Described as someone with “disarming charisma” (South Florida Classical Review) yet simultaneously as someone “Byronic” and “excelling in both poetic longing and dramatic outbursts” (Boston Classical Review), Leland Ko has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across America and abroad, from Carnegie Hall in New York and Symphony Hall in Boston to the Maison Symphonique in Montréal, and internationally in Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Israel, Spain, Korea, and Hong Kong. He is a first-prize winner of the Concours Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, and the Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition.
Ko will be joined by pianist Adria Ye in a program of works by Bach, Boulanger, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, and Fauré.
String Masters Series is artistically directed by Andrew Mark and part of Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Artistry in Action series.
Program InformationRepertoire
NADIA BOULANGER (1887–1979): Three Pieces for Cello and Piano (1914)
Modéré
Sans vitesse et à l'aise
Vite et nerveusement rythmé
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810–1856): F-A-E Sonata (1853)
I. Intermezzo
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847): Sonata for Piano and Cello in B-flat Major, No. 1, op. 45 (1838)
I. Allegro vivace
II. Andante
III. Allegro assai
—INTERMISSION—
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1684–1750): “Ich ruf’ zu dir Herr Jesu Christ,” BWV 639 (1700–1719)
GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845–1924): Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in D Minor, op. 109 (1917)
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Finale: Allegro commodo
OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908–1992): “Louange à l’éternité de Jésus” from Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1940–1941)
Program Notes
Elsewhere
The British composer Thomas Adés once wrote, “I don’t know why it is that the cello of all instruments makes one dream of ‘elsewhere’ when one hears it… Perhaps because the colors are so rich and wide-ranging, one can dream and find oneself in a different place.” The collection of works on this program capitalizes on this idea: from the dreaminess of Nadia Boulanger, the restlessness of Robert Schumann, and the exuberance of Felix Mendelssohn to the private world of Gabriel Fauré and the downright mythology of Olivier Messiaen, these pieces (and the sounds they demand of the cello and piano) are an invitation to be transported or to engage in escapism. But then, of course, perhaps all music is…
About the Artists
Leland Philip Ko, cello, is the kind of person who is always asking “why”—American-born but of Chinese Canadian descent, schooled at both university and conservatory, and extremely thorough in any number of activities ranging from competitive tennis and distance-running to home-baking and origami, he wants to find the similarities between seemingly disparate things, and in doing so hopefully find something human in everything. Above all, Ko does his best to remember advice once given to him that music is about life, not the other way around. Learn more about Ko.Adria Ye, piano, has been driven from a young age by a hopeless fascination with music. Described by cellist David Finckel as having a “naturally beautiful sound and lyric instinct,” she made her orchestral debut at nine with the Oregon Sinfonietta, and has since performed as soloist and chamber musician across Europe, China, and the United States. She has been featured in radio broadcasts of Performance Today with Fred Child, and National Public Radio’s From the Top. Most recently, she was the recipient of the Paul Streit Special Prize at the 2022 Concours de Genéve and was the winner of the 2022 Music Academy of the West Solo Piano Competition. Learn more about Ye. About the Series
String Masters Series is artistically directed by Andrew Mark and part of Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s
Artistry in Action series. The Artistry in Action series celebrates exceptional artists and initiatives that exemplify Boston Conservatory’s core values of excellence, innovation, and community engagement. Hosted by the Conservatory’s Music Division, Artistry in Action brings together the school’s prestigious and long-standing Piano Masters Series, String Masters Series, and Faculty Chamber Series with exciting new programming for winds, faculty recitals, and ensemble-in-residences. Learn more and view upcoming Artistry in Action events. Concert Services Staff
Assistant Director, Concert Services – Luis Herrera
Coordinator, Concert Services – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov
Performance Technology Specialist – Andrei Radu
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