Happy Christmas and Holidays to All!
Merry Christmas, dear friends!
Some holiday traditions remain timeless: I spent Christmas Eve celebrating my mom's birthday, eating delicious Korean food with my family, watching It's a Wonderful Life (it made me weep—how I love classic films!), singing carols at church in a beautiful candlelight service, and getting lots of sleep. Each year the holiday season fills me with profound gratitude and hope for peace on earth.
In honor of the twelve days of Christmas, I thought I would list twelve musical highlights of my year.
Starting with the most recent:
1. Esperanza Educatio
nal Fund Benefit Concert in DC. An important cause + terrific people + an elegant venue + raising over $10,000 toward college scholarships for immigrant students = one memorable evening!
nter/Alice Tully Hall/Smith College concerts. In the span of one week, I gave a solo recital presented by the Korean Concert Society at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, a performance of Beethoven's piano-duet version of the Grosse Fuge with Greg Anderson at The Juilliard School's Manuscript Collection gala at Lincoln Center, and a performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Suite for Two Pianos with Judith Gordon at Smith College's Rachmaninoff Centennial Celebration. (Fascinating tidbit: Rachmaninoff gave his North American debut at Smith in 1909!) Needless to say, it was an intense week of commuting, practicing, rehearsing, cramming, performing, and embracing the mad rush.
4. Mendelssohn Bicentennial Celebration. Under the baton of Maestro Alan Heatherington, I performed Mendelssohn's ebullient First Piano Concerto with the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra. Excellent orchestra & conductor, marvelous audience (my hometown crowd!), and music of timeless beauty and excitement.
5. Cyprus. My duo partn
er Greg and I had a blast in Cyprus! We performed in the lovely Pallas Theatre and gave the world première of For Whom?, by the delightful Nicolas Constantinou (who dedicated the piece to us). In addition to performing, we were treated to warm Cypriot hospitality, awe-inspiring sights of ancient ruins, and moments of relaxation on the shores of the glorious Mediterranean.
6. New Anglophilia. Perhaps the biggest milestone of my year was relocating to Western Mass to start a two-year professorship at Smith College. (My official title: "Visiting Artist and Lecturer in Piano.") In September I officially started teaching, and I also collaborated w
ith violinist Joel Pitchon (Smith faculty member) and clarinetist Michael Sussmann (UMass faculty member) in the Five College New Music Festival. Now that I've completed my first semester of teaching, I can unequivocally say that I love my job: teaching and mentoring young women is truly rewarding. Also, I absolutely love being surrounded by nature. One of the best things is looking up at the sky on clear nights . . . I never fail to gasp in amazement at all the stars.
7. (Less than 500) Days of Summer. Non-musically, I was principally occupied with moving out of NYC and up to Massachusetts. Musically, I made solo and duo appearances in New York, Milwaukee, Santa Barbara, Portland, Washington DC, and upstate New York.
8.
Spring duo escapades. Greg and I kept busy during the spring; we performed on both coasts, from TriBeCa, New Jersey, and the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, to Oregon and Washington state. Some highlights: premiering our cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" (and maneuvering a diminutive Smart Car!) in Spokane, filming high-octane music videos in a bustling apartment and on a vast stage, driving along the magical Oregon coastline, wandering in majestic redwood forests, and taking an impromptu photo shoot in random hall- and alleyways of Manhattan.
9. Barber and Brahms. In April, I performed two of my favorite pieces: the Barber Piano Concerto (with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra) and the Brahms Piano Quintet (with the Parker Quartet). Two epic works, two enjoyable collaborations.
10. Inaugural Juilliard in Aiken Festival. In addition to giving a master class to high school pianists from the Governor's School and a warmly-received solo recital at the Aiken County Historical Museum, I performed chamber music with the wonderful Biava Quartet in the Final Showcase concert, enjoyed Southern hospitality at its finest, and witnessed the power of music in uplifting a community. (See photos here: http://juilliardinaiken.com/2009gallery.html)
11.
Bon hiver. My 2009 commenced with a sold-out Anderson & Roe Duo concert in Florida (cheers to our delightful hosts, Marie and Goody!), a Carnegie Hall "Making Music" concert at Zankel Hall (where I reunited with Ensemble ACJW to play orchestral celesta and keyboard), and a concerto appearance with the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra led by the superb conductor Andrews Sill in Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto. An appropriately diverse start to a year full of musical variety!
12. Extras. My favorite albums of the year: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Phoenix); xx (The xx), Two Suns (Bat for Lashes), and Manners (Passion Pit). And, of course, MJ's brilliance lives on in his legendary music videos and phenomenal hits.
Peace, Light, Love, and Joy to you all! EJR
Some holiday traditions remain timeless: I spent Christmas Eve celebrating my mom's birthday, eating delicious Korean food with my family, watching It's a Wonderful Life (it made me weep—how I love classic films!), singing carols at church in a beautiful candlelight service, and getting lots of sleep. Each year the holiday season fills me with profound gratitude and hope for peace on earth.
In honor of the twelve days of Christmas, I thought I would list twelve musical highlights of my year.
Starting with the most recent:
1. Esperanza Educatio
nal Fund Benefit Concert in DC. An important cause + terrific people + an elegant venue + raising over $10,000 toward college scholarships for immigrant students = one memorable evening!
2. Recording Session in Deutschland. I spent three full and fulfilling days recording my first commercial solo album in the charming village of Neumarkt. Some indelible mementos: the constant tolling of the bells from a nearby cathedral, interrupting many a take; earning battle wounds—"I've got blisters on my fingers!" to quote the Beatles—while tearing through the glissandi in "La Va
lse" at the end of a long day; consuming (with the crew, natürlich!) bottle after bottle of Volvic water, canteens of green tea, Whole Foods pretzels, an assortment of German biscuits, Riesen chocolates, and fruit; daily meals at the local Park Café; playing my heart out in pieces I've known for years (like the "Liebestod") and pieces I had just learned (selections from Rachmaninov's Morceaux de salon); 
communicating in a hybrid of English-German-French-Italian-Korean to my international crew (noch einmal!); sharing focused and fun interactions with my fantastiche recording personnel (who have surely seen more sides of me in three days than most people get to in years of knowing me); and cherishing the acoustics, instrument, and legacy of such a historic venue.
lse" at the end of a long day; consuming (with the crew, natürlich!) bottle after bottle of Volvic water, canteens of green tea, Whole Foods pretzels, an assortment of German biscuits, Riesen chocolates, and fruit; daily meals at the local Park Café; playing my heart out in pieces I've known for years (like the "Liebestod") and pieces I had just learned (selections from Rachmaninov's Morceaux de salon); 
communicating in a hybrid of English-German-French-Italian-Korean to my international crew (noch einmal!); sharing focused and fun interactions with my fantastiche recording personnel (who have surely seen more sides of me in three days than most people get to in years of knowing me); and cherishing the acoustics, instrument, and legacy of such a historic venue.
nter/Alice Tully Hall/Smith College concerts. In the span of one week, I gave a solo recital presented by the Korean Concert Society at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, a performance of Beethoven's piano-duet version of the Grosse Fuge with Greg Anderson at The Juilliard School's Manuscript Collection gala at Lincoln Center, and a performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Suite for Two Pianos with Judith Gordon at Smith College's Rachmaninoff Centennial Celebration. (Fascinating tidbit: Rachmaninoff gave his North American debut at Smith in 1909!) Needless to say, it was an intense week of commuting, practicing, rehearsing, cramming, performing, and embracing the mad rush.
4. Mendelssohn Bicentennial Celebration. Under the baton of Maestro Alan Heatherington, I performed Mendelssohn's ebullient First Piano Concerto with the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra. Excellent orchestra & conductor, marvelous audience (my hometown crowd!), and music of timeless beauty and excitement.
5. Cyprus. My duo partn
er Greg and I had a blast in Cyprus! We performed in the lovely Pallas Theatre and gave the world première of For Whom?, by the delightful Nicolas Constantinou (who dedicated the piece to us). In addition to performing, we were treated to warm Cypriot hospitality, awe-inspiring sights of ancient ruins, and moments of relaxation on the shores of the glorious Mediterranean.
6. New Anglophilia. Perhaps the biggest milestone of my year was relocating to Western Mass to start a two-year professorship at Smith College. (My official title: "Visiting Artist and Lecturer in Piano.") In September I officially started teaching, and I also collaborated w
ith violinist Joel Pitchon (Smith faculty member) and clarinetist Michael Sussmann (UMass faculty member) in the Five College New Music Festival. Now that I've completed my first semester of teaching, I can unequivocally say that I love my job: teaching and mentoring young women is truly rewarding. Also, I absolutely love being surrounded by nature. One of the best things is looking up at the sky on clear nights . . . I never fail to gasp in amazement at all the stars.
7. (Less than 500) Days of Summer. Non-musically, I was principally occupied with moving out of NYC and up to Massachusetts. Musically, I made solo and duo appearances in New York, Milwaukee, Santa Barbara, Portland, Washington DC, and upstate New York.
8.
Spring duo escapades. Greg and I kept busy during the spring; we performed on both coasts, from TriBeCa, New Jersey, and the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, to Oregon and Washington state. Some highlights: premiering our cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" (and maneuvering a diminutive Smart Car!) in Spokane, filming high-octane music videos in a bustling apartment and on a vast stage, driving along the magical Oregon coastline, wandering in majestic redwood forests, and taking an impromptu photo shoot in random hall- and alleyways of Manhattan.
9. Barber and Brahms. In April, I performed two of my favorite pieces: the Barber Piano Concerto (with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra) and the Brahms Piano Quintet (with the Parker Quartet). Two epic works, two enjoyable collaborations.
10. Inaugural Juilliard in Aiken Festival. In addition to giving a master class to high school pianists from the Governor's School and a warmly-received solo recital at the Aiken County Historical Museum, I performed chamber music with the wonderful Biava Quartet in the Final Showcase concert, enjoyed Southern hospitality at its finest, and witnessed the power of music in uplifting a community. (See photos here: http://juilliardinaiken.com/2009gallery.html)
11.
Bon hiver. My 2009 commenced with a sold-out Anderson & Roe Duo concert in Florida (cheers to our delightful hosts, Marie and Goody!), a Carnegie Hall "Making Music" concert at Zankel Hall (where I reunited with Ensemble ACJW to play orchestral celesta and keyboard), and a concerto appearance with the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra led by the superb conductor Andrews Sill in Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto. An appropriately diverse start to a year full of musical variety!
12. Extras. My favorite albums of the year: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Phoenix); xx (The xx), Two Suns (Bat for Lashes), and Manners (Passion Pit). And, of course, MJ's brilliance lives on in his legendary music videos and phenomenal hits.
Peace, Light, Love, and Joy to you all! EJR
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