Roll over Beethoven - and Mozart, too! The 2005 Tufts Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition Concert is set to take place at Cohen Auditorium, and this year's recital promises to deliver a powerful message of musical inspiration.
This Saturday at 8 p.m., TSO will be presenting a free concert featuring the two winners of the 2005 Concerto Competition, an intra-orchestra contest held in January to determine the evening's solo acts. The orchestra will accompany the competition winners, pianist Anthony Rios and vocalist Kristin Livingston, in their chosen performances, along with selections from Bernstein's "Candide" and Bizet's "Carmen."
Playing Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 1," Anthony Rios is a senior majoring in biology and is eager to take the Tufts community along on a musical journey. In fact, his performance of the piece will give the listener a higher appreciation and admiration for Beethoven's little-known early years.
Plus, the simultaneously distinctive and harmonious halves of the joint soloist-orchestra performance will expose the classical, yet cleverly embedded themes and highlights in the work. Anthony's solo piano component hopes to be a nice complement to the music's prose, as his raw talent coupled with years of extensive training has afforded him a not-to-be-missed level of technique.
"The orchestra successfully matches the soloist in terms of style, presenting a very refined concept of the themes presented in their introduction," explained Anthony. "But then, the entrance of the piano is special in that the pianist introduces an entirely new theme that the orchestra does not have."
Also a Concerto Competition winner, senior Kristin Livingston hopes that her soprano performance of Mozart's "Exsultate Jubilate" stands to do more than entertain her audience. She would like to prove to the world that a musical education can be developed in more than one direction.
Seeing as her vocals will probably make you think you're listening to your favorite fairytale character, it's surprising that Kristin started singing in her freshman year of college. In fact, she started her musical career as a French horn player. This served not only as a solid foundation on which to base her musical development, but it also inspired her to expand this base.
"Beginning voice my freshman year added a confidence to the musical talents I already had inside of me as a French horn player," commented Kristin. "And being an instrumentalist and vocalist has given me more benefits than almost anything else I've embarked on as a student."
Both competition winners have worked hard to be the musicians they are today. Anthony started playing piano at the age of five, and before attending Tufts, was accepted into the Manhattan School of Music preparatory division. There, he studied piano with famed instructor Rosetta Goodkind for five years and performed regularly in solo recitals and as a cellist in the school's Preparatory Symphony Orchestra.
As his skill has developed, he has had the chance to perform in the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, as well as The Leschetiszky Association Annual Youth Concert, the Westchester Musicians Guild Young Artists Concert and in CAMI Hall in New York City. As for now, he is an assistant conductor, cellist and pianist in the Tufts Symphony Orchestra, and will be attending Tufts University's School of Medicine in the fall.
Kristin has developed a variety of interests and pursuits in her musical career. Within her Tufts experience alone, she has participated in the Chamber Singers and Tufts Opera Scenes, the Tufts Chorale and several drama department productions. She also spends extracurricular time with the American Legion, bringing musical education to Boston's Chinatown for Asian youth residents who wish to learn to play instruments in an environment lacking music programs.
In the past, Kristin participated in several ensembles and bands that have taken her from the Boston area to around the world, including the Massachusetts District Commission All-Star Band, the New England Conservatory's Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble, the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Chamber Orchestra. Over the course of her life and musical career, she has traveled to more than 18 countries and is currently an English and music double major.
TSO will also be performing Leonard Bernstein's "Overture to 'Candide'" and George Bizet's "Carmen Suite No. 1."
With the seasoned skill of the world-renowned Tufts Symphony Orchestra - fresh from their January tour of Iceland - backing solo talents like these, the 2005 Concerto Competition Concert is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
