BRYN MAWR, PA – The Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series closes its 2013-2014 season in March with Bach and Beyond by Jennifer Koh. Hailed for her intense, commanding and “deeply expressive” (The New York Times) performances, Koh offers the final part in her challenging and inventive set of three solo violin recitals that explores the connections that tie the solo violin repertoire from Six Sonatas and Partitas by Bach to modern day composers, including newly commissioned works. The performance takes place Saturday, March 29 at 8 p.m. in Thomas Great Hall at Bryn Mawr College.
As part of Bach and Beyond, Koh will perform Bach Sonata Nos. 2 and 3 with contemporary works by Italian composer Luciano Berio (Sequenza VII) and American avant-garde composer John Zorn (Passagen). In a recent concert review, Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle said, “Koh assembled a thoughtful and engaging program that didn’t merely mix old and new music…. And her execution was so dynamic and so dramatically alive that the absence of anyone else onstage with her quickly came to seem no more than an irrelevancy.”
“We’re honored to host an artist of Koh’s stature at Bryn Mawr,” says Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series Coordinator Lisa Kraus. “Her Bach and Beyond project is visionary in highlighting how contemporary pieces resonate with the brilliance of Bach.”
Bach and Beyond takes place Saturday, March 29 at 8 p.m. in Thomas Great Hall. Bryn Mawr College is located at 101 N. Merion Avenue in Bryn Mawr, PA. Tickets to individual events in the Bryn Mawr Performing Arts Series are $20, $18 for seniors over 65, $10 for students with ID and Dance Pass holders, and $5 for children under 12. Tickets, subscriptions and more information are available online through Brown Paper Tickets, at brynmawr.edu/arts/series.html or by calling 610-526-5210. Group sales are available by calling 610-526-5210.
ABOUT JENNIFER KOH
Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. Since the 1994-95 season when she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Koh has been heard with leading orchestras and conductors worldwide. Also a prolific recitalist, she appears frequently at major music centers and festivals. She is dedicated to performing the violin repertoire of all eras from traditional to contemporary, believing that the past and present form a continuum. The exploration of Bach’s music and its influence in today’s musical landscape has played an important role in Ms. Koh’s artistic journey. In 2009 she debuted “Bach and Beyond” a three recital series that explores the history of the solo violin repertoire from Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas to works by modern day composers and new commissions; she frequently performs all six Sonatas and Partitas in a single concert; and last season she launched “Two x Four” with her former teacher from the Curtis School of Music, violinist Jaime Laredo – a project that pairs Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with newly commissioned double concerti. Highlights of Ms. Koh’s 2013/14 season include “Bach and Beyond” recitals worldwide, “Two x Four” concerts with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Einstein in Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach in Los Angeles, the U.S. premiere of Saariaho’s Frises for violin and electronics at Miller Theatre in New York, the New York premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s The Singing Rooms with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, and her Munich Philharmonic debut. Ms. Koh regularly records for the Cedille label. Her recent recording featuring works from her first “Bach and Beyond” recital was chosen as one of the best recordings of 2012 by the New York Times. Her next album “Signs, Games & Messages” with pianist Shai Wosner will be released in October 2013.
