Conducted by music director finalist Yoichi Udagawa
As the NEP returns to the spotlight of the stage, we celebrate the instruments that make up the NEP, bringing our members into the spotlight! We are joined by Music Director finalist Yoichi Udagawa to conduct this concert.
Kathryn Salfelder Fanfare for Richard Pittman
World Premiere, NEP Commission
Igor Santos ploy, pivot
2021 Call for Scores Winner
Boston Premiere
TJ Cole Nightscape
Boston Premiere
Eric Nathan Double Concerto for Solo Violin, Solo Clarinet, and Strings
Stefan Jackiw, violin, and Yoonah Kim, clarinet
Co-commission with The New York Classical Players
Boston Premiere
Witold Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra
Covid-19 Protocols
All patrons will be required to wear a well fitting mask covering the mouth and nose at all times while inside NEC’s buildings. All patrons will be required to show proof of full vaccination and booster (if eligible) to attend this concert.
Meet the soloists
Yoonah Kim, clarinet
As an immigrant from Korea who arrived in Canada at a young age, I have spent my life straddling two very different cultures and languages. While there are aspects of this bi-cultural existence that I love, there are times when I find it difficult to live with one foot in each world. I have discovered that music is the universal language that can bridge any gap in custom or tradition, and the clarinet is my voice.
What first drew me to this instrument and continues to awe me to this day is its vast range of expression and character. Through constant collaboration with different artists in different mediums, I aim to create more opportunities for the clarinet to be seen outside of an orchestra. Highlights of this journey include commissioning a new concerto by American composer Eric Nathan for Violin and Clarinet with violinist Stefan Jackiw, premiering a re-imagination of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for Clarinet and Orchestra by Korean composer Texu Kim, as well as presenting recital programs - in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series and Washington Performing Arts’ Music in the Country series - that shine a light on the endless expressive capabilities of my instrument.
The year 2016 was the Big Bang in my Yoonahverse that led me to begin my journey. At the beginning of the year I became the first woman to win Vandoren’s Emerging Artist Competition. A few months later, I graduated with my master’s degree from The Juilliard School, and then was appointed to Ensemble Connect, a two-year fellowship program under the joint auspices of Carnegie Hall, The Weill Institute, and The Juilliard School. Ensemble Connect provided me with a platform to share classical music in public schools, homeless shelters and correctional facilities. At the end of the year, I won the Concert Artists Guild Competition and joined their roster as the first clarinetist in nearly 30 years.
My penchant for existing in multiple worlds at once has influenced my work as a collaborator. You are just as likely to find me performing at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust with Founders - my genre-bending, folk-inspired songwriting collective - as you are to run into me playing Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time in a crypt in Manhattan, a performance in which The New York Times reported on my "inexhaustible virtuosity".
At the end of the day, I like to unwind by curating my YouTube channel, on which I feature videos of my performances as well as my original recipes in the kitchen, and training my dog Ludwig to do cute tricks.
Meet the Composer
Igor Santos, 2021 Call for Scores Winner
Described as “otherworldly and mysteriously familiar” (Chicago Classical Review), and as “exciting and clear… with a striking boldness” (Luigi Nono Competition Prize), Igor Santos’ music has been performed internationally, by leading musicians such as Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Dal Niente, Alarm Will Sound, eighth blackbird, POING, the American Composers Orchestra, and The Florida Orchestra.
Igor has recently been awarded the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has previously won prizes in the Luigi Nono International Competition, the RED NOTE Competition, and the Salvatore Martirano Award. In addition, he has been given the Best Sound Design award from Theatre Tampa Bay, for his work as a composer of incidental music. Igor has earned degrees from the University of Chicago (Ph.D. 2018), the Eastman School of Music (M.A. 2012), and the University of South Florida (B.M. 2010). Additional studies include workshops and festivals such as Composers Conference (2020), Mizzou (2018), Impuls (2017), Time of Music (2017), ManiFeste (2015), Fontainebleau (2011), among others.
Igor is a native of Curitiba, Brazil, and in addition to writing concert music, he serves as Technical Director for Ensemble Dal Niente and composes for theater productions throughout the US and Europe.
For more information, please visit Igor Santos’ website.
Stefan Jackiw, violin
Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with an impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others.
In Summer 2021, Jackiw returned to the Cleveland Orchestra performing Prokofiev 2 with Rafael Payare, the Boston Symphony performing Mozart Concerto no. 5 with Alan Gilbert, and the Aspen Music Festival performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto, alongside Alisa Weilerstein, and Inon Barnatan. In the 2021-2022 season, he will premiere a new violin concerto by Conrad Tao with the Atlanta Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony; he will also return to the Indianapolis Symphony to perform Korngold Concerto, and to the Oregon Symphony with Schumann Concerto. In Europe, he will perform with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Alan Gilbert, and with Orchestre National de Lyon under Nikolaj Znaider.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Jackiw was scheduled to appear with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Antwerp Symphony, among others. He also recently performed with the Helsinki Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, RTE Dublin, and Baltimore and San Diego Symphonies. In July 2020, he launched Stefan’s Sessions, a virtual masterclass series exploring major works with up-and-coming violinists. This free online series has reached thousands of viewers.
Jackiw tours frequently with his musical partners, pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell, as part of the Junction Trio. He also enjoys collaborating with pianist Jeremy Denk with whom he has toured the complete Ives Violin Sonatas, which the pair recorded for future release on Nonesuch Records. He also recently recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy St. Martin in the Fields.
Highlights of recent seasons include his debut at The Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Festival with Juraj Valcuha, with whom he also reunited for performances in Dallas, Detroit, and Luxembourg; performances of Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall with Mikhail Pletnev, as part of a multi-city tour with the Russian National Orchestra; as well as performances with the St. Louis Symphony under Nicholas McGegan, the Minnesota Orchestra under Ilyich Rivas, the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Indianapolis Symphony under Krzysztof Urbanski, and the Pittsburgh Symphony under Juraj Valčuha. He also gave the world premiere of American composer David Fulmer’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “Jubilant Arcs”, written for him and commissioned by the Heidelberg Festival with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Matthias Pintscher. Further afield, Jackiw has appeared with the Tokyo Symphony at Suntory Hall under the direction of Krzysztof Urbanski, and the Seoul Philharmonic under Mario Venzago. He has also toured Korea, playing chamber music with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, and toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra play-directing Mendelssohn.
Jackiw has performed in numerous major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made in 1750 in Milan by G.B. Guadagnini, on generous loan from a private collection. He lives in New York City.