This fall\u2019s Swarthmore College Orchestra concert will be one for the books. Each semester, the orchestra graces the community with a culminating musical performance as a result of their many rehearsals and efforts, but rarely is the orchestra joined by such musical greatness as in this upcoming concert, featuring David Kim as guest violinist. David Kim has studied violin from the age of three, receiving his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from Juilliard School, and is now the concertmaster for the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has received accolades from the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and will perform with the Swarthmore Orchestra in Tchaikovsky\u2019s Violin Concerto.<\/p>\n
The Swarthmore Department of Music and Dance has a long relationship with David Kim, who has previously given solo recitals and master classes at the college. \u00a0Kim will also return to the college in the spring to play a Bach Concerto alongside the Swarthmore Lab Orchestra and lead a violin master class. He last performed with the Orchestra in 2013, so current students will now have the opportunity to hear him for the first time. Andrew Hauze, conductor of the Swarthmore College Orchestra, remembers his last concert with high regards. \u201cThose of us involved will never forget the power and beauty of that performance,\u201d says Hauze. \u201cIt is such a great experience for our students to get to play alongside one of the greatest violinists playing today. Our students always give intensely committed and exciting performances, and the energy will be even higher with our collaboration with David Kim.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the featured Tchaikovsky Concerto, this semester\u2019s set list includes two pieces from English operas: the overture to The Wreckers and \u201cThe Walk to the Paradise Garden\u201d from A Village Romeo and Juliet. Both songs are rarely performed; Hauze had to obtain the score for The Wreckers from a UK library, which he newly engraved for future orchestral performances. However, Hauze considers his efforts worth the reward of exposing the community to such music. \u201cI am especially excited that we are playing the overture,\u201d he says. \u201cThe music is magnificent, with lush harmonies, striking themes, and wonderfully colorful orchestration.\u201d The program features Romantic themes and, Hauze notes, should please anyone who enjoys beautiful, sweeping orchestral sounds. \u201cTo get to hear such moving music in such an intimate space should be a real treat for our audience.\u201d<\/p>\n