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CYSO and Kurt Nikkanen Will Give World Premiere of Vermilion Violin Concerto by Stephanie Ann Boyd
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Baltimore, MD, March 12th 2019 — Maryland’s own Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra will present their spring Gala concerts at 1:00 PM and 6:30 PM on March 16th at St. John’s College in the Francis Scott Key Auditorium at 60 College Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21401. The pinnacle of the evening performance will feature the orchestra and renowned violinist Kurt Nikkanen under the baton of Music Director Julien Benichou presenting the world premiere of a new violin concerto “Vermilion” written by New York-based composer Stephanie Ann Boyd and commissioned by the CYSO.
The evening concert will also feature the Carter Legacy Singers and Morgan State University graduate Leah Hawkins, who is currently performing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. This Gala is the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra’s main fundraiser for 2019 and all ensembles will be performing in either the afternoon or evening concert. Both events will begin with a professionally catered reception and silent auction.
CYSO Music Director Julien Benichou also currently serves as Music Director for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra, and is Principal Conductor of the Washington Opera Society. While on faculty at the Juilliard School, he also collaborated with violinist Itzhak Perlman. Benichou noted that the evening’s special guest “violinist Kurt Nikkanen is one of the most impressive musicians of his generation, one that enthralls audiences and performers alike, with an astounding depth of expression and a powerful stage presence”. Nikkanen is Concertmaster of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and has appeared with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Gothenburg Symphony at the BBC Proms, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony, the London Sinfonietta, the Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and others. He was a scholarship student of Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard and has given numerous premieres, including the New York premiere of the Thomas Adès violin concerto.
The violin concerto commissioned by the CYSO for Kurt Nikkanen to play on this concert was written by New York City composer Stephanie Ann Boyd. Michigan-born Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about feminine subject matter and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. She is a graduate of Roosevelt University and New England Conservatory. Soloist Kurt Nikkanen spoke of her work saying “Discovering Stephanie’s music has been a fantastic experience, which began in 2017 when I had the opportunity to perform her imaginative and expressive solo piece, Nostrorbis. Now, the journey continues with her brilliant new work, Vermilion, for violin and orchestra…I am drawn to her lyricism, extremely expressive melodic gift, and propulsive rhythmic energy.” Vermilion is Boyd’s second violin concerto.
More information can be found at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4058001
More information about the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra can be found at https://www.cysomusic.org
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Release ID: 492153