Made in America

October 12, 2019 | Michigan Theater

Behind the Music

An orchestra reacts to and serves the cultural needs of its community. Through this process, the sound and identity of an orchestra are molded. For Joan Tower, the individuality formed through this process became the colors to fill the canvas of Made In America. Premiered in 2005, the piece toured through orchestras in all 50 states filling halls of all shapes and sizes. The piece inherently celebrates and embraces differences as it is given a new identity with every stop it makes from California to New York. This evening of music penned in America continues with Stravinsky’s revised 1950 version of The Fairy’s Kiss, originally written for the New York City Ballet. It was also in New York where Dvořák wrote two of his most memorable themes in the opening movement of his Concerto in B minor for Cello and Orchestra. The final moments of this noteworthy evening of music feature the heartfelt coda written by Dvořák in memory of his sister-in-law, Josefina Kaunitzová.

PROGRAM

TCHAIKOVSKY Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
TOWER Made In America
STRAVINSKY The Fairy’s Kiss
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto

Zlatomir Fung, cello
Laura Jackson, guest conductor

Composer, Igor Stravinsky (left) and Choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky (right)

Zlatomir Fung

BIOGRAPHY

Nineteen-year-old American cellist Zlatomir Fung is the first prize winner at 2018 Alice & Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, the 2016 George Enescu International Cello Competition, the 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, the 2014 Stulberg International String Competition, and the 2014 Irving Klein International Competition. Zlatomir was selected as a 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholar for the Arts and was awarded the 2016 Landgrave von Hesse Prize at the Kronberg Academy Cello Masterclasses. He is a winner of the 2017 Astral National Auditions and the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions.

He is a regular member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players for their 2018-2019 season and has been featured on NPR’s radio show From the Top six times, as well as on Performance Today.

Zlatomir has been a soloist with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Lausanne Sinfonietta, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the State Philharmonic of Sibiu, and the New England Philharmonic, among others.

Zlatomir has studied at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, the Heifetz International Music Institute, MusicAlp, and the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Outside of music, Zlatomir enjoys philosophy, cinema, and chess. His teachers have included Julie Albers, Emmanuel Feldman, and Nancy Hair. Currently, he is studying at The Juilliard School with Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy, where he is a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.

More information at zlatomirfung.com

Fast Facts

An Outlier

When compared to other works from Dvorâk’s “American period,” his Cello Concerto No. 1 in B minor occupies a unique sonic space. The work is notably meloncholic with some of the most emotive and expressive melodic phrases written during the composer’s stay in America. While other well-known compositions from this period are reflections on Dvorâk’s new surroundings, this cello concerto looks inward.

Not Your Average Fairy

Six years before Stravinisky premiered his four-movement orchestral suite of A Fary’s Kiss in New York City, the work was premiered as a ballet in Paris. This larger-scale production was adapted from the dark Hans Christien-Andersen fariytale, The Ice Maiden. The story is of a boy who is cursed with immortality from a kiss. The fairy in the story broke the mold for fairytales of this time period displaying a bosterious personality and commanding precense on stage.

FURTHER LISTENING

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By The Numbers

Orchestra across America that played "Made In America" during the 2005-2006 premier tour

Duration (minutes)

Musicians in Your A2SO

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