Join the La Mirada Symphony on Sunday, May 19th for their fourth and final free concert of the 2018/2019 season entitled “19th Century Russia and Student Competition Winners.” The program will include Overture to “Russlan and Ludmilla” by M. Glinka, Symphony No. 1 in G Minor by V. Kalinnikov, and competition winners will be announced.
The first piece performed will be Overture to “Russlan and Ludmilla” by M. Glinka. Mikhail Glinka was born near Moscow where his father, a wealthy landowner, had retired as an army captain. As all young nobles of his time, he learned the violin, piano, and took a few singing lessons. As a young man, he spent time in Italy and Germany but always felt his mission in life was to return to Russia, and write in a Russian manner. His second opera was Russlan and Ludmilla. The plot was based on the tale by Alexander Pushkin. His great achievement in this opera lies in his use of folk melody. Much of the borrowed folk material is Eastern in origin. It was less well-received than the earlier A Life for the Czar because it moved somewhat away from the folksy style of the first opera toward a more elevated idiom. It was not until after the composer’s death that Russlan and Ludmilla acquired its popular success.
The second piece performed will be Symphony No. 1 in G Minor by V. Kalinnikov. Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov was born in Russia in 1866. His talents were recognized early on as he was provided a scholarship to the Moscow Philharmonic Society School where he studied composition while also professionally playing bassoon, timpani, and violin. At the age of 26, Kalinnikov was recommended by none other than Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to become the main conductor of the internationally acclaimed Maly Theater in Moscow. He died two days before his thirty-fifth birthday in 1901.
As Jonathan Blumhofer states “Kalinnikov’s First Symphony is about as fresh as they come. The first movement doesn’t waste a moment: it kicks off with its sweeping opening theme and never looks back. The second main tune sounds a bit like something lifted from Borodin, but that’s neither here nor there – it’s lush and winning, and that’s all that counts.”
The featured student at the concert will be Nicole Lam. Pianist Nicole Lam is a sophomore at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA). She currently studies under the tutelage of Ms. Lilit Babayan.
Nicole has won innumerable competitions such as the Golden Note Youth Music Festival (Grand Prize), Two Cranes International Music Festival (1st Prize), Music Teacher’s Association of California (MTAC) Scholarship Competition (Grand Prize), Lansum International Competition (1st Prize), etc. She has been invited to perform as a piano soloist in world known concert halls like Bucharest University (Romania), Brahms Hall (Vienna), Weill Recital Hall Carnegie Hall (New York), Zipper Concert Hall, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Westerbeck Recital Hall, Munson Chapel, and others. She has also performed concertos with Haydn Symphony Orchestra Vienna and Bucharesti Symphonie Romania.
As someone who finds joy in helping others, Nicole started her own non-profit organization called Love Through Music that shares music with meaning to the local community in support of childhood education in Nepal. Nicole strives to spread the essence of music to other people’s hearts.
A pre-concert lecture by Alan Mautner, music director and conductor, will be at 2:15 p.m. The concert begins at 3:00 p.m.
Click here for more details on their Russian favorites and student winners event and to reserve your tickets today.
Source: La Mirada Symphony | The Arts Fuse | The Kennedy Center