Acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh is set to perform in the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s “Graceful Pairings” concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 27, 2015 at Princeton University.
The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is set to open its 35th Anniversary Season with the Graceful Pairings concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 27, 2015. The concert features acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh performing composer Anna Clyne’s new work The Seamstress for Violin and Orchestra and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s romantic Second Symphony in E Minor, Op. 27. PSO Music Director Rossen Milanov will conduct both works at Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University.
The concert will begin a season which highlights the creativity of women in music with a calligraphy-inspired work by Jing Jing Luo, co-commissioned pieces by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw and Princeton’s own Sarah Kirkland Snider and star soloists including pianist Joyce Yang, soprano Dawn Upshaw and Shaw, a violinist, performing her own work.
The Seamstress is one of several pieces written by Clyne for Jennifer Koh. Koh is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. She originally reached out to Anna Clyne five years ago after listening to her music and the two have been friends and creative partners ever since.
Clyne is a Grammy-nominated composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. Her work often includes collaborations with cutting-edge choreographers, visual artists, film-makers and musicians worldwide. Clyne will elaborate on her collaboration with Koh at the PSO’s Behind the Music event on Saturday, September 26, at 3 p.m. at the Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center. Koh and Rossen Milanov are set to join in the discussion.
Entering his sixth season with the PSO, Music Director Rossen Milanov is thrilled to be honoring women artists in 2015-2016 and paying tribute to the creative legacy of PSO founder Portia Sonnenfeld.
Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony was spotlighted last year when the composer’s original manuscript surfaced and was sold at auction by Sotheby’s for $2,021,042. The symphony was written around the time of the birth of Rachmaninoff’s second daughter, Tatiana, and begins with hushed tones infused with simple beauty. It is Rachmaninoff’s best known symphony for both its romanticism and expansion on the symphonic form.
Tickets for Graceful Pairings and all other PSO concerts are on sale at the following price levels: $75, $60, $48 and $30. Includes admission to the 3 p.m. Pre-Concert Talk. Five-concert subscriptions are also available. Purchase at princetonsymphony.org or call (609) 497-0020.
