02/13/2021

Bach Suite Marathon - Flute

Bach Cell Suite No.1 in G Major arr. for flute
Prelude
Courante
Sarabande

Paganini Caprice for solo Violin No.7 in A minor arr. for flute

Beethoven String Quartet No.5 Op.18
III. Andante Cantabile

About the Program

The six cello suites by J.S. Bach remain some of the most beautiful and timeless pieces ever written. The most famous of these suites is the first, which will be heard on this program. The prelude has been used in countless pop culture and tv moments, gaining worldwide recognition. Each of the suites are comprised of traditional dance movements, preceded by the prelude. Besides being cathartic and inspirational, these works also challenge the performer
technically. Many string players have used this time in quarantine to work on solo Bach repertoire, as it only requires one person, but is musically fulfilling and rewarding to practice.

The great Violin Caprices of Paganini were composed between 1802 and 1817. Though they are technically composed as etudes or studies of the violin, they are often performed as encores to demonstrate the performer’s mastery of the instrument. Each caprice highlights a different technique, whether that be double stops, up-bow-staccato, lightning fast scales, arpeggios, and so much more. According to Paganini’s own score, the seventh caprice was loosely dedicated to Franz Liszt. A haunting melody is heart at the opening, followed by leaps and bounds of fast scalar and arpeggiated passages.

Much of Beethoven’s String Quartet writing was influenced by Mozart and Haydn, whom he greatly admired. His quartets are celebrated for continuing to push the compositional envelope of what four instruments can do. This particular quartet, Opus 18 no. 5, was written with great admiration of and structural similarity to Mozart’s K.464 quartet. Both are written in the same key and share similar musical motifs, and the focal point lies in the third movement. Just like Mozart’s K. 464, it is a beautiful Theme and Variations. The real compositional mastery lies in Beethoven’s ability to take the most simple of themes (think about the opening of his iconic 5 th Symphony!) and create seemingly endless musical material around them.

-Andrea Jarrett

Concert Artists

Ann Choomack/Flute
Ann Choomack currently plays piccolo with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. She performed with the Richmond Symphony as third flute/piccolo from 2004-13, and spends her summers as a faculty member at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. A graduate of Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, she completed her master's degree at New England Conservatory in Boston. Teachers include Bonita Boyd, Paula Robison, and Damian Bursill-Hall. Ann Choomack has performed in numerous music festivals including Festival Lyrique en Mer, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, Music Academy of the West, Kent-Blossom Chamber Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center.

Andrea Jarrett/Violin
Named a 2009 Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the U.S. Department of Education, violinist Andrea Jarrett received her Master of Music Degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in May 2015. While obtaining her degree, Jarrett was a student of Kathleen Winkler and served as concertmaster of both the chamber and symphony orchestras. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the Juilliard School in 2013, where she studied with David Chan. Jarrett joined the second violin section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in September 2015.

Prior to her appointment with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra, Jarrett participated in the 2013 New York String Orchestra Seminar under the direction of Jaime Laredo. While attending Juilliard, Andrea gave the world premiere of composer Neil Rolnick’s concerto for violin and electronics in November 2012, Gardening at Gropius House. In the same year, Jarrett served as concertmaster of the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. Another highlight during her undergraduate years was her performance of the Mendelssohn Octet in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Meet the Music! Concert Series. Jarrett was a member of the first YouTube Symphony Orchestra in 2009, with concerts in Carnegie Hall under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. A native midwesterner, Jarrett has performed as a soloist with the Dearborn, Birmingham-Bloomfield, Toledo, and Ann Arbor symphony orchestras.

Jecoliah Wang/violin
Violinist Jecoliah Wang made her solo debut with the St. Louis Symphony at the age of fifteen and in the same year, was a top prizewinner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She has been a guest artist with organizations such as CityMusic Cleveland, the Atlanta Chamber Players, the Georgian Chamber Players, and has made solo and chamber music appearances at the Aspen Music Festival, Kennedy Center, Rome Chamber Music Festival, Innsbrook Institute, and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival as a Beth Newdome Fellowship Resident Artist.
She has collaborated with artists such as Orli Shaham, Lawrence Dutton, and members of the Atlanta, Minnesota, St. Paul, Boston, St. Louis, and MET orchestras. Jecoliah was accepted into the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at the age of sixteen and completed her Master’s Degree at the University of Michigan. She currently plays regularly with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Chris Tantillo/viola
Chris Tantillo, currently plays viola with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. A native of Long Island, New York, began playing the violin at the age of seven. He switched to viola while attending the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he completed his high school degree. Tantillo received both his Bachelor's of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2002, where he studied with Stanley Konopka, and his Master’s of Music degree while studying with Robert Vernon, Principal Viola of the Cleveland Orchestra. Tantillo has previously performed with the San Diego Symphony and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida.

Jun Seo/Cello
Dr. Seo received a Bachelor of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory School of Music in Boston in 2009. He received a Master’s of Music Degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin studying under Professor Bion Tsang. At the same time, he was a teaching assistant for Professor Tsang and a faculty member at the UT-String Project for three years. Dr. Seo received full scholarships to attend the Heifetz International Music Institute, StonyBrook Summer Music Festival, Killington Music Festival, and Colorado College Music Festival. He also was a cello faculty member at Omaha Conservatory of Music Summer Institute, String Orchestra Camp at Webster University Community Music School, Chamber Music Encounter at Webster University Community Music School, Austin Chamber Music Center, Songbird Rising String Camp at Austin, Assistant Director at Texas Strings Camp Young Artist Division and he also was a cello instructor at various public schools in Austin area.

Dr. Seo has studied cello with Jin-kyung Chee, Hee-song Song, Laura Blustein, and Yeesun-Kim. He also played in Cello masterclasses of Brinton Smith, Laurence Lesser, Alexander Baillie, Ralph Kirshbaum, Peter Wispelwey, Lynn Harrell and Anner Bylsma. He has collaborated with artists such as David Ying, Phillip Ying, Mark Fewer,Yehonatan Berick, Lynn Chang, Thomas Landschoot, Sheila Browne, and Christof Huebner. In the summer of 2009, Dr. Seo performed alongside the Cappella Choir of Seoul Theological University in their European tour. In the summer of 2014, he toured several European countries such as Switzerland and Scotland with the Austin Eurythmy Ensemble. Recently, Dr. Seo recorded the cello part for “Learning Together: Sequential Repertoire for Solo Strings or String Ensemble Volume 2 by Laurie Scott, Winfred Crock and William Dick”. He has maintained a full private studio since 2007. Dr. Seo joined as cello faculty, Traditional and Suzuki, at Webster University Community. Dr. Seo joined as cello faculty at University of Illinois at Springfield as well as University of Illinois at Springfield Community Music School in Fall 2019.