Virtuoso violinist and conductor Scott Yoo plays and conducts the Toledo Symphony Mozart and More Series opening performance on Saturday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Franciscan Center on the campus of Lourdes College.
Mr. Yoo, who last appeared with the orchestra as a guest violinist and conductor in a memorable performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, has chosen representative works of three of the greatest Baroque and Classical composers: Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. He will be featured along with Toledo Symphony musicians Joel Tse and Amy Heritage, flutes, in Bach’s spirited 4th Brandenburg Concerto.
Grammy nominated pianist Frances Renzi, one of this areas most admired and favorite artists, has been a regular guest artist with the Toledo Symphony since 1975. She joins the orchestra for a performance of Mozart’s merry and jubilant 17th piano concerto.
Also on the program is Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony.
A pre-concert talk will be held at 6:30 p.m. onstage at the Franciscan Center.
Media sponsor for the Mozart and More Series is WGTE Public Media.
Concert Tickets: $29 to $33. For tickets, call 419-246-8000, toll-free 800-348-1253 or visit www.toledosymphony.com. Student Rush tickets available at the door on performance nights.
Meet the Conductor:
Scott Yoo is the Music Director of the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble he founded in 1994. He has conducted the orchestra in its subscription series at Jordan Hall in Boston and the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY, and on tour at such venues as Avery Fisher Hall and the 92nd Street ‘Y’ in New York City and the Library of Congress in Washington. He is the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the 38-year old Festival Mozaic, which presents over 30 orchestral, choral and chamber music concerts and events each year on California’s Central Coast. As a guest-conductor, Mr. Yoo has led the Colorado, Dallas, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Utah Symphonies, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has also conducted the New World Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the orchestras of Charlotte, Columbus, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Kansas City, Louisville, Winnipeg, Mexico City, Nashville, Oregon and Phoenix. Abroad, he has conducted the English Chamber Orchestra, the Estonian National Symphony, and made his debut with the Seoul Philharmonic in April 2007. He will make his debut with the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in 2009.
An exponent of new music, Mr. Yoo has introduced a newly-commissioned work on each
of Metamorphosen’s subscription concerts. In the last nine seasons, Mr. Yoo and the orchestra have premiered 47 works by 22 composers. CD releases with Metamorphosen include a disc of English works for Bose, and a disc of vocal works of Earl Kim with sopranos Benita Valente and Karol Bennett for New World Records, named a 2001 “Critics Choice” by the New York Times. Scott Yoo and Metamorphosen also recorded three discs for Archetype Records, including the Serenades of Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Grieg; the Eighth and Eleventh Sinfonias of Mendelssohn; and premiere recordings of John Harbison’s chamber orchestra works with soprano Dawn Upshaw, nominated for a 1999 National Public Radio Performance Today Award. In 2004, Mr. Yoo recorded the complete orchestral works of Earl Kim with the RTE National Orchestra of Ireland for Naxos.
Mr. Yoo began his musical studies at the age of three and performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony at age twelve. After winning first prize in the 1988 Josef Gingold International Violin Competition, he won the 1989 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 1994, he was a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a year later was named Young Artist-in-Residence of National Public Radio’s Performance Today. He has studied violin with Roman Totenberg, Albert Markov, Paul Kantor and Dorothy DeLay, and conducting with Michael Gilbert and Michael Tilson-Thomas. In 1993, Mr. Yoo graduated with honors and a B.A. in Physics from Harvard University.
Meet the Artist:
“Frances Renzi has a way of making music come alive” wrote Boris Nelson of the Toledo Blade. Whether in recital, as orchestral soloist, or as chamber musician, her artistry remains apparent. She consistently enthralls critics and audiences alike. Pianist Frances Renzi has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including those of Dallas, Houston, Toledo, and the New Hampshire Music Festival. She has performed throughout North America, Taiwan, and China, giving recitals in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei and the China Conservatory in Beijing. An extraordinary chamber player, she frequently collaborates with distinguished artists, and is much in demand as a chamber music performer.
She appears regularly as a featured guest artist on the Toledo Symphony Chamber Series and also performs each summer at the New Hampshire Music Festival. She was a founding member of the Toledo Trio at the University of Toledo and performed with them for 27 years. She has recorded solo and chamber music for Centaur, Educo, Koch International, Musical Heritage Society, Azica, Audite, and Decca/Argo. Her numerous recordings have won critical acclaim and many awards in Europe and the United States. Her recording of 20th century etudes by American composers Ned Rorem, Vincent Persichetti, and George Perle received enthusiastic reviews. Fanfare Magazine described her playing as “…absolutely superb…crystal-like articulation, impeccable rhythmic precision, unflagging energy, and a truly remarkable understanding of these pieces…”
Her recording of chamber music of Paul Schoenfield was nominated for a Grammy. Her performances as a soloist and chamber musician have been broadcast on radio and television across the nation including a presentation on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. She was a solo pianist for the New York City Ballet performing Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra and Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes and participated in the Stravinsky Festival at Lincoln Center. A native of Texas, she received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas and her Master’s degree from the Juilliard School where she was a scholarship student of Rosina Lhevinne and Beveridge Webster. An experienced teacher as well as performer, she is Professor Emerita at the University of Toledo. In 2000 she received a commendation from the Ohio Senate honoring her outstanding university career of 27 years.
- Toledo Symphony Orchestra | Toledo, OH
JHeigel@toledosymphony.com | www.toledosymphony.com | 419-418-0033