David Alexander Rahbee and Ludovic Morlot conduct the University Symphony in a program of works by Messiaen and Ravel, plus works performed by winners of the 2016 UW Concerto Competitions.
Messiaen: Les offrandes oubliée
Ibert: Flute concerto, mvts. 1 & 2
Miao Liu, flute
Grieg: Piano concerto in A minor, op.16, mvt. 1
Yu-Chi Lee, piano
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47, mvt. 1.
Judith Kim, violin
Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte
(Mario Torres, conductor)
Ravel: La Valse
(Ludovic Morlot, conductor)
Concerto Compeition Winners
Miao Liu, flute
Born in Beijing, China, Miao Liu is pursuing her Master of Music degree in woodwind performance under the guidance of Professor Donna Shin. While earning her Bachelor degree in Psychology, she studied flute with the professors from the China Conservatory and Central Conservatory of China in Beijing. Miao currently performs with the UW Wind Ensemble, UW Symphony Orchestra, and chamber music groups. She also performs chamber and solo works at her local church.
Yu-Chi Lee, piano
Taiwanese-born pianist Yu-Chi Lee has already won first prize in many national competitions. She is currently studying with Dr. Robin McCabe at the University of Washington. She has participated in Spain’s Puigcerda Music Camp and the 7th Huxiang Sino-China Student Interchange Trip and was especially accredited by the China news as the: “The youngest performer from Taipei, under the age of 10, but has already demonstrated exceptional playing techniques far exceeds her age and has won many applauses from mainland compatriots”. In 2011, Yu-Chi was invited as an excellent student by American Music Teacher’s Association to perform at the Carnegie Music Hall. In 2013, Yu-Chi was invited to Hunan, China to perform piano concerto with Hunan Philharmonic, she obtained positive evaluations, affirmations, and encouragement from outstanding musicians in this performance and she also successfully achieved the milestone of cross-cultural exchange in her life.
Judith Kim, violin
Judith Kim has had orchestral performances at Benaroya Hall and Boston Symphony Hall, and this will be her solo debut. Being a Washington native, in high school she began studying with Professor Ronald Patterson and she is continuing under his instruction at the University of Washington. This year, she has been taking lessons with Cordula Merks, Seattle Symphony Assistant Concertmaster, and Tekla Cunningham, Concertmaster and Music Director of Pacific Music Works. Currently in her junior year, she is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Physics. Besides her solo practice, she also serves as principal violist of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra and a violinist in the Scholarship Chamber Group, the Corda Quartet, coached by Melia Watras. As a chamber music enthusiast, she hopes to further the community through her officership of Chamber Music Club. Besides her musical interests, she enjoys Computer Science and is an Introductory Series Teaching Assistant.
Director Bios
David Alexander Rahbee
David Alexander Rahbee is currently Senior Artist in Residence at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle, where he is director of orchestral activities and teaches conducting. He is recipient of the American-Austrian Foundation's 2003 Herbert von Karajan Fellowship for Young Conductors, the 2005 International Richard-Wagner-Verband Stipend, and the Acanthes Centre in Paris in 2007.
Dr. Rahbee has appeared in concert with orchestras such as the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Kammerphilharmonie Berlin-Brandenburg, Orchestre de la Francophonie, Orchesterakademie der Bochumer Symphoniker, the Dresden Hochschule orchestra, Grand Harmonie, the Boston New Music Initiative, Orquesta Sinfónica de Loja (Ecuador), Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Savaria Symphony Orchestra (Hungary), Seattle Modern Orchestra, Cool Opera of Norway (members of the Stavanger Symphony), Schönbrunner Schloss Orchester (Vienna), the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, the Kennett Symphony, and the Divertimento Ensemble of Milan. He collaborated twice with the Seattle Symphony in 2015, as off-stage conductor for Ives’ Fourth Symphony (recorded live), and as guest conductor for their Native Lands project. He has collaborated with several prominent soloists such as violinists Sarah Chang, David Chan (concertmaster of MET opera orchestra), and Joseph Lin (Juilliard String Quartet). He has been been a guest rehearsal conductor for numerous young orchestras, such as the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, The Symphony Orchestras of the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music at Chapman University, and the Vienna University of Technology orchestra, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO), and Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestras (RIPYO). He has also served of faculty of the Pierre Monteux School as Conducting Associate, and has been resident conductor of the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine.
Dr. Rahbee was an assistant at the Vienna State opera from 2002-2010. As part of his fellowship and residency at the 2003 Salzburg Festival, Dr. Rahbee was assistant conductor of the International Attergau Institute Orchestra, where he worked with members of the Vienna Philharmonic. He has been selected to actively participate in masterclasses with prominent conductors such as Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis, Jorma Panula, Zdeněk Mácal, Peter Eötvös, Zoltán Peskó, and Helmut Rilling, and counts Nikolaus Harnoncourt to be among his most influential mentors. From 1997-2001, David Rahbee was conductor of the Fidelio Chamber Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts, selecting its talented young members from Harvard University, the New England Conservatory, and Boston University. From 1997 to 2000, he served as assistant conductor of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (formerly known as the Hingham Symphony) in Massachusetts.
Dr. Rahbeeʼs principal conducting teachers were Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux School. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in violin and composition from Indiana University, a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory in orchestral conducting, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Montreal in orchestral conducting. He has also participated in post-graduate conducting classes at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Vienna. His arrangements for brass are published by Warwick Music, England, and his articles on the music of Gustav Mahler have appeared in journals of the International Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft, among others. Dr. Rahbee’s was a semi-finalist in the American Prize for Conducting, in the category of Orchestral Programming at the university level for the 2013-14 school year.
Ludovic Morlot
French conductor Ludovic Morlot is Music Director of the Seattle Symphony. There have been many highlights during his first three seasons in this position, including an exhilarating performance at Carnegie Hall in May 2014, as reported in The New York Times: ‘The performance Mr. Morlot coaxed from his players was rich with shimmering colours and tremulous energy.” During the 2014-2015 season Morlot and the Seattle Symphony will continue to invite their audiences to “listen boldly,” presenting a wide variety of works ranging from Mozart’s Requiem, Dvořák’s last three symphonies, Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, to Ives, Dutilleux and Salonen, as well as premieres by Sebastian Currier, Julian Anderson and Trimpin. Complemented by the Seattle Symphony’s highly innovative series, Symphony Untuxed and [untitled], this season will also see the release of several more recordings on the orchestra’s new label, Seattle Symphony Media.
Morlot was also Chief Conductor of La Monnaie, one of Europe’s most prestigious opera houses, for three years (2012-2014). During this time he conducted several new productions including La Clemenza di Tito, Jenůfa and Pelléas et Mélisande. Concert performances, both in Brussels and Aix-en-Provence, included repertoire by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Britten, Webern and Bruneau.
During the 2014-2015 season Morlot will return to both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has a particularly close relationship with the latter, with whom he will conduct two subscription weeks, including the world premiere performance of Anne Clyne’s Violin Concerto. He also has a strong connection with the Boston Symphony Orchestra whom he conducts regularly in Boston and Tanglewood and recently on a tour to the west coast of North America. This relationship started in 2001 when he was the Seiji Ozawa Fellowship Conductor at the Tanglewood Music Center and subsequently appointed Assistant Conductor for the orchestra and their Music Director James Levine (2004-2007). Morlot has also conducted the New York Philharmonic and the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Morlot has conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London and on tour in Germany. Other recent notable performances have included the Budapest Festival, Czech Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestre National de France, Royal Concertgebouw, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Morlot served as conductor in residence with the Orchestre National de Lyon under David Robertson (2002-2004).
Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and then at the Royal College of Music as recipient of the Norman del Mar Conducting Fellowship. Morlot was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 in recognition of his significant contribution to music. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle.