Arts@ARCO presents
Concert No. 4: Connecting the Dots
Sunday, April 14, 3PM
ARCO
3301 Price Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45205
It’s a free concert but your donation is appreciated! Your donation may be fully tax-deductible. Glow Music is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
You can make a check to ‘Glow Music’ (5829 Woodbridge Lane. West Chester, OH 45069), donate through our PayPal web link, or use Venmo @glowmusic.
Mission Statement
Glow Music serves young classical musicians and their community. It provides the musicians opportunities to perform as artistic professionals. It provides the audience opportunities to be connected with the musicians of their community. Glow Music also serves to promote both traditional classical music and contemporary works, especially those by historically underrepresented groups of composers.
Diversity Statement
Glow Music promotes diversity and inclusion in our concert programming and event planning. We celebrate and promote the unique artistry each musician brings to us. We see the appreciation and curiosity that the audience bring to us. We see the quality and sincerity of service that employees and volunteers bring to us.
Board of Directors
Yeon-Kyung Kim, director
William Lindsay, secretary
Matt Williamson, interim treasurer
Special Thanks to:
Community of Faith Presbyterian Church
ARCO
MYCincinnati
Dr. Christina Seal
Dr. Richard Van Dyke
Dr. Kimberly Lazzeri
CCM Composition Department
Program
Sonata in G Minor BWV 1001 (1720): Adagio – Fugue – Presto … Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Rest Your Hands (2014) … Anna Clyne (b.1980)
misfit (2024)* … Saebyul Woo (b. 1996)
Yasmin Bougacha, violin
Two Sara Teasdale Songs (2024)* …Kevin X. Li (b. 1997)
1. Spring in War-Time
2. September Midnight
Elfenlied (1891) from Mörike-Lieder
Die Bekehrte (1891) from Goethe-Lieder
Die Spröde (1891) from Goethe-Lieder …Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Sul Fil D’un Soffio Etesio (1893) from Falstaff …Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814) …Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Dona, Dona, Dona … Yiddish folksong, arr. Robert De Cormier (1922-2017)
Die Lorelei (1841) … Franz Liszt (1811-1886) / Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Meg Booker, soprano, Noah Jacobsen, piano
* indicates Glow Music commission and World Premiere
Program Notes from the Artists
- Notes by Yasmine Bougacha
This program represents one of my biggest passions as an artist: my cultural heritage. Studying classical music in a western country, I was taught that major keys are for “happy pieces” and minor keys are for “sad pieces”. As a Tunisian American, I grew up listening to classical Arabic music but I never saw this music as “sad” the way my middle school teachers would describe this music. In these minor modes and scales that hypnotized my ears, I heard a whole world of emotions: while there was occasional sadness, I heard more colors of excitement, tranquility, mystery, and passion. With these two pieces, I encourage listeners to hear the different intentions and emotions of pieces in minor keys from two great composers.
Johann Sebastian Bach, a canonical composer from the Baroque period, was a master of counterpoint and polyphonic writing. In his first sonata for solo violin, he chooses the key of G minor and writes four movements based on the traditional “sonata da chiesa” form, which includes two slow movements and two fast movements. Bach’s rich harmonic language, love for ornamentation, and stark contrasts are on display with every movement of this sonata. I will be performing the first, second, and fourth movement.
Bach’s music prepares our ears for Anna Clyne’s piece in D minor. A huge fan of Bach, she drew inspiration for her piece “Rest These Hands” based on his work and Classical Arabic music style. She uses a poem written by her mother in the final year of her life that is read over the music in the very beginning and very end. She weaves in quotes from the Presto (4th) movement of Bach’s Violin Sonata in G minor, BWV 1001, between all the melismas and continuous melodies, adding more layers of dimension into this already beautiful piece.
- Notes by Saebyul Woo (wsb961104@gmail.com)
“misfit” is a piece that entirely reflects who I am. I once attempted to conform to my surroundings and the expectations of others, believing it was the path to adaptation. However, at some point, I realized it was a perfect mismatch. Nevertheless, I’ve embraced being a misfit; it’s who I am. I came to understand that ‘misfit’ serves as evidence of my complete self. I’ve chosen to honor my true self and live authentically as a misfit.
Spring in War-Time by Sara Teasdale
I feel the spring far off, far off,
The faint, far scent of bud and leaf—
Oh, how can spring take heart to come
To a world in grief,
Deep grief?
The sun turns north, the days grow long,
How can the daylight linger on
For men to fight,
Still fight?
The grass is waking in the ground,
How can it have the heart to sway
Over the graves,
New graves?
Under the boughs where lovers walked
The apple-blooms will shed their breath—
But what of all the lovers now
Parted by Death,
Grey Death?
September Midnight by Sara Teasdale
Lyric night of the lingering Indian Summer,
Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing,
Let me remember, remember, soon will the winter be on us
Snow-hushed and heavy.
Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects,
Ceaseless, insistent.
Let me remember you, voices of little insects,
Over my soul murmur your mute benediction.
- Notes by Meg Booker
Mythology is something that I have always loved. It is fascinating to me that people created stories to explain certain phenomena or just to entertain each other centuries ago. These stories have been passed down through generations and they help keep the culture of a community alive. This recital would pay homage to different types of mythology. The pieces written by Hugo Wolf are taken from the Mörike-Lieder (Elfenlied, translated to “Elf-song”) and Goethe Lieder (Die Bekehrte, “Converted”, Die Spröde, “Coy”) and they tell little folk stories. One song is about a silly elf, one is about the pastoral life of a shepherdess as she interacts with the mythical creatures of the woods, and one is about lost love and abandonment.
In Gretchen am Spinnrade(Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel), Gretchen laments Faust’s deal with the devil. In the aria Sul Fil D’un Soffio Etesio (“On the breath of a fragrant breeze, fly, nimble spirits,” Opera Falstaff’s libretto is based on Shakespear’s The Merry Wives of Windsor), Nannetta is a fairy queen who tries to haunt Sir Falstaff in the forest. Dona, Dona, Dona is a simple Yiddish folk song that tells the story of a calf who sees a swallow in the sky and is jealous. He wants to fly in the sky too! The wind laughs and laughs at the calf as the farmer takes the calf to be slaughtered. In Die Lorelei by Franz Liszt, the audience hears the story of the siren. The siren is a deadly mermaid who used her beautiful voice to lure sailors to their death. In this song, from the narrator’s perspective, the audience hears the fateful story unravel.
Mythology is a way for people to connect with their ancestral roots, as well as be entertained by stories. These stories take me back to my childhood, as my mother often read mythology stories to my siblings and me. I hope this recital helps people become more interested in their history as well as share my own personal love for mythology.
Artist Bio
Yasmine Bougacha is an avid soloist and chamber musician whose performances are defined by extreme nuance and stylistic diversity. She has performed in three continents, recently gave her Carnegie Hall debut as a concertmaster and soloist and has also received many honorary positions such as the Sphinx Orchestral Futurist Fellowship and the ThreeArts Women’s Scholarship. As a violinist and human rights advocate with Mexican and Tunisian heritage, Bougacha is currently curating a series of recitals to shed light on underrepresented composers of Middle Eastern, North African, and Jewish descent with the kickoff concert being in the Spring of 2024. She graduated with her Master of Music in Violin Performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Won-Bin Yim in April 2022 and will complete her Artist Diploma certificate in April 2024.
Korean composer Saebyul Woo, still enchanted by Christmas miracles, weaves this magic into her musical identity. With childlike innocence, she channels this vision into her creations. Specializing in organ performance, she skillfully utilizes each instrument’s timbre, presenting captivating music. Currently pursuing Master’s in Music Composition at the University of Cincinnati, Saebyul holds a Bachelor’s in Church Music from Yonsei University, South Korea.
Chinese American composer and conductor Kevin Xing Ru Li (b.1997) creates lush, emotionally expressive music that invites listeners on a captivating journey, allowing them to explore and reflect on the beauty of life. Kevin views music as a tool to reflect the human condition and current social issues, and his compositions draw from diverse cultural influences including Chinese folk, American jazz, and European classical music. His music won The American Prize, Instrumental Chamber Music, 2023, among other competitions and received commissions from the Seven Hills Symphony Orchestra in the 22/23 season. Currently, he is pursuing his Doctoral degree in CCM, studying under Dr. Douglas Knehans and conducting under Dr. Aik Khai Pung. Web: www.kevin-x-li.com
Known for her enormous range and dominating stage presence,soprano Meg Booker recently starred as Angelina in Trial By Jury at Northern Kentucky University. In 2020, she was accepted into the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts for Vocal Music, as well as the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She has won prizes in multiple international competitions and received an Honorable Mention in the prestigious Hal Leonard Vocal Competition. She currently studies under Dr. Kimberly Lazzeri. Ms. Booker attends NKU as a full-talent scholarship recipient and Vocal Performance major with an Entrepreneurial Studies minor.
Noah Jacobsen is currently a junior, studying piano performance and pedagogy at Northern Kentucky University. Noah has performed at the Kentucky Music Teachers Association and the Northern Kentucky winter pedagogy conference. He has adjudicated events and teaches private lessons at multiple locations in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Focusing on making learning enjoyable and encouraging, Noah hopes to inspire his students to become both better musicians and people. He hopes to study pedagogy and collaboration further in a master’s program.
Yeon-Kyung Kim, piano 