Symphony brings Slavonic music to life

Nov 8, 2006

For Immediate Release

Contact: Annie Matlow 326-3136

SPOKANE: The Spokane Symphony will thrill audiences with an exhilarating program of works by internationally renowned Slavonic composers, creating an extraordinarily colorful program on Friday, Nov. 17. Maestro Eckart Preu conducts The Slavonic Soul, featuring two outstanding concertos, at 8 p.m. in the INB Performing Arts Center.

The musical adventure begins with Zoltan Kodaly's Harry Janos, a brilliantly told folktale filled with Hungarian folk melodies and wonderful Gypsy colors. Kodaly called Janos the personification of Hungarian story-telling and imagination. The concert continues with Karol Szymanowski's Concerto No. 1 for Violin. Like Kodaly, Szymanowski drew inspiration from folk music of many lands, but was also heavily influenced by French impressionism. His violin concerto is a haunting blend of these influences, bathed in an atmosphere of fantastic, ecstatic and delicate colors. The concert concludes with Concerto for Orchestra by Bela Bartok, a thrilling musical showpiece selected from the musicians wish-to-play list. Moving from dark beginning to exuberant finale, the music focuses on individual sections of the orchestra, demonstrating the musicians' virtuosity and power.

While the Bartok concerto will showcase the Spokane Symphony, the Szymanowski's concerto will feature rising star Jennifer Koh. After sweeping the world of violin at age 17, winning the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant in a single season, Koh took the unusual path of attending Oberlin College to major in English literature and violin performance.

After graduation, she went on to build an impressive career as a violin soloist, being heard with leading orchestras around the world. She has appeared in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to concert halls in Tokyo and Helsinki, and performs a repertoire that stretches from Bach to brand new works by such disparate contemporary composers as John Adams, John Zorn and the Chinese-American composer Tan Dun. She uses the 1727 Ex Grumiaux Ex General DuPont Stradivari, on loan from a private sponsor, in performance. A committed educator, Koh has also won high praise for her performances in classrooms around the country under her Innovative Music Messenger outreach program. Now in its third year, the program continues to form an important part of her musical activities.

In keeping with her passion for education, Koh will be giving a Master Class at Holy Names Music Center on Thursday, Nov. 16, 3 to 5 p.m. In addition, Koh will be featured on Classical Chat on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 12:15 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. The program will be also be broadcast live on City Cable 5. On the night of the concert, there will be a pre-concert talk given by Kendall Feeney at 7 p.m. at the INB Performing Arts Center.

Tickets range from $15 to $35 and are available at the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office, 818 W. Riverside, Suite 100 or 509-624-1200; all TicketsWest Outlets; 509-325-SEAT; 1-800-325-SEAT and at www.spokanesymphony.org