Composer Profile: Nancy Galbraith in Conversation with Christian Baldini

On September 23, I will have the pleasure of conducting the symphonic work "Midnight Stirring" by composer Nancy Galbraith. This will be in Sacramento with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra in a program that also includes Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto and Brahms' 2nd Symphony. Below is a Q&A with the composer:

 

Christian Baldini: Nancy, it is a pleasure to welcome you and to conduct your music in Sacramento. Tell us, what are some of your priorities and main interests as a composer?

 

Nancy Galbraith: I am naturally compelled to continuously expand and grow and explore new pathways of expression. Fortunately for me, the Pittsburgh metropolitan area is home to a wealth of talented musicians who are always happy to perform outside of their classical music comfort zones. One prominent example is my colleague at Carnegie Mellon, Stephan Schultz, who is a world class Baroque flutist who truly enjoys all the electroacoustic challenges I send his way. He is one of many among the soloists, instrumental ensembles and conductors from this area, who are eager and delighted to perform music on the cutting edge.

 

I am also deeply immersed in the world of choral music. Much of that is sacred music, which is born out of my lifelong involvement as a church organist and music director. And again, the Pittsburgh area has an ample pool of talented conductors and ensembles who welcome the kind of new music I have to offer.

 

As you might surmise, I love writing for specific artists and ensembles, both instrumental and choral.

 

CB: You are also a renowned educator, as Professor and Chair of Composition at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University School of Music in Pittsburgh. What are some of the values and life-long lessons that you try to instill in your students during your lessons?

 

NG: First I should mention that I especially enjoy teaching undergrads, as they are mostly very open to learning and growing. They each arrive with their own special musical interests, and I let them know I’m happy to honor and nurture those throughout their time with me, but only if they trust me to help them explore a full array of other musical avenues. As first-year students, I provide them with an extensive listening list of mostly current composers from a wide range of genres, along with selected works from earlier composers. I encourage—insist, I should say—that they continuously listen to what is happening in the present, and thus my list is dynamic and ever changing. Most importantly, I steer them toward the goal of finding their own true artistic voices, no matter what they may be. Their senior year concludes in a public concert of their own symphonic works performed by the superb Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra. The energy, artistry and eclecticism of those programs are prominent annual highlights of the music scene in Pittsburgh. My graduated students from the past four decades operate in an extremely wide spectrum of musical fields.

 

CB: Let’s talk about your own mentors. Who were some of the most influential and important ones to you, and why?

 

NG: Many of my chief mentors have been dead composers (lol), including J. S. Bach, Stravinsky, and Copland, to name a few. I have mostly learned from studying scores and performing their works; and I should mention that John Adams was a strong early influence as well. In my childhood, teen and college years, I studied piano and clarinet; and during those years, I was fortunate to perform a wide ranging repertoire of classical and contemporary music.

 

CB: How did you start composing “Midnight Stirring”? What came to you first? How was the process?

 

NG: This work was originally composed for flutes. In 2009, I was commissioned to write a work for flute choir for the 37^th Annual National Flute Convention. This was one of the few musical genres I hadn’t yet visited, and all of a sudden, I was initiated into the flute world! The music director of the distinguished Columbia Flute Choir, the late Sharyn Byer, commissioned me to write “Midnight Stirring” for the 43^rd annual convention. Then, at the request of a conductor friend, I adapted it as a light, easy-to-program work for chamber orchestras. It is scored senza percussion, which is a rarity for me.

 

CB: What is the relevance of music in today’s life? Why is it important?

 

NG: Music is no more relevant today than it has been in any time in human history. It is an esoteric and universal language that reaches one’s inner being in ways that words cannot.

 

CB: Lastly, what would be your advice for young composers, starting out in this profession?

 

NG: Without any cues from me, most of my students follow their own hearts and instincts, and they somehow find pathways to many and various careers in music. Some of them dwell in a state of uncertainty for a while, and I advise them to consider music education or arts management to carry them through that period of their lives. But many of them just hit the ground running. I’m always sceptical when, once in a while, one says to me, “I’m moving to New York!”—but quite a few of those have actually succeeded tremendously! I am shocked at how they make important connections so quickly, in ways that have always escaped me. So I’ve learned to simply encourage them to pursue their dreams.

 

CB: Thank you very much for your time, I look forward to conducting your beautiful music and sharing it with our audiences!

 

NG: Thank you, and best of luck with your performance.

Nancy Galbraith (b.1951) resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, where she is Chair of Composition at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music, and holds the Vira I Heinz Professorship of Music endowed chair at the College of Fine Arts.

In a career that spans four decades, her music has earned praise for its rich harmonic texture, rhythmic vitality, emotional and spiritual depth, and wide range of expression. Her works have been directed by some of the world's finest conductors, including Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Mariss Jansons, Keith Lockhart, Donald Runnicles and Robert Page. Her compositions are featured on numerous recordings, including nine anthologies.

With major contributions to the repertoires of symphony orchestras, concert choirs, wind ensembles, chamber ensembles, electroacoustic ensembles, and soloists, Galbraith plays a leading role in defining the sound of contemporary classical music.

Sarah Wald in Conversation with Christian Baldini

On September 24, 2022, I will have the pleasure of conducting the world première of Sarah Wald's work "After Brahms", which she wrote for the Camellia Symphony in Sacramento. On the same program we will also perform Brahms' Symphony No. 4, which Sarah knew about when I asked her to write the piece. I had the chance of asking Sarah some questions about her music, and below are the answers:

Christian Baldini: Sarah, it will be a pleasure to bring your music to life once more. Please tell us about "After Brahms". How did you decide to include material from Brahms' 4th Symphony into your new piece?

Sarah Wald: Both of the other pieces on the program, Elgar's Cello Concerto and Brahms' 4th Symphony, are in E minor. So, I decided to compose something in E minor as well—I liked the idea of an E minor extravaganza! Following that, I thought taking material from the end of the Brahms symphony would provide a neat bookend for the concert. So I used a slightly modified version of Brahms' last-movement theme as my repeating bass line. 

CB: What are some tips and pointers about your music, and about this piece in general that people should listen for? What would you say to someone who does not know your music at all?

SW: This particular piece is all about repetition, but repetition that is constantly subjected to three different processes: cycling through different keys, getting passed around different instrumental groups, and increasing in tempo. I was interested in how the same material could take on different characters in these different iterations.

CB: What do you try to communicate with your compositions?

SW: I think that really depends on the piece. Some of my pieces are programmatic, meaning that they're about extra-musical subjects. In my vocal music, I'm trying to support and enhance the text I'm setting. In some cases, I'm simply concerned with crafting beautiful or intriguing sounds (in some kind of logical order). But in most of my pieces, I'm very concerned with affect, or going on some sort of emotional/psychological journey.

CB: You are also a very fine performer (Sarah was for three years principal flute of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra) - can you tell us how being a performer has affected or influenced you as a composer?

SW: Thank you. Well, when I compose an orchestra piece specifically, I suppose I can't help imagining myself sitting in the flute section. What would it feel like? How would I hear my part in relation to the other parts? When playing orchestral repertoire, it's always fun to hear how you fit into the harmony, or to hear something you just played get picked up by another instrument, for example. So I think that perspective makes me think more carefully about how everything fits together.

CB: What advice would you give to young composers starting out? How do we connect with performers? What to do about choosing a good graduate program, or about getting commissions to write pieces? Anything else you would recommend?

SW: If you're in college or grad school, working with your fellow students/musicians can result in ongoing collaborative relationships years down the line. In a similar vein, attending summer music festivals or workshops is really invaluable, in my opinion: They offer additional performance/recording opportunities and broaden your network of potential collaborators. The Composer's Site is a good resource for finding various types of opportunities. And even basic Google searches for opportunities can help: When I was in college in NYC, I found out about the New York Youth Symphony's composition program just via Google search.

As far as choosing a good graduate program goes, I think it's mainly a matter of figuring out what you're looking for—what you want to get out of graduate school. Is there a particular teacher you want to study with? Are you interested in particular kinds of opportunities, like inter-departmental projects? Also, definitely talk to alumni of the programs you're interested in: You'll learn a lot about the program, good and bad, that you can't find out through any other channels.

CB: Thank you for your time, and I look forward to conducting the world première of this very imaginative piece that you have written for us!

SW: Thank you!

Sarah Wald was born in Chicago. She attended Columbia University in the City of New York for her bachelor’s degree in music with a focus in composition. While at Columbia, Sarah studied composition with Tristan Murail and Arthur Kampela, as well as with Robert Lombardo in Chicago. She also studied flute with Sue Ann Kahn.  Sarah then studied with Conrad Susa and David Garner at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for her master’s degree in composition. For her master’s thesis, she composed and produced  Elegy for a Lady: a Music Drama in One Act. As a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, Sarah was awarded a Graduate Scholars Fellowship for her first year. She recently finished her PhD in composition and music theory. Her dissertation advisor was Kurt Rohde.

 

Over the past several years, Sarah's music has been featured at various festivals and other programs, including the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, the New York Youth Symphony’s Composition Program, the nief-norf Summer Music Festival, the Brevard Music Center, the TALIS Festival, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Her work was also performed at Sävellyspaja in Finland and has been featured on radio stations such as WFMT (Relevant Tones) and CJSR.

 

Sarah has received several honors, awards, and commissions. She graduated from Columbia magna cum laude and also received Columbia’s Rapaport Prize in 2012. In 2015, she was awarded professional development grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Her percussion quartet, Pas de Quatre, was selected by the University of Tennessee Knoxville for performance at PASIC 2015's New Literature Showcase Concert. Sarah has also received several individual commissions as well as commissions from Access Contemporary Music, the University of Tennessee at Martin Contemporary Music Group, and the Saint Xavier University Flute Choir. In 2016 and 2017, she was selected in calls for scores from New Music on the Bayou and Vox Musica. She was also a selected composer for North/South Consonance's call for scores in 2018 and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in 2020. In January 2020, Sarah was selected to compose a score for the Sound of Silent Film Festival in Chicago.

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Currently, Sarah is a Resident Artist with the concert platform Sparrow Live and a Teaching Artist with the San Francisco Opera Guild.

Soloist Profile: Boxianzi Vivian Ling in Conversation with Christian Baldini

Boxianzi (Vivian) Ling is joining us with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra to kick off our Season 57, performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on a program that also includes Borodin's Symphony No. 2, and Nicole Lizée's Zeiss After Dark. 

Christian Baldini: Hello Boxianzi, it is a real pleasure to have you with us as our featured soloist for this concert in Sacramento. Please tell us about the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and why it is an important piece to you personally. What is so special about it that captivates you?

Boxianzi Vivian Ling: The Tchaikovsky violin concerto to me has always been my favorite violin concerto. I can remember the first time l heard this concerto, as soon as the opening violin theme comes in, I was instantly drawn into the music. The first recording that I listened to was actually played by one of my older studio mates while I was still in the second grade. The piece seemed so difficult that I thought it would be impossible to play. The concerto then became a major goal for me in my development as a musician. When I started to learn the piece, I felt like it was so familiar as if I already knew how to play it. Out of all the major violin concertos (Brahms, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn), the Tchaikovsky to me has the most beautiful melodies. I also really love the orchestration because it interacts with solo violin throughout the whole piece, especially at the end of the finale when the dialogue reaches a climax. As an artist, this piece offers me amazing amounts of freedom to express multiple emotions and feelings. I feel like this is one of those pieces that allow for a wide array of interpretations. 

CB: Please tell us about your background and your childhood. When did you become interested in music, and where did you grow up? Did you ever play another instrument besides the violin? Was there someone who was particularly important in your upbringing, who was an inspiration to you and helped you become a musician?

BVL: I was born in Changsha, which is the capital of Hu' nan province in China. My dad was a big fan of classical music and my mom would bring home lots of DVD recordings of the Berlin philharmonic, Vienna Phil concerts. So from an early age, I was constantly listening to symphonies. Before my fifth birthday, my dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I asked him for a little violin and he got it for me. I started taking group lessons on the very next day. Both my parents would come with me to lessons and my dad basically learned violin for the first year. I remember he would be the metronome and tuner at the same time while he practiced with me. My dad has great ears and would always tell me when something didn't sound right. My parents were very strict. If I didn't practice for my lesson my dad would not come with me to the lessons and it would only be my mom driving me on her motorcycle. Soon after changing a couple of teachers, I then decided to move to Shanghai to continue studying at the primary school affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory. My parents were left behind in Changsha because they needed to work, so it was my Grandma that came with and lived with me in Shanghai. I spent the next seven years there learning, studying and practicing. I met my teacher Wei He who was a professor at SFCM and he offered to teach me in the US while I finished high school in Marin county. While growing up I also taught myself how to play the piano, which comes in handy when I study accompaniment parts. My favorite violinist when I was a little girl was Hilary Hahn.  

CB: What are some of your favorite past times or hobbies? What do you do outside music?

BVL: Ping Pong. I was really good when I was a little girl. I was an absolute machine. It was either violin or ping pong. I haven't played since I quit years ago. Now I enjoy spending time with my two cats, eating amazing food all around SF and photography and yoga. 

CB: What are those pieces that you would take to a desert island? And perhaps more generally, who are your favorite composers?

BVL: The big concertos that I love are Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven and Mendelssohn. If I had to pick one composer's works to bring to a desert island it would be Mozart's.

CB: You have obviously accomplished a lot already, playing chamber music, as a soloist, as concertmaster of the SF Youth Orchestra, and developing your own voice. And where would you like to be in 5 or 10 years? What would you like to be doing, or where?

BVL: I would love to be playing in a major orchestra. I currently sub for the SF symphony. I recently played Mahler 6 with MTT and it was a very special experience in my career. I also learn a lot and enjoy teaching. So I can also see myself having a violin studio wherever I am based. If I am lucky enough I would love to continue playing solo concertos with orchestras. 

CB: What would you recommend to a young musician starting out? What is some good advice for someone who would like to become a professional musician?

BVL: I would tell a young musician to push yourself and work hard but not any harder than it needs to be to achieve your goals. And never lose your own voice when playing music. because the beauty of music exists within your own interpretation. 

CB: It's been really wonderful to have the chance to know more about you and your upbringing. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent and dedication with our audience, and I very much look forward to our performance together!

BVL: Thank you so much! It is such an honor and pleasure to work and perform this concerto with you and the Camellia symphony Orchestra.

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Boxianzi (Vivian) Ling,  Violin

Boxianzi was born in Hunan, China. She started playing violin at age 5, and was accepted into the prestigious Elementary School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music at age 9. She was featured on China National TV broadcasting playing Mendelssohn violin concerto when she was 12. She has also soloed with Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. Entering the professional spotlight,  Boxianzi made her debut with the San Francisco Ballet, with Maestro Martin West, on April 2017, performing the Prokofiev violin concerto. She currently subs with the San Francisco Symphony, performing alongside MMT and other sf symphony members.

Other notable accomplishments of Boxianzi’s career has been winning the Young Artists Concerto Competition with Oakland East Bay Symphony Orchestra in 2012,  winning the Parnassus Conservatory Youth Competition in 2016, and claiming first prize in the 2018 San Francisco Conservatory of Music violin concerto competition.

She was the concertmaster of San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2014-2016 and participated in the SFSYO European tour where she played in the Berlin Philharmonie and the The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She is currently a Junior student studying with Professor  Ian Swensen and Chen Zhao at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She previously studied with Professor Wei He at San Francisco Conservatory.

Violinist Er-Gene Kahng in Conversation with Christian Baldini

In preparation for our performance of Florence Price's Violin Concerto No. 2 in Sacramento with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, I had the pleasure of interviewing Er-Gene Kahng, concertmaster of the Arkansas Philharmonic and Fort Smith Symphony, and Professor at the University of Arkansas, who will be our soloist for our performances.

Christian Baldini: Er-Gene, it is a real pleasure to have you with us for this beautiful work by Florence Price. You were instrumental in the rediscovery and recording of this piece. Can you tell us how this project came into being? How did you first become acquainted with the compositions by Florence Price?

Er-Gene Kahng: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that it has been the collective work of our librarians who rescued the manuscripts, our historians and musicologists who have been researching, writing and thinking about Price's life and work since at least the 1970s, the archivists who continue the work to bring her legacy to the fore, and also the many performers before me who were already performing her compositions before we came to discover the lost manuscript of her violin concertos. It has been the combined efforts of a strong community over the course of many decades. 

I first performed Florence Price's String Quartet in G major (1929) at the Florence Price symposium at the University of Arkansas in 2015. After that introduction, my initial curiosity manifested into increasing levels of passion and commitment. One day, while at our special collections library, I found myself looking at Price's violin concerto manuscripts thinking, "this would be really great if someday, somebody recorded these works. Could that person be me... maybe?"


CB: What is so special about Florence Price's music? You bring a very beautiful sound and shape to every phrase in this concerto. Why is this music so special to you?

EGK: Thank you! It *is* beautiful music. And by that, I don't simply mean that it is pretty or pleasing, but that it holds a truth that is deep, layered and impactful. I hear the homage to the classical tradition in which she was trained (and a mastery its language), but also an homage to her Southern roots (even as she came to live the majority of her adult life in Chicago). The very tradition she honored and mastered was also the tradition that limited her opportunities. She questions this tradition without destroying its basic framework. Her answers to these artistic polarities (innovation vs. preservation of tradition) are manifested in the rich world she creates for her listeners, and the language she confidently develops and owns. She holds a space that generously houses classicism and modernist instability in a manner that is searching and assertive, all the while inviting us to respond to these polarities and clashes in our own way. I deeply admire her artistic vision.


CB: In this concert you are also playing the world premiere of Chris Castro's work "Sing High". I know Chris is very excited to have written this piece for you. What can you tell us about this piece?

EGK: I am very excited to share Chris's piece! It is an evocative work with a cornucopia of musical allusions and references, past and current. Despite it being a short, single movement work, it deals with big ideas which always circle around - it seems to me - the question of defining, elaborating and questing the very essence of 'music'. I find that so much of music is actually philosophy. Chris's piece really reminded me of this.


CB: How do you feel about having been so important in this great revival and interest in the music by Florence Price? Did you imagine it was going to have such a positive impact when you started your project?

EGK: I am genuinely surprised, elated and humbled. I had no predictions to its reception; in the beginning, I was simply consumed with the fear and anxiety that the project - for a number of reasons - would fail to finish. When we finally finished, I was overcome with a feeling of relief and gratitude, possibly even a moment of disbelief. As you know, any kind of recording project of this scope is dependent on many, many elements to come together at the right time, not to mention the strong faith, morale and dedication of each team member. Even the most carefully constructed plans cannot guarantee successful completion. I feel lucky and fortunate to have had the right elements in place at the right time with the right people.


CB: You are also a Professor, and have surely had many wonderful students over the years. Are there any tips you would give to aspiring musicians?

EGK: I really like and appreciate my students, not only as artists, but as people; and yes, I've had wonderful students over the years! The tips I would offer aspiring musicians are the same ones I aspire myself: actively creating an environment and attitude of learning; additionally, strengthening and utilizing all available resources for critical self-reflection.
Creating an environment for optimal learning might be something as literal as creating a good practice schedule, or making sure one gets enough sleep so that one isn't tired the next morning. Or, it might mean attending as many live concert performances as one's schedule might allow, or finding time in the day to discuss musical ideas with friends. At the core, it hinges on the idea that successful results require successful processes and that certain environments are more conducive to encouraging that success to surface than others; therefore, we should strive to set the stage for success, whatever this stage might look for you, whatever success means for you.
Bringing an attitude of learning means setting one's ego aside so that the challenges to artistic mastery aren't driven by our ego's need to personalize everything or preserve itself at the cost of truth-seeking or objective/unbiased observation.
Finally, over the years, I have found that keeping in touch with my mentors and role models, and allocating time to write regularly in my practice journal has vastly aided in clarifying my musical values and thinking process. I constantly work toward expanding my musical conceptions, keeping an open mind, and developing my musical empathy. I understand I still have a long way to go, and many, many more things to learn.

CB: As a performer, which answer would you give to folks that normally don't go to the concert hall and that might wonder: why is music still relevant or important in society nowadays?

EGK: I would encourage people to take a chance and enter that special space of live music-making. I more than understand that classical music and traditional concert hall culture may not be for everyone, and that sometimes it may only be successful in capturing the imagination and attention of a few. I also understand its challenges to aural accessibility. However, I do believe that the world of classical music, despite its cultural specificity, represents a very profound world, and creates/maintains a compelling connection to our shared history. It is a powerful anchor in affirming our humanity.


CB: Er-Gene, thank you very much for your time, and for sharing your immense talent with us. We can't wait to share your beautiful playing with our audiences in Sacramento!

EGK: Thank you so much for the invitation and the opportunity!

Er-Gene Kahng

Er-Gene Kahng’s performances have been described as possessing a “caressing sense of phrase” and “an honest musicianship[which] translates the music into a meaningful discourse few virtuosi accomplish”; her recording of Florence Price’s Violin Concertos (Albany Records, 2018) has been cited and praised by The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and The New York Timesas an important contribution to American classical music, and has aired on programs like NPR’s Songs we Love, and APM’s Performance Today.  Alex Ross described the recording as “Price’s best outing on disk to date… Kahng plays the solo parts with lustrous tone and glistening facility.”

Er-Gene currently serves as Concertmaster with the Fort Smith Symphony, who has also completed a Florence Price preservation project by recording her symphonies no. 1 and no. 4 (a world premiere). Er-Gene also serves as Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra’s concertmaster, where she premiered Florence Price’s Violin Concerto no. 2.  Previously, Er-Gene has held title positions with the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, SoNA (Symphony of Northwest Arkansas), Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, as well as section positions with the Lancaster Symphony, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra.

Er-Gene co-curated a new music series “Fuse” (2015-16), at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art featuring the works of American minimalism, indeterminacy, and postmodernism. Her A/V collaborations include working with animator Wilson Borja, whose work, “Cheré” explores themes of forced and voluntary migration of the African diaspora. Other collaborations include those with the Texas Ballet Theater, and the Hong Kong Arts Academy, performing an original score “Crash” by choreographer Jonathan Watkins.  

Er-Gene was a Visiting Wolfson Fellow at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, UK in 2016-2017. She received degrees from UCLA, Yale and Northwestern.  Her primary teachers include Mark Kaplan, Erick Friedman, Syoko Aki, the Tokyo String Quartet and Almita and Roland Vamos. She isProfessor of Violin and the Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.  Her students have gained admission to some of the top music schools in the country, including New England Conservatory, University of Southern California, Peabody Conservatory/Johns Hopkins University, University of Minnesota, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, as well as being prizewinners of the MTNA regional and national level competitions.