West Side Story Overture (Duration: 5 Minutes)
Leonard Bernstein
Violin Concerto (Duration: 21 Minutes)
Vivian Fung
Kristin Lee, Violin
Intermission
Symphony No. 5 (Duration: 44 Minutes)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Kick off the Eugene Symphony’s 60th Anniversary Season with an electrifying afternoon of music and the Masterworks debut of our new Music Director, Alex Prior! Bernstein’s West Side Story Overture bursts to life with high-energy rhythms and iconic melodies. Virtuoso Kristin Lee then takes the stage for Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto, a bold and mesmerizing showcase of artistry and innovation. The night builds to a thrilling finale with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, a powerful journey from fate to triumph. Celebrate 60 years of music, passion, and community with this unforgettable season opener!
Tickets start at $22 with $10 student/youth tickets.
Arrive early for the free Guild Legacy Pre-Concert Talk to get the inside-scoop on the music you’re about to experience! The talk begins at 1:00 PM in the Hult Center Studio. All ticket-holders are welcome. Following the concert, meet the musicians at the “Unoffical After-Party” in the Trophy Room at the Graduate Hotel next to the Hult Center.
The Artists
Alex Prior
Conductor
Kristin Lee
Violin Soloist
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Kristin Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”
As a soloist, Lee has appeared with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic. She has performed on the world’s finest concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ravinia Festival, the Louvre Museum, the Phillips Collection, and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery. An accomplished chamber musician, Kristin Lee became a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center after winning The Bowers Program audition and completing the program’s three-year residency. In addition to her prolific performance career, Lee is a devoted educator. She is on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin. Lee is also the founding artistic director of Emerald City Music (ECM), a chamber music series that presents authentically unique concert experiences and bridges the divide between the highest caliber classical music and the many diverse communities of the Puget Sound region of Washington State.
Kristin Lee’s honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, top prizes in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions, and awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation.
Born in Seoul, Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples, Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.
Take a listen as Lee performs Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto, a piece written specifically for her.
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Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), arr. Maurice Peress — Overture to West Side Story
Vivian Fung (b. 1975) — Violin Concerto No. 1
Kristin Lee, violin
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) — Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
I. Andante – Allegro con anima
II. Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza
III. Valse: Allegro moderato
IV. Finale: Andante maestoso – Allegro vivace
Bernstein:
SCORED: For piccolo, two flutes, two oboes including English horn, two clarinets including Eb clarinet and bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano, and strings.
HISTORY: This is the first Eugene Symphony performance.
DURATION: Approximately 5 minutes.
Fung:
SCORED: For flute including piccolo, oboe including English horn, clarinet including bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, horn, trumpet, percussion, harp, and strings.
HISTORY: This is the first Eugene Symphony performance.
DURATION: Approximately 21 minutes.
Tchaikovsky:
SCORED: For three flutes including piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.
HISTORY: Last performed in September 2019 under the direction of Francesco Lecce-Chong.
DURATION: Approximately 44 minutes.