Paris Comes to the Panhandle

Goodwell, Okla. — “A Night in Paris: Music for Violin and Piano” will be making its debut on Thursday, March 14th at 7pm in Centennial Theater at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. This free, public concert will carry audience members through the imaginary streets of Paris-the city of lovers and dreamers.

Thanks to the generosity of the Masonic Cultural Enrichment Grant, the concert is free and available to the entire Panhandle community. The performers are international guest artist, Yunjung Lee, a violin virtuoso and faculty of Drake University, and Panhandle State’s own Artist-in-Residence, Lucy Tan, pianist and educator. The performance will feature music by Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Gabriel Fauré, some of France’s greatest composers of all time. A variety of influences will contribute to the showcase, including American jazz, St. Louis blues, gypsy violin music, and Impressionism.

This interdisciplinary program will also include guest speakers, Tito Aznar and Sara Richter, who will read poetry from the time period that these pieces were composed. Some of the literary figures to be represented include Stéphane Mallarmé, James Joyce, and T. S. Eliot. One of the goals of this program is to show how verbal imagery can bring music to life and vice versa.

After performing at Panhandle State, Ms. Lee and Dr. Tan will be making a tour, performing this program in Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Iowa at various colleges and universities. The duo is eager to embark on this adventure and they are so excited to share their love of classical music with the community here! Add “A Night in Paris” to your calendar and come out to enjoy a great cultural event while listening to Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 by Maurice Ravel, Sonata for Violin and Piano by Claude Debussy, Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A major, Op. 13 by Gabriel Fauré!

Ms. Yunjung Lee (guest artist)

Korean violinist Yunjung Lee began studying the violin at the age of five. An active performer, she appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, such as Greece Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Korean Symphony Orchestra, and many others, as well as in international music festivals participating in the Music Academy of the West (2010, 2011), the Brevard Music Festival (2013), the Orford Art Center (2015), and the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico (2017).

Ms. Lee was the first Artist-in-Residence at Valley Manor, a senior living facility in Rochester, NY, a position which she was selected by both the Eastman School of Music and Valley Manor. In 2018, she has also appeared as a speaker/performer in ‘The Sound of Connection”, a presentation of TEDxRochester series of events.

She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance at the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Zvi Zeitlin and, at the present time, with Federico Agostini. A current D.M.A. candidate, Ms. Lee has been instructing secondary violin students at the Eastman School of Music as well as chamber music ensembles at the University of Rochester. Some of her students won concerto competition, concertmaster position, and second violin principal position at the University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra. Also, she served as a teaching assistant in the studios of Federico Agostini and Jean M. Barr.

Ms. Lee is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at Drake University. Besides her strong interest in broadening her solo violin repertoire, Ms. Lee is an enthusiastic chamber musician, and is passionate about teaching.

Dr. Lucy Tan (Panhandle faculty)

Pianist, Lucy Tan, has concertized at many notable venues including Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. Her young performing career began when she made her live WGBH radio debut at age 11 on “Morning Pro Musica” with Robert Lurtzema, followed by her concerto debut at age 12 with the Brockton Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Tan was featured on NPR’s “From the Top” and WBGH’s “Classics in the Morning.” She can also be heard on the recording, KuÅŸ Dili: The Language of Birds, a CD that integrates global and classical music. Her performances have taken her to Asia and Europe, and she participated at festivals such as Bowdoin International Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West.

Dr. Tan won prizes at the XXVIII Incontro Internatiozionale Giovani Pianisti, the Chiang Wen Yeh International Piano Competition, and the New England Conservatory Piano Concerto Competition, and more. Her former teachers include David Korevaar, Bruce Brubaker, Veronica Jochum, Bob Spillman, Tatyana Dudochkin, and Hui-Yen Chang. She performed in masterclasses for notable artists such as Alfred Brendel, Arie Vardi, Jeremy Denk, Jerome Lowenthal, and Hung-Kuan Chen. Dr. Tan received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the New England Conservatory, and was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a member of MTNA, CSMTA, and OMTA, and serves on the Advisory Council of CSMTA as Advertising Chair. Dr. Tan is currently Artist-in-Residence at Oklahoma Panhandle State University.