May 26

TCS_2022.23_Website_6

World Map

Friday | 5.26.23 | 8:00 PM

Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center, 129 W 67th Street

The Chelsea Symphony, in collaboration with composer Shuying Li, presents Li’s World Map concertos, featuring members of the Four Corners Ensemble in all new orchestrations of the concertos for chamber orchestra. Originally written for and recorded by the Four Corners Ensemble, each concerto journeys to a different country or region around the world, highlighting the diverse backgrounds of each featured musician. The evening opens with a new work by Aaron Dai and closes with John Luther Adams’s Become River, bringing the theme of world exploration together through the bodies of water that connect us all.

Program

Aaron Dai

New Work

(World Premiere)

Aaron Dai, Composer
Shuying Li

The Dryad

(Version Premiere)

Shuying Li, Composer
Erika Boysen, Flute
Shuying Li

American Variations

(Version Premiere)

Shuying Li, Composer
Ayako Oshima, Clarinet
Shuying Li

The Peace House

(Version Premiere)

Shuying Li, Composer
Christina Adams, Violin
Shuying Li

Matilda’s Dream

(Version Premiere)

Shuying Li, Composer
Shuying Li

Canton Snowstorm

(Version Premiere)

Shuying Li, Composer
Mi-Eun Kim, Piano
John Luther Adams

Become River

(NY Premiere)

Featured Artists

Shuying Li
Composer

Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: The Dryad


Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: American Variations


Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: The Peace House


Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: Matilda’s Dream


Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: Canton Snowstorm


Praised as “a real talent” (Seattle Times) with “vivid, dramatic” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “enjoyable” (Gramophone) scores and “an incredible span of compositional tool box” (American Record Guide), Shuying Li is an award-winning composer who began her musical education in her native China. In her sophomore year at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, she won a scholarship to continue her undergraduate studies at The Hartt School in Connecticut. She holds doctoral and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and …

Erika Boysen
Flute

Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: The Dryad


Flutist and pedagogue, Erika Boysen, is a leading innovator within interdisciplinary performance. Particularly known for her uniquely evocative collaborations including movement, singing and acting, Boysen uses these forms of creative expression both in performance and as a method for teaching artistic concepts. For her demonstrative expertise and virtuosic performance, she has been invited to Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, and throughout the US to perform in recitals, teach master classes, and lead creative workshops.

Active on all fronts, recent …

Ayako Oshima
Clarinet

Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: American Variations


Ayako Oshima, winner of numerous international competitions including the 55th JapanMusic Competition in Tokyo, the Winds and Percussion Competition in Japan, and  3rd Prize winner in the 17th International Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Belgrade, where she also received the Golden Harp award given to the favorite of the audience and critics, is one of the most popular clarinet soloists in Japan. She performs on a regular basis both in recital and in concerto appearances with orchestra, highlights of which have …

Christina Adams
Violin

Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: The Peace House


Dr. Christina Adams is Instructor of Violin, Viola, and Chamber Music at the University of South Florida, and also serves as the Assistant Director of Strings and Chamber Music at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival. She holds degrees from the University of South Florida, Boston University, and a D.M.A. from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Adams appears frequently as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has collaborated with leading artists from around the country, including New York Philharmonic principals …

Juliette Herlin
Cello

Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: Matilda’s Dream


Praised for her “impressive artistry” and “wonderful bowing technique” (San Francisco Classical Voice), French cellist Juliette Herlin has performed throughout Europe, the U.S and Asia. As a soloist, chamber musician, and recitalist, she has appeared in prestigious venues such as the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Musée du Louvre, and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Zhuhai and Chongqin Grand Theaters in China as well as at the …

Mi-Eun Kim
Piano

Friday, 5.26

Shuying Li: Canton Snowstorm


Raised throughout the midwestern United States, pianist Mi-Eun Kim has performed on stages across the country, as well as in Europe and Asia.

Recent performances include her ongoing complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle at Beethoven @ 2020 Series at Butler University, Loyola University in New Orleans and Yiin Art Hall South Korea as well as a lecture-presentations at Atlantic Music Festival, and University of Michigan. She appeared as a soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and …

Aaron Dai
Composer

Friday, 5.26

Aaron Dai: New Work


A graduate of Columbia University and the Mannes School of Music, Aaron Dai began studying piano at  the age of five and went on to win the UNICEF Youth Concerts Competition three times by the age of  fifteen. As a soloist and collaborative pianist, he has performed around the country and abroad, in New  York venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Symphony Space, and The Town Hall, and cities  including Dublin, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and San Francisco. …

Conductor

A leader in the 21st century orchestral landscape, Dr. Matthew Aubin is constantly reaching new audiences through innovative performance formats and creative initiatives both on and off the podium.

The 2022-23 season kicks off Dr. Aubin’s inaugural year as Music Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is Music Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra and serves as Artistic Director of The Chelsea Symphony. In his role at TCS, he has led highly visible collaborations with partners such …

Reuben Blundell has been a Chelsea Symphony conductor/violinist since 2012, enjoying collaborations with musicians, soloists, composers and other conductors. Conducting Aaron Dai’s The Night Before Christmas, first with B. D. Wong then Annie Golden narrating, he initiated, conducted and edited (in Premiere Pro) the orchestra’s 2020 remote performance, narrated by John Lithgow.

Blundell is Music Director of the Riverside Orchestra on the Upper West Side, rehearsing Mondays and performing five concerts each season. He also directs another outstanding community …

Active as a conductor, violinist, violist, pianist, and educator, Nell Flanders brings her dynamic musicality to performances in a wide variety of genres, from orchestral classics to contemporary music, tango, blues, and period instrument baroque. Ms. Flanders is currently the Director of Orchestral Activities at Idaho State University, where she leads the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the ISU University Chamber Orchestra. From 2018-2021 she held the position of Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducting …

Mark Seto leads a wide-ranging musical life as a conductor, scholar, teacher, and violinist. He is Artistic Director and Conductor of The Chelsea Symphony in New York City, and Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music at Brown University, where he directs the Brown University Orchestra and teaches courses in music history, theory, and conducting. Highlights of his 2023-24 season include performances with violinist Itzhak Perlman, violinist Randall Goosby, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, and the inauguration of The …