Imagine

2010-2011 Season Opener:
Imagine

One World Symphony
Sung Jin Hong, Artistic Director and Conductor
One World Symphony Vocal Artists
Michael Crane, Pianist

John Lennon: Imagine (1971)*
Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs (1948)
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-flat for left hand, Op. 53 (1931)
Olivier Messiaen: From Quartet for the End of Time (1941)**
Dmitri Shostakovich: Four Songs, Op. 86 (1951)***
Sung Jin Hong: Eye of the Storm for audience and symphony  (2010, world premiere, commissioned by West Village Concerts)

*World premiere orchestration (2010) by Andrew Struck-Marcell
* *World premiere orchestration (2010) by Sung Jin Hong
***World premiere orchestration (2010) by Eric Lemmon

 

Composer-Conductor Sung Jin Hong is the artistic director of One World Symphony. Mr. Hong's upcoming composition commissions include a piano concerto for Lloyd Arriola, a chamber work for Project 60/40, world premiere orchestration of Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temp, Sidewalk Sketches (2010 world premiere) for September Concert Foundation, and the symphonic poem Eye of the Storm (2010 world premiere) for audience and One World Symphony. He is also making his debut as a composer at New York International Fringe Festival. Mr. Hong's guest conducting engagements include Lyrique-en-mer in France, Stadt Wien Konservatorium in Vienna, Royal Northern Conservatory in Manchester, Tulsa Symphony, Tulsa Ballet, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, Redlands University, Bradley University, Western Illinois University, Great Music for a Great City. Mr. Hong had the honor of being chosen by Kurt Masur to participate in a series of masterclasses and conduct in a concert with Manhattan School of Music Symphony. He made his international recording debut as a conductor with classical music’s largest record label Naxos.

Making her debut with One World Symphony, soprano Celeste Siciliano holds a Masters degree in Applied Voice from the University of Delaware and a Bachelors of Music from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Ms. Siciliano has toured and studied in England, Wales, Austria and the United States. Honors include First Prize/Vocal Category in The Delaware Contest for Young Musicians, The Jeffrey Alan Eschmann Award for Vocal Merit, The University of the Arts Vocal Award and The Joseph & Ernestine Cairnes Scholarship. She has sung with The Johanna Meier Opera Theater Institute, Atlantic Coast Opera, The Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, Opera Project of New Jersey, Delaware Classical Showcase, Morning Star Players and Music Group of Philadelphia. Ms. Siciliano is currently pursuing a career in opera and is studying with Conrad Osborne in New York City. She wil return to One World Symphony in May 2011 as Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

Michael H. Crane is a concert pianist, composer and educator who has worked extensively in the United States. Mr. Crane holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he studied under the tutelage of legendary pedagogue Daniel Pollack. He has also studied under Boris Berman at Yale University and the Tanglewood Festival and has appeared in master classes with, Richard Goode, Claude Frank, and the late Alicia De Larrocha. He is a laureate of several piano competitions including the Joanna Hodges Piano Competition and the Grace Welsh Prize in Piano. Among his recent performances include stints with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Society, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York City, the St. Stephens Concert Series at St. Stephen’s Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, the Great Performers Series of the Manhattan Seventh Day Adventist Church, and a holiday engagement at the Empire State Building. He has presented chamber music recitals with the members of the Los Angeles-based Camerata Pacifica. Mr. Crane is making his New York debut tonight with One World Symphony as the featured soloist in the rarely performed Piano Concerto No. 4 for left hand by Sergei Prokofiev

Making her debut with One World Symphony, soprano Irina Mozyleva is a recitalist and chamber performer whose New York appearances have included Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Trinity Church, the New York Public Library, the Russian Consulate, the United Nations, and Caramoor Music Room. She often performs the music of Russian composers, particularly Shostakovich, whose works she has sung with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles, the Philadelphia Piano Trio, the Innisfree Piano Trio, and with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra; with the latter she performed From Jewish Poetry. Outside of New York she has delighted audiences in Washington, DC, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Ms. Mozyleva’s operatic engagements have included the role of Rosina in John Copley’s production of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” for the San Francisco Opera Merola Young Artist Program and the role of Anna in The Curtis Institute of Music production of “Kissing and Horrid Strife” in association with the Philadelphia Opera Company, among others. Born in Belarus, Ms. Mozyleva studied opera at the Moscow Conservatory in Russia and at the Julliard School of Music in New York. She completed formal training at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and was the recipient of a full scholarship to The Tangelwood Music Festival in Massachusetts.

Making her debut with One World Symphony, Russian-born soprano Nika Leoni has appeared on theater and concert stages throughout Europe and the United States. Last season Ms. Leoni performed the roles of Anna in Puccini’s Le Villi, Joan in S. Stoderl’s The Veil of Forgetfulness, the title role in the world premiere of the newly composed short opera for children Queen Esther by A. Markov, and two singing roles in the world premiere of the off-Broadway musical playPushkin’s Little Tragedies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York. Prior engagements include Pamina and Alcina in Austria, Micaëla and Gilda in Germany, Zerlina and Oscar in the Czech Republic. In the U.S, Ms. Leoni performed with Lake George Opera, Pocket Opera (San Francisco), Brooklyn Repertory Opera, Opera Domani, Opera Company of Brooklyn, Empire Opera, and Classical Presentations. Ms. Leoni also appeared in concert with orchestra at the Philharmonic halls in Munich and Berlin, Usti nad Labem Theater (the Czech Republic), Richmond Youth Orchestra (Virginia), and Filharmonia Sudecka (Poland). Earlier this year, her first recorded album of Russian Romances and Traditional Songs titled “Dark Eyes” was released on Larion Records™.

Doug Jabara is an accomplished performer and voice teacher. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Jabara has taught and performed in a wide variety of musical genres including Broadway, opera, operetta, oratorio, jazz, and rock and roll. He has taught vocal technique at NYU’s Musical Theatre Conservatory: CAP 21 in the Tisch School of the Arts and maintains voice studios in New York City and Boston. Mr. Jabara’s favorite roles include the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Javert in Les Miserables, and the Baker in Into the Woods which he performed this summer at Reagle Players in Boston opposite Broadway veteran Rachel York. An active collaborator with One World Symphony, Mr. Jabara was a featured soloist in Le Nozze di Figaro, Carmen, and scenes from South Pacific at The Town Hall. Go to DouglasJabara.com to keep up with his upcoming engagements.


Friday, September 17, 2010
St. Ann and the Holy Trinity
Brooklyn Heights

Sunday, September 19, 2010
Church of the Holy Apostles
Manhattan