The first in our Sunday Series, Soundscapes is a serenade of 20th-century neoclassical works that acts as a bridge to a 21st century piece by composer Nicky Sohn, featuring Bokyung Byun on guitar. Sohn’s Guitar Concerto No. 1, originally premiered with the Albany Symphony to sold-out audiences, is sure to please. This performance also includes a side-by-side featuring the talented student musicians of the Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s Sinfonia ensemble.
Nan Washburn, conductor
Bokyung Byun, guitar
Nicky Sohn, composer
Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra – Sinfonia ensemble, Hektor Qyteti, director
- A Vaughan Williams Christmas [Forest Green • Wassail Song • Sussex Carol]
Side-by-side with MPYO Sinfonia - “Ritual Fire Dance” from El amor brujo (1915) — Manuel de Falla
- Guitar Concerto No. 1 (2024) — Nicky Sohn
- Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917/1919) — Maurice Ravel
- Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 “Classical” (1917) — Sergei Prokofiev
About Bokyung Byun: Recipient of the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Bokyung Byun enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation. Bokyung holds the distinction of being the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, where Falletta herself described Bokyung’s performance as “stunning, showcasing her gorgeous tone, immaculate technique, and sophisticated musicianship.” Other recent honors include the grand prize at the 2021 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition and the Montreal International Classical Guitar Competition.
About Nicky Sohn: Selected as one of the “Cool 100” by Houston CityBook Magazine alongside icons such as Simone Biles and Megan Thee Stallion, composer Nicky Sohn has emerged as one of the most compelling and distinctive voices in contemporary classical music. With a style characterized by jazz-inspired, rhythmically driven themes and vivid orchestration, her music has been praised internationally as “undoubtedly the crowd pleaser of the evening” (YourObserver), “dynamic and full of vitality” (The Korea Defense Daily), and evoking “elegant wonder” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). Sohn’s work has been commissioned and performed by leading orchestras and institutions including the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, Albany Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of Korea. Her music spans orchestral, chamber, vocal, and ballet repertoire, including a large-scale ballet for BalletCollective premiered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and has been featured by Stuttgart Ballet.