2010-2011 Season Opener: Imagine
Photos and Audience Letters

Photography by Jaka Vinšek

 

Hi Sung Jin,

The orchestra and vocalists sounded superb, as always. Congratulations also on the successful premiere of your piece — it was absolutely gorgeous. What you said about the Messiaen piece really hit home for me — that as musicians, if we’re not making music we don’t feel alive.

Dear Maestro Hong,

Thank you so very much for the wonderful evening of music last night. It was an honor and a great privilege to be present for the 10th season opening concert of One World Symphony in Manhattan. It was an electrifyingly emotional evening that left us with soaring spirits and refreshed souls.

Eye of the Storm is a powerful piece. I would not be surprised to hear it being played by other groups in coming years; the world needs to hear it.

The orchestra played beautifully, producing music that may have surprised even themselves.

Your soloists were outstanding — each possesses marvelous talen t —hearing any one of them and their solo performances would have been reward enough, but we were blessed with them all.

Cellist James Pedersen loves his instrument; we’ve known that for quite a while and he surely displayed it again last night in the Messiaen piece.

Celeste Siciliano’s Strauss songs was riveting. We felt that if there are angels, surely they must sing this way. Her breath control was awesome and her powerful, beautiful voice was thrilling to hear.

Irina Mozyleva was delightful in her performance of the Four Songs of Shostakovich. She has a grand voice. I would have never guessed the songs were written by Shostakovich.

Pianist Michael Crane’s powerful reading of the Prokofiev Piano Concert for left hand left us delightfully exhausted, yet emotionally charged. I have no idea how any human being can get so much wondrous sound from a piano using only one hand.

Douglas Jabara may have had the most difficult assignment of the evening in that he had to deliver his own performance of a song just about everyone has heard dozens of times in recordings by John Lennon. Mr. Jabara was successful, I heard it last night as if it were the first time. The orchestration of Andrew Struck-Marcell provided superb support.

What a grand way to kick off the 10th year of One World Symphony!

Dear Adrienne,

The concert was breathtaking. Sung Jin has a way of injecting life into every note!

Greetings and Salutations,

I write to congratulate you on a wonderful opening concert tonight. The “special effects” during the Messiaen brought a (fitting) scene of war before my aural eyes and in fact did not in any way diminish the experience.

To Sung Jin Hong specifically I congratulate you on Eye of the Storm. It was an enveloping sound that completely captivated me and, I’m sure, the entire audience. I am ashamed that we the audience did not carry our end of the bargain so well... I intend to attend the second performance on Sunday, so I’ll be practicing tomorrow!

As an aside, I found myself particularly moved by the Strauss — I must study his music.

Thank you for such amazing experiences.

Last night was one of those concerts that I will remember always. Brahms’ Requiem with Mr. Masur after 9/11, Beethoven 9 with Mr. Barenbohm, and Four Last Songs with Ms. Fleming and Mr. Eschenbach were the other concerts in NY that were extraordinary in recent memory.

I also heard and witnessed many world premieres, and they usually sound different for the sake of being different and always trying to prove something. Your piece was unique because not only your musicians felt they owned the work and played inspiringly, but the piece itself made sense with seamless transitions and moved the listener by transcending any intellectual or political agenda. That’s true art.

On a side note, I hope the recording of last night’s concert will be released publicly. I know I am not the only person who would love to purchase a copy.

The concert on Sunday night was breathtaking. Thank you so much for your gracious invitation. Every piece was chosen for its impact and your composition was especially poignant and powerful.

So thank you for a spellbinding evening.

The concert was great. I particularly enjoyed your piece Eye of the Storm. To this day, I still don’t know whether it was a recording playing or actual fireworks outside, but those booming sounds complimented Messiaen’s piece and yours pretty well.

Thank you so much for last night’s concert. It was lovely and unusual and moving. I was also so happy to see that One World Symphony — and you and Adrienne — are doing so well.

I loved your program choices and admire the scope of work you included. Thank you!

Congratulations on a memorable season opener. I think everyone was surprised by Eye of the Storm. I saw some of the audience members’ faces during the performance, and they were blown away by it. I wish you could have witnessed their reaction. During the intermission many of us were talking about how riveting and hypnotic your piece was and how the orchestra sounded exceptional.

Dear Sung,
Your concert was truly inspiring and you deserved every one of those audience letters and more. The photos are excellent — you and your very talented orchestra and exceptional singers, captured and suspended in a moment of time.
Music is the life we breathe...
I hope to see you again in the near future.

Dearest Sung Jin,
The evening was glorious, and moving, and I cried on more than one occasion. BRAVO!!!!!!!!!