| The
3rd New York International
Choral Festival
Friday,
June 28th 2005 at 8pm, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center |
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SOUND
OF KOREA, Soo Kwan Park |
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 Soo-Kwan
Park , Virtuoso of Korean Eastern Style Folk Songs, 'Menarijae'
Began his study of singing in his childhood after being fascinated
by the beauty of the Korean folk tunes such as Sangyosori (Chants
for the funeral parades), Gaksori-Taryong (Song of beggars
which has been sung as they were begging), etc..
Soo-Kwan was the Grand-Prix winner of the Sangju Traditional Singing
Competition, the Namdo Folk Song Contest and was the laureate of
the Presidential Prize in 1999.
Mr. Park is a faculty member of the Military Academy of R.O. Korea
and is Professor Emeritus of the Glinka State Conservatory of Novosibirsk,
Russia, where he received an Honorable Doctorate in Musicology.
 Dr.
Park has brought his performances of Korean folk music to Japan
, Germany , Italy , and the USA as well as throughout his native
country, Korea . Since his Carnegie Hall debut
in 2000, Dr. Park performed on the stage of Lincoln Center
's Alice Tully Hall as the featured soloist of the World Food Day
Concert, Oct.18 th , 2001 and ¡°Sound of Korea¡± at Kennedy
Center .
Dr. Park made his solo appearance at the Vigil Ceremony
for closing 2002 World Cup, Yokohama , Japan . Recently
Dr. Park also had the 14 th SOUND OF KOREA as part of the
celebrating events for the Universiad, Daegu , Korea .
Among the books he wrote or translated are Mr. Park's
Tune X; Melodies sung by Korean I, II; Survey on the music of Korea
, China and Musical Travel through Southern China , Taiwan , and
Okinawa . He also presented several theses about Korean Traditional
Music at the International Symposium held by UNESCO.
Dr. Park is presently engaged in preserving and spreading Korean
Traditional Music as the president of Kapwoo Cultural Foundation.
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THE
YOUNG PEOPLE'S CHORUS OF NEW YORK CITY
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 The
Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC)--the resident
choir of both the 92 nd Street Y and WNYC, New York public radio--is
an award-winning, internationally acclaimed youth ensemble that
performs more than 70 concerts, operas, and workshops annually in
New York and beyond. Their engagements have taken them from Carnegie
Hall and the White House to cities in Austria , Canada , the Czech
Republic , England , Germany , and Spain where they have sung in
such illustrious venues as Smetana Hall in Prague and St. Martin
in the Fields in London , as well as with professional symphony
orchestras and some of today's top artists. Most recently, the chorus
won two gold medals at the 2004 Choir Olympics in Bremen , Germany
and the 2005 Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming.
This summer YPC will have the honor of representing the U.S. at
the Seventh World Symposium on Choral Music in Kyoto , Japan .
Artistic Director Francisco J. Nunez founded the Young People's
Chorus of New York City in 1988 with two goals in mind: commitments
to musical excellence and to providing an atmosphere where young
people of diverse ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds could
further their personal and artistic growth through the study and
performance of music. In just 15 years, the choir has grown from
a group of musical novices who loved to sing to a sought-after,
musically sophisticated youth ensemble comprising 250 choristers
ranging in age from 8 to 26 in five choral divisions. An additional
350+ young people participate through the YPC's Partner Schools
and Satellite Schools Programs.
 Francisco
J. Nunez , Artistic Director
Born in New York City of Dominican descent, conductor/composer/educator
Francisco J. Nunez is the founder and artistic director of the award-winning
Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC), a chorus of some 250
young people aged 8 through 26 of all economic groups and ethnic
cultures, currently in residence at 92 nd Street Y and as the WNYC
Young People's Radio Chorus, the first and only resident radio choir
of any New York City radio station.
Mr. Nunez formed the chorus in 1988 at the Children's Aid Society
of New York City, where he served for nine years as director of
music. In an effort to foster personal and artistic growth and cross-cultural
understanding among the children, as well as to provide a safe haven
where young people from many different backgrounds could come together
with the common goal of learning and creating beautiful music, he
administered music programs in diverse neighborhoods citywide and
also founded the Rhinelander Center Music Arts program.
Mr. Nunez is also a composer, a leading figure in music education,
and a visionary, whose strongly held ideas have not only resulted
in critical and popular success of the Young People's Chorus but
have begun to impact the world of choral music itself through Transient
Glory . Created by Mr. Nunez, Transient Glory is
a concert series of music commissioned by YPC from some of today's
most prominent composers. It has now expanded into a publication
series of those commissions spearheaded by Boosey & Hawkes,
with G. Schirmer and Chester Novello, and a series of Transient
Glory CDs, the first of which was released this past October
to critical raves. Most recently, through YPC, Mr. Nunez has launched
a Satellite choral program for young people in four New York City
schools, reaching an additional 350+ children.
Mr. Nunez, who conducts the University Glee Club of New York City
and was recently appointed conductor of the New York University
Singers and NYU Women's Chorus, is active as a guest conductor and
master teacher for choral workshops, demonstrations, and festivals
throughout the country. As a composer, Mr. Nunez's compositions
and arrangements for choirs, orchestra, and solo instruments are
inspired by a wide gamut of Latin cultures and musical idioms. His
work has attracted leading soloists and ensembles and has been recognized
with numerous city, state, and national awards. In February 2004,
the Ithaca College Women's Chorus under the direction of Janet Galvan
released a CD of his music entitled Cantan
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PYONGTAEK
UNIVERSITY CHORUS |
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 The
Pyongtaek university Chorus is one of the most active
university choruses in Korea .
The Chorus performs a diverse repertoire ranging from Baroque
to contemporary, including Vivaldi ' s ¡° Magnifiact ¡± , Brahams
' ¡° Libeslieder ¡± , ¡° Neues Liebeslieder ¡± , and many oratorios
of Mendelssohn and Handel. The chorus also regularly performs
folk songs and sacred music.
The Pyongtaek University Chorus has been invited to perform in
numerous churches and cities throught the Korean peninsula. They
performed Beethoven ' s ¡° Symphony number 9 ¡± with the Phyeongtaek
Philharmonic Orchestra last December and ¡° Choral Fantasie ¡±
on Ki-Nam Broadcasting ' s live broadcasting concert. After the
new director.
Dr.
Sang Hyuk Lee, joined the chorus, the expectations of the chorus
from both critics and audiences increased. As a result, the Pyongtaek
university Chorus has drawn strong enthusiasm for the high quality
of performances and concerts that are scheduled ahead.
 Sang
Hyuk Lee is widely known as a tenor with a shimmering
voice and impeccable musicianship. He has after performed many
operas by Donizetti, Mozart, Bellini and Rossini and Oratories
by Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, Kodaly in the United Stares at the
Ash Lawn Opera, the Tri-Star Opera, the Indianapolis Symphony
and the Bloomington Symphony .
He has performed with the KBS Symphony and the Seoul Metropolitan
Symphony. He studied at Indiana University and received a DM in
voice and has a busy career as a singer, scholar and choral director
in Korea . He currently teaches music at Pyeongtaek university.
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PIANO
DUO |
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 Youngmi
Kim
Pianist Youngmi Kim currently serves as
a Vice-President of Pyeongtaek University and as a Piano professor.
She has performed with the Russian Philharmonic, the Eurasian
Orchestra, the Hanacek Philharmonic, and the Ukraine National
Symphony. She has been invited to perform as a soloist by the
Italian Campania government, the University of Hawaii and Sentai
and Tokyo in Japan. She studied at Ewha Women's University and
Sungshin Women's University in Korea.
 Okran
Lim
Pianist Okran Lim has had an active career
in Germany and Switzerland. She studied at Freiburg Hochschule
and received the Konzertexamen from Heidelberg-Mannheim Hochschule.
She has performed at Suedwest Rundfunk in Germany and on Schweizerische
Radio. She also has taught at Rottenberg Jugend Musikschule and
Stadtiche Volkschochschule Tuebingen. She currently teaches at
Pyeongtaek University.
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JEWISH
PEOPLE'S PHILHARMONIC CHORUS |
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 Jewish
People ' s Philharmonic Chorus is proud to be at the
forefront of this Yiddish cultural renaissance. Centuries of hope,
determination, humor, loss and renewal are bound up in each note
they sing. The voices of sweatshop workers, immigrants, lovers,
mothers, solders and tumblers speak through their music. At its
founding in 1923 on New York ' s Lower East Side , the Jewish
People ' s Philharmonic Chorus was a vocal part of the burgeoning
labor movement. Drawing 75 young immigrants to its first rehearsal,
the chorus has had as many as 300 singers. When the Chorus performed
Jacob Schaefer ' s oratorio ¡° Tsvey Brider ¡± in 1962, they were
the first Jewish chorus in America to perform with an orchestra.
The
JPPC is regularly invited to choral festivals, and has performed
in the tri-state area I locations as diverse as Lincoln Center
, Queens College , Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, the Museum
of Jewish Heritage , the Sholom Aleichem Cultural Center , the
Town School , and Ground Zero.
 BINYUMEN
(¡°Ben¡±) SCHAECHTER is an award-winning composer of
musicals, revue songs and cabaret songs which have been performed
in theatres and cabarets everywhere. He has been represented off-Broadway
by his musical DOUBLE IDENTITY, and in four revues: NAKED BOYS
SINGING (now 5 years running in New York ; also performed throughout
five continents); PETS! (published, Dramatic Publishing); THAT'S
LIFE! (Outer Critics Circle nomination); and TOO JEWISH? (with
Avi Hoffman), for which he was also the Musical Director and on-stage
pianist/back-up singer (nominated, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle
Awards). TOO JEWISH? was also seen on PBS TV stations across the
nation last year. Other musicals: THE WILD SWANS (ASCAP's Bernice
Cohen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre; Eugene
O'Neill National Music Theatre Conference), DINNER AT EIGHT (2001
BMI Foundation's Jerry Bock Award for Outstanding Achievement
in Musical Theatre).
He has performed his one-man show, THE SHTETL COMES TO LIFE across
the US and in Paris . His newest offering, FROM KINAHORA TO KUNI-AYLAND,
is a musical revue of songs about the Jewish experience in America
, including hilarious songs from Second Avenue
and the Yiddish vaudeville written by Leo Fuchs, Aaron Lebedeff,
Menashe Skulnik and others, with some Schaechter originals.
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HAI-TIEN
CHORUS |
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 Hai-Tien
Chorus has maintained an active performance schedule
both locally and in other cities at the invitation of many community
groups and cultural organizations ever since its inception in
1980 by Conductor Pi-Chu Hsiao. It has performed in various music
centers and concert halls, including Avery Fisher Hall and
Alice Tully Hall of New York 's Lincoln Center ,
Manhattan Town Hall , Madison Square Garden Theater ,
Merkin Concert Hall and Colden Center of Queens
College .
In 2001 the Hai-Tien Chorus won first place honors at the First
Annual International Overseas Chinese Mixed Chorus Competition
held in Taipei, defeating other choruses representing all
continents and coming from Brazil, Japan, Los Angeles, New Zealand,
Singapore, Thailand, Vancouver and Washington D.C.
The
critically acclaimed Hai-Tien Chorus continues to grow and improve
artistically under the direction of Ms. Pi-Chu Hsiao
 Ms.
Pi-Chu Hsiao is a graduate of the Taipei Normal University
. She as dedicated her life to many areas of music education
and community service. As a music teacher for over fifty years
she has transformed many elementary, secondary school and university
student choruses as well as som adult choruses into all-province
championship choruses. She has served with the Ministry of Education
in Taiwan , as Director of the Children's Chorus of the Chinese
Broadcasting Corporation and conductor of the Young Lions Chorus
in addition to many other posts and is a well-known music adjudicator
in musical auditions and competitions.
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 Now
in its 37 th Season, The Boys Choir of Harlem,
founded and directed by Dr. Walter J. Turnbull, is internationally
recognized for its virtuoso performances and innovations in the
thousand-year-old art of the boy choir. The BCH is well known for
the breath of its repertoire, which ranges from staples of the European
canon such as Haydn, Bach and Mozart through more modern composers
to contemporary works. African-American spirituals, gospels, jazz,
pop and hip-hop are choreographed to give The Choir a magnetic stage
presence that has won critical and popular acclaim.
The Choir makes three of four national tours each year and averages
100 engagements in over 24 states annually. The Choir has grown
form a 20-member church choir to an artistic an educational institution.
Today, The Boys Choir of Harlem, Inc., compromise a boys choir,
girl choir, The Choir Academy of Harlem, a student and family support
services component, and a Summer Music Institute.
In
the wake of the tragedies of September 11, 2001 , The Boys Choir
of Harlem was called upon to participate in over 20 memorial, commemorative,
and special events. In 2000, The Choir Academy of Harlem and The
Boys Choir of Harlem were selected by the by the Gray Foundation
a 2000 Grammy Signature School Special Merit Recipient in recognition
of its outstanding commitment to Music Education.
 Dr.
Walter J. Turnbull is celebrating thirty-six years as
the founder/president of the internationally acclaimed Boys Choir
of Harlem Inc. He has built an innovative program which addresses
the social, educational and emotional needs of urban boys and girls
and helps them transform their lives through music. The Boys Choir
of Harlem Inc. helps children achieve their creative potential,
build self esteem, find positive role models, and develop a strong
value system of discipline, and hard work in preparation for the
future as confident, motivated, productive adults.
A native of Greenville , Mississippi , Dr. Turnbull is an honors
graduate of Tougaloo College , where his notable achievements earned
him recognition in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities
. He received his Masters in Music and doctor of Musical Arts
degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. He is the recipient
of numerous awards and recognitions, and has been honored by the
State of New York and the State of Mississippi . He received the
1998 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities, the William M. Sullivan
Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Service Award, the Edwin
Berry National Business and Professional Award, Black Book Publishers
Award, Mayot's Voluntary Action Award, New Yorker for New York Award
and National Assocoation of Negro Musicians Prize.
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