Bangor, ME – The Bangor Symphony Orchestra is kicking off its 124th season and the 10th anniversary season of Music Director and Conductor Lucas Richman with a world premiere and the local debut of one of the world’s most celebrated violin prodigies. At its first Masterworks concert of the new season on October 6th, the BSO will spotlight a new work by composer Kathryn Bostic and welcome violinist SooBeen Lee to the stage for her first engagement in Maine. The program will conclude with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Reflecting Richman’s experience in Hollywood, the first two pieces on the program feature composers celebrated for their film scores. Kathryn Bostic is known for her work in film, television, and theater, including multiple Broadway credits and her recent score for the acclaimed documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. In 2018, the Pittsburgh Symphony premiered her first major orchestral work, The August Wilson Symphony, with Lucas Richman conducting. A known champion of new music and female composers, Richman encouraged the idea of commissioning Bostic for the opening of his tenth season, and she has written Tovaangar: Coronation and Chaos for the BSO to premiere. The work draws inspiration from the first peoples to settle the land in Southern California, both her home and Richman’s birthplace.
18-year-old violinist SooBeen Lee, deemed “Korea’s hottest violin prodigy” (Hancinema), will make her BSO debut in two contrasting works, starting with James Newton Howard’s The Village Romance. This excerpt from the film score for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village was first conducted by Richman for the 2004 film and recording with violinist Hillary Hahn to much acclaim. Lee will stay on for Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasie, the rousing masterpiece inspired by Bizet’s Carmen. A current student at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, SooBeen Lee began studying the violin at the age of four. At eight years old, she won the National Competition of the Korean Chamber Orchestra and the next year, she won First Prize at the Russia International Youth Violin Competition.
The BSO’s Masterworks I: Celebrating Lucas takes place on Sunday, October 6, 2019 at 3 p.m. at the Collins Center for the Arts on the campus of the University of Maine, Orono. The UBS Pre-Concert Lecture is at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $46 plus box office fees, with student tickets at $10, and are available online at bangorsymphony.org or by phone at 1-800-622-TIXX. This concert is made possible with support from UBS Argosy Wealth Management and the Barbour Family, in Memory of Nita Hale Barbour.