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Recent Reviews
- Pianist Chetan Tierra — Return of a Native Son
- Opera San Jose — Die Fledermaus
- Santa Cruz Symphony — Souvenir de Florence
- Danko Druško — Newly Appointed Director of Youth Music Monterey County
- The Joy of Modern & Traditional Music
- Hidden Valley Ends its Master Artist Series with cellist Mark Kosower in recital
- Celebration Choir: Walkin’ Together — Changing Our World
- Elastic Brio: Menlo’s Overture Concert
- Pianist Ko-Eun Yi at the Aptos Keyboard Series at St. John’s
- Masterful: [email protected]’s Concert Program V
- Sonorous Sweep: The Romantic Revolution at Menlo
- CBF 2019: Virginia Best Adams Masterclass Showcase
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Recent Previews
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List by Category
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YMMC Winter Concert at Sunset Center
The last two weeks have been challenging for Youth Music Monterey County orchestras, for this was a time during which rehearsals were inconvenienced by a series of violent storms bringing widespread power outages, downed trees and impassable roads. Somehow the young musicians participating in YOSAL and YMMC got it all together in time to present a Winter Concert that was as refreshing as it was inspiring.
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Archived in these categories: Classical Era, Competition, Orchestral, Youth Music Monterey
Kevin Lee Sun — Winner of the 2018 Carmel Music Society Piano Competition
2018 Carmel Music Society Biennial Piano Competition winner Kevin Lee Sun appeared in recital yesterday afternoon at Sunset Center. It was, in retrospect, an oddly chosen program. The works on the first half, consisting of a Prelude & Fugue from Bach’s WTC II, the Fantasia nach J.S. Bach by Busoni and Schubert’s “Wanderer Fantasy,” were totally involving and demonstrated Sun’s ability to paint with a stunningly beautiful palette of colors while demonstrating a seemingly effortless total keyboard mastery. At the end of the first half, spontaneous bravos erupted from members of the audience, and he received a thunderous standing ovation.
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Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Carmel Music Society, Competition, Piano, Romantic Era
Youth Music Monterey — Mother’s Musical Souvenir
YMMC Competition Winner Courtney McDonald
Youth Music Monterey County attracted a huge audience at Sunset Center on Sunday afternoon. YMMC President Dorothy Micheletti gave a warm welcome to the talented young performers, their families who support them, and to their hardworking teachers who inspire them. She also gave thanks to all the donors whose financial generosity makes it possible to present concerts in a very professional venue like Sunset Center, rather than in a school auditorium on squeaky chairs or, heavens forbid, a gymnasium — where some youth orchestras with leaner budgets might end up performing. Thanks were also given to Hidden Valley Music Seminars, whose Director, Peter Meckel, continues to provide much needed rehearsal facilities. Since this concert not only represented the end of YMMC’s 2017-2018 season, but also the 30th anniversary of the founding of YMMC, the audience was invited to a birthday celebration following the concert with lavish goodies and birthday cake in the lobby and on the patio outside. Read full story
Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Competition, Concerto, Orchestral, Romantic Era, Youth Music Monterey
Farkhad Khudyev– A Winner at the 8th International Sir Georg Solti Conducting Competition
Kudos to Farkhad Khudyev, Music Director of Youth Music Monterey and Associate Conductor of Hidden Valley Opera. He recently returned from Frankfurt, Germany, where he participated in the 8th International Sir Georg Solti Conducting Competition, one of the most prestigious competitions in the world for conductors. Competing against 300 conductors from 58 countries, Khudyev won Third Prize and an opportunity to conduct the prestigious Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.
A reviewer from the Frankfurter Neue Presse stated: “Farkhad Khudyev kam uns romantisch mit der „Oberon“-Ouvertüre Carl Maria von Webers: grazil, sehr empfindsam, die hellen Bläser fast zauberisch. Aber mit einem Schlag zieht Khudyev Tempo und Lautstärke an, gelangt zu ausgesprochen lustvollem Dirigieren, bringt den Orchesterapparat in Schwung.
[Translation: “Farkhad Khudyev came to us romantically with the “Oberon” Overture by Carl Maria von Weber: graceful, very sensitive, with almost magical bright winds. But in just one gesture, Khudyev draws on tempo and volume, leads to a very pleasurable conducting and brings the orchestral apparatus into full swing.”]
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Archived in these categories: Competition, Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Orchestral, Youth Music Monterey
2016 Carmel Music Society Piano Competition Winner Man-Ling Bai
It was virtually a full house yesterday afternoon when Man-Ling Bai, the Carmel Music Society’s 2016 Piano Competition winner, returned to Sunset Center to play a full recital as a part of the Grand Prize award she received the previous year. The ground floor orchestra seats were packed, the balcony was almost half full, and the ushers ran out of printed programs and were asking the last arriving people to share programs. It was a lively and unusual audience with many young piano students and new people we do not usually see at CMS concerts. If filling the seats and attracting a new audience is one of the most important goals of any presenting society, then this concert was a very special success indeed. Read full story
Archived in these categories: 21st Century, Carmel Music Society, Competition, Piano, Romantic Era
