Purdue News
Purdue News
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April 21, 2000 'Concerto Gala' features two works with German tiesWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – One 18th century German composer, one contemporary composer influenced by German novelist Hermann Hesse, and two high-powered soloists add up to a Concerto Gala on Sunday, April 30, when the Purdue Symphony Orchestra and Purdue Symphonic Band perform. The gala, set for 2:30 p.m. at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, 111 N. Sixth St., Lafayette, concludes the performance season for Purdue University Bands. Admission is free. Purdue violinist Abraham Huang, Purdue Bands' 2000 Concerto Competition winner, will be featured in the first movement of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor with the Purdue Symphony Orchestra. Kent Leslie, principal hornist with the Lafayette Symphony, will get the spotlight in James Beckel's "The Glass Bead Game" with the Purdue Symphonic Band. The heightened moods found in the Mendelssohn concerto have always fascinated Huang, a freshman engineering major from Farmington, Conn. In portions of it, Mendelssohn paints a mournful or solemn mood, while other sections seem clearly angry and enraged, said Huang. "All these moods blend smoothly together to create and color an individual who is going through a turbulent time in his or her life. I find that I play this movement best when I myself am depressed or angered," Huang said. "This movement is simply my favorite piece of music to play. It allows me to hack angrily at chords and caress a beautiful melody. It fills me with intense emotion and allows me to outlet that emotion at the same time." Huang took up the violin at age 6, and he also plays guitar and trumpet. He studied violin at the Hartt School of Music where he was a Hartt Honors Student for the years of 1993 to 1999. In his senior year at Farmington High School, he received the 1999 Outstanding Artist-Scholar Award, in recognition of his musical and scholastic achievements. Leslie, who enjoys the gala's other spotlight, will use it to reprise a concerto he commissioned and performed with the Lafayette Symphony several seasons ago. American composer James Beckel looked to Hesse's novel "The Glass Bead Game" for inspiration at Leslie's suggestion. The first of its three movements, entitled "The Call and Awakening," immediately tackles themes found in the book that led to Hesse winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. The first thing the audience will notice is a bi-tonal motif that's "meant to represent Hermann Hesse's existential philosophy about life, which is reflected in his novel," Beckel said. "Simply put, Hesse believed that man exists as an individual in a purposeless universe that is basically hostile. This conflict between man and his environment is represented by the juxtaposition of the two keys." Leslie premiered the work in 1997 as a soloist with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, where he is employed as second hornist. His free-lance career takes him regularly to Anderson, Fort Wayne and Urbana, Ill. Both Purdue ensembles featured in the Concerto Gala are conducted by Jay Gephart. The symphony's portion of the program is highlighted by an appearance by former Jefferson High School band director Thomas Dick, who is now part of the band faculty at Carmel High School. He will guest conduct Mikhail Glinka's "Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla." The orchestra also will perform Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade." The Purdue Symphonic Band completes its program with "Festivo" by Edward Gregson and "Entry March of Boyares" by Johan Halvorson. CONTACT: Kathy Matter, Purdue Bands publicist, (765) 496-6785; kcmatter@purdue.edu NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Photographers are welcome to get a picture of Abraham Huang in rehearsal with the symphony orchestra at 4 p.m. Monday, April 24, or Wednesday, April 26, in Elliott Hall of Music.
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