Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra kicks off Music, Gettysburg!’s 29th season

(10/7) The Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra kicks off Music, Gettysburg!’s 29th season with concert on Sunday, September 13, at 4:00 pm in the Gettysburg Seminary Chapel, featuring a winning violinist of the Johansen International Competition. Yerang Kim, a 15 year old violinist from Seoul, Korea, will perform all four of Vivaldi’s "Seasons."

Other works on the Sunday afternoon program include the Shostakovich "Sinfonia for Strings" and the famous "Adagio" by American composer, Samuel Barber.

The concert takes place in the Seminary Chapel, 147 Seminary Ridge in Gettysburg, and is free and open to the public.

Ms Kim is no stranger to competitions, having won many in her native land since the age of eight. She has entered other competitions in France and Italy where she has also taken home the gold! Currently, she is studying with the famous violinist and pedagogue Aaron Rosand at the Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia. Mr. Rosand has been influential in guiding the careers of many outstanding violinists and has been teaching at Curtis for many years. According to him, Ms Kim promises to take her place among the greats of the profession and we are honored to have an opportunity to hear her at the beginning of her career.

The Johansen International Competition is under the aegis of the Friday Morning Music Club of Washington, DC, and presents this competition every three years. The Competition has been in existence since the year 2000, and every three years since there is a gathering of outstanding talent from around the world to play before an International body of judges. The Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra is honored to be one of the presenters of the winners of this competition, and we have been doing so since its inception. In 2000 the GCO performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Angie Cheng, from Shanghai, China; in 2003, cellist Seung-min Kang, from Seoul, Korea, performed works by Haydn and Tchaikovsky; and in 2006, violinist Tessa Lark, from Richmond, Kentucky, performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

The Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra was founded by Carolyn and Norman Nunamaker in 1997, and is currently in its twelfth year of operation. One of the missions of the founders was to include as many local musicians as possible both as members and as soloists. More than half of the GCO members are from Adams County, and many local musicians have appeared as soloists with the ensemble. The orchestra has often featured, as soloists, both competition winners such as Kim and native Gettysburg musicians who are now performing professionally elsewhere, including New York, Atlanta, Santa Clara, CA, and more.

Since its founding, the local orchestra has worked in collaboration with Music, Gettysburg!­ the premiere classical, folk and sacred music concert series for the south central Pennsylvania area, hosted by the Gettysburg Seminary, now in its 29th year. All concerts take place in the Seminary Chapel and all concerts are presented free of charge. For more information about this concert please call 717-334-5508, or the Music, Gettysburg! office at 717-338-3000 ext 2197 or see remaining concerts in the 2009 series at www.musicgettysburg.org .

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