Brian Yoon the soloist in Sooke Philharmonic’s final concert of the year
May 29 and 30, the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2014-2015 season will be brought to a close with Wagner, Dvorak and Brahms, Maestro Norman Nelson conducting. The Sooke concert will be performed Friday night at the Sooke Community Hall; Victoria concertgoers can take in the same program Saturday at the Farquhar Auditorium at UVic. Both concerts start at 7:30 p.m.
Brian Yoon, Principal Cellist of the Victoria Symphony, will perform the well-known Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor. This beautiful work is performed often, always to great acclaim.
Yoon, who hails from South Korea, studied in Vancouver, Ottawa and at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Yoon has been described by the CBC as “Canada’s next cello superstar.” Currently the Principal Cello of the Victoria Symphony, he has also been a guest principal of the Kingston Symphony and National Arts Centre Orchestra. Since winning First Prize at the 35th Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, he has been presented in recital from coast to coast, impressing audiences with intelligent and passionate performances of repertoire ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Shostakovich and Metallica. As a soloist, Yoon regularly performs with orchestras across Canada: his performance of Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 at the National Arts Centre was praised by the Ottawa Citizen as an “impressive account” with “exquisite phrasing.”
Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 is filled with melody and rhythm, and many listeners will recognize certain themes, particularly from the third movement, that have been picked up and reused in songs and movies, notably Aimez-Vous Brahms, the 1961 classic with Ingrid Bergman.
The overture in the program is by Brahms’ arch-enemy, Richard Wagner. The overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was composed and performed years before the opera was completed, a kind of tease, as it were. The opera is about a 16th-Century singing competition and is based on actual events of the time.
Tickets are available online at www.sookephil.ca and at Sooke, Metchosin and Westshore outlets (250-419-3569). Tickets for the Victoria concert at UVic must be ordered from the UVic Ticket Centre: 250-721-8480, www.tickets.uvic.ca. Admission for youth 16 and under is FREE for both concerts.
Remember to mark your calendar for the Sooke Secret Garden Tour, coming up on Sunday, June 7, and the Philharmonic Fling at Ed Macgregor Park, Sunday July 12.
The Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1997 by Norman Nelson. In 2007 he was awarded the Orchestras Canada Betty Webster Award for his sustained and significant contribution to the Canadian orchestral community. In May 2012, Norman was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, which honours outstanding Canadians whose achievements have benefited their fellow citizens.