27th Annual Young Musicians Concert
On Thursday, April 22, many students from Great Neck North High School went into the city to see their peers perform at The Merkin Concert Hall for the annual Young Musicians’ Concert. Every year, a few dedicated students from school form chamber groups and send in recordings of their music to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. This year, only thirteen chamber groups were chosen from schools in New Jersey and New York.
The lucky winners from Great Neck North High were Soonsung Park (clarinet), Mohit Mansukhani (cello), and Yotom Rabinowitz (piano). They played Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 114 by Johannes Brahms. Brahms composed this piece in 1891 after he had officially retired. Their performance was beautiful and full of emotion. Mohit was really into the music, rocking in his seat, almost hugging his cello. The lines between the clarinet and cello were flawless and flowed really well.
These three young men weren’t the only to represent Great Neck, though. Great Neck South High was represented by three different chamber groups. My favorite South High performance was that of Alexio Chang and Sonoko Stillwell. They performed the Duo Concertant in D major for Two Violins (Op. 57, No. 3). They were the only group that didn’t use music and because of this, the music stands didn’t stand in the way or block them at all. Charles De Bériot (1821-1883), the composer, reflected a lot in ballets and operas. This was apparent in the way the two young musicians played. It seemed like they were playing to each other instead of focusing on playing to the audience. They were facing one another and the counterpoint melody made it seem like each were singing to the other.
This concert had two groups that played modern chamber music. Both groups came from the same school in Ridgewood, NJ. The first, Trio per Uno for Three Percussionists (Op. 27) was a popular hit for many in the audience. Not only did each of the three drummers have their own set of multiple drums, they used their voices to chant and scream. At one point in the performance, they used each other’s sticks as an instrument, hitting them together, which must have taken a lot of coordination. It got a little crazy at times, when they started to just bang the drums as hard as they could. One drummer’s stick even fell out of his hand. The other out of the ordinary group was Hook for Percussion. It was a piece written by Graham Fitkin in 1991 for four marimbas and various bass drums. Each performer had their own marimba, a bass drum underneath it, and two of them had small drums placed on top. It was pretty interesting to see a performance that was so different.
The concert was introduced by Bruce Adolphe, and he spoke between each performance. He told a lot of jokes, comparing the marimba players to golf players (with all their sticks to account for), and comparing Chamber Music to Obama. One thing I found interesting that he said was where the name Chamber Music came from. It comes from the word “comrade”, which in French means roommate or friend. People who performed Chamber Music back in the day would share rooms to practice. Another word for Chamber is also room.
It’s amazing that all these young adults were able to play such nice music.
27th Annual Young Musicians Concert
Merkin Concert Hall
April 22, 2010
Marina B. Nebro
