Piccoloist of the Kansas City Symphony for the 2018-19 season. Jessica has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics from Princeton University and a Master of Music from Rice University. She has been the Principal Flutist of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Piccoloist and Second Flutist of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. She has held fellowships at Yellow Barn Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center. She loves riding horses, cooking and hiking.
BRAD RITCHIE, CELLO
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Brad Ritchie is currently in his 22nd season as cellist with the tlanta Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Chamber
Players. He earned his Bachelor of Music at Indiana University where he studied with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Janos Starker. Following a summer of quartet concerts in Europe, Mr. Ritchie enrolled in the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, Germany and earned his graduate degree studying with Adriana Contino. After completing his studies in Germany, Mr. Ritchie played for two years in the New World Symphony in Miami under Michael Tilson Thomas until 1997 when he came to Atlanta and became a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He has made recordings on the CRI, ACA Digital, and MSR labels, and toured extensively, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, the American Cathedral in Paris, France, and in the International Chamber Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
WANDA YANG TEMKO, SOPRANO
Soprano Wanda Yang Temko is a respected singer, voice teacher, and arts advocate in the Atlanta area. Wanda holds a doctorate in voice performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana along with degrees from Georgia State University and Emory University. Sought after as a recitalist and soloist, she also maintains an active private voice studio and teaches at Oglethorpe University and Atlanta Institute of Music and Media. She also serves on the boards of ATL Symphony Musicians Foundation and Kinnara Ensemble. Wanda and husband Ben are the proud parents of two delightful and exceptional teenage girls.
CHAOWEN TING, CONDUCTOR
Recently named as Music Director of the North America New Opera Workshops, dynamic conductor Chaowen Ting is a passionate advocate of new music and living composers. In addition to actively commissioning and premiering new works, Ting is known for her commitment to promoting women composers. Equally at home in the symphonic realm and opera houses, Ting was conducting fellow of The Dallas Opera’s 2016 Hart Institute for Women Conductors. She has conducted through the U.S. and Europe, including the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Strings, and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Ting currently serves as Conductor of the Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra.
TIMOTHY WHITEHEAD, PIANO
An artist of many facets, American pianist Timothy Whitehead is a graduate of The Eastman School of Music, and twice a resident artist at The Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada. He is in demand as a chamber musician, sharing the stage with founding members of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, principal members of the NY Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto and Atlanta Symphonies, faculty members of The Juilliard and Eastman Schools, The New England Conservatory, and many world famous flutists, including Jasmine Choi, Paula Robison, and Gary Schocker. He is a laureate of the Academie de Musique de Lausanne, and has been presented in recital at the Holland Music Sessions. His piano is often heard on NPR, and has internationally been broadcast on the CBC’s ZedTV and Radio Suisse Romande. His work as a recording artist can be found on the Naxos, Azica, Little Cottage, and Centaur labels.
Student Musicians:
Emma Axelson is a first-year in Civil Engineering from Brookhaven, Georgia. She has played viola for 9 years and will be traveling to Germany this summer to complete a German minor.
Sam Boss is a first-year Industrial Engineering major from Melbourne, Florida. She has played oboe for seven years, and string bass for nine years.
Cameron Chong is a sophomore from Milton, Georgia studying Chemical Engineering. He has played viola for 10 years and has traveled to 5 out of the 7 continents, hoping to go to the other 2 eventually.
Thomas Evans is a senior in Biomedical Engineering from Peachtree City, Georgia. He has played cello for 16 years and plans on attending law school after graduation.
Austin Matthews is a senior Mechanical Engineering Student from Houston, TX. He has played the bassoon for 11 years and is excited to return to Georgia Tech in the Fall for graduate school.
Arvind Ramaswami is a sophomore in Computer Science from Johns Creek, Georgia. He has played the violin for 11 years and likes to think about challenging combinatorial problems.
Isaac Tomblin is a first year Biomedical Engineering student and member of both the Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band at Georgia Tech. In high school he made the All National Orchestra playing horn.
Youngho Yoo is a second year PhD student in Mathematics from Toronto, Canada. He began playing the cello at age 6 and has played in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
Kedi Zheng is a first year Master in Computer Science from China. He dabbles the Flute and is a big fan of modern jazz Flutist Ron Burgundy.