Camerata Pacifica Presents Libby Larsen World Premiere

Camerata Pacifica, hailed as one of the nation’s most musically adventurous chamber ensembles, continues its season with the world premiere of Land by Grammy Award-winning composer Libby Larsen, commissioned for Camerata Pacifica by Joan Davidson in memory of her late husband, John Schnittker. A portrait in six movements for French horn, cello and piano, Larsen’s work is grounded in community and a sense of place.

With additional music by Korean, Georgian, Armenian, Estonian, and Russian composers, the program reflects a multi-cultural wonder of virtuosity, romanticism, beauty, and exhilaration.  Flutist Sooyun Kim performs two works for solo flute, including Isang Yun’s stunning Etude No. 5 and the mysterious and curious The hint only… by Ukrainian composer Julia Gomelskaya. Pianist Irina Zahharenkova is showcased in Partita, Op. 2 for Piano, one of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s early works extolling the virtues of baroque form, then joined by Kim to perform the unapologetically romantic C Major Flute Sonata by Otar Taktakishvili, the most prominent composer of his generation from Soviet Georgia. As a tonal prelude to Land, Zahharenkova and hornist Benjamin Goldscheider perform his own arrangement of the stunningly beautiful Andante, from Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata.

The program is presented in four locations across Southern California, from the San Gabriel Valley to Santa Barbara, with performances on Sunday, April 16, 3 pm, at Museum of Ventura County in Ventura; Tuesday, April 18, 7:30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; Thursday, April 20, 2023, 8 pm, at Zipper Hall, The Colburn School in Downtown Los Angeles; and Friday, April 21, 7:30 pm, at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.

Camerata Pacifica members featured on Larsen’s Land include Jonathan Swensen, cello, as well as Goldscheider on horn and Zahharenkova on piano. Regarding her new work, Larsen says, “The circumstances of John Schnittker’s life is the impetus for the character of the music. But I consider the whole of the piece to evoke a larger cultural arc – a certain time, sense of place and recognition of human beings in community – to which John Schnittker belonged and in which his life’s work flourished.”

According to Camerata Pacifica Executive Director Adrian Spence, “John Schnittker was a Mid-Westerner, a Great Plains man. Libby Larsen’s composition and the instrumentation, particularly the French Horn, reflect the expansive, lyricism that lies behind the memory of John’s life.”

For tickets ($68) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.

About the Artists

Ben Goldscheider (horn), who was nominated by the Barbican as an ECHO Rising Star during the 2021/22 season, has given recitals at major concert halls, including the Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Elbphilharmonie, and Koln Philharmonie. He has appeared with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo and, in 2022, made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ed Gardner at the Royal Festival Hall performing the Knussen Concerto. This season, he returns to the Pierre Boulez Saal both as soloist and as a member of the Boulez Ensemble, and to Wigmore Hall as soloist and in collaboration with Mahan Esfahani, Nicholas Daniel, and Adam Walker. Highlights over the last year have included the release by Three Worlds Records of Legacy: A Tribute to Dennis Brain with newly commissioned pieces by Huw Watkins and Roxanna Panufnik, and a solo concerto recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra released in 2022. Born in London, Goldscheider, in 2020, completed his studies with honors at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin with Radek Baborák. He was a prize-winner at the 2019 YCAT International Auditions.

Sooyun Kim (flute), praised as “a rare virtuoso of the flute” (Libération) has established herself as one of the leading flute soloists in the classical music scene. Since her concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at age ten, she has enjoyed a flourishing career performing with orchestras around the world, among them the Bavarian Radio, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber, and Boston Pops orchestras. Kim has been presented in recital series worldwide, including the Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center and Seoul Arts Center. She was the first flutist to present a recital at the Louvre Museum’s “Concert a midi.” A winner of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant, Kim has received numerous international awards and prizes, including the third prize at the ARD International Flute Competition. She makes regular summer appearances at the Music@Menlo, Spoleto USA, Yellow Barn, Rockport, Olympic, and Chamber Music Northwest festivals. An alum of Bowers Program (formerly CMS TWO), Kim is an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her special interest in interdisciplinary art led her to collaborate with many visual artists, dancers, and museums around the world, including Sol Lewitt, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Glassmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark. As an educator, Kim has given masterclasses and lectures around the world, including the Cleveland Institute of Music, Mannes School of Music, Sibelius Academy in Finland, and Seoul National University in Korea. She is currently on the faculty of Longy School of Music of Bard College and teaches summer courses at the Orford Musique. Kim studied at the New England Conservatory under Paula Robison. In addition to her musical training, she studied Baroque dance with Melinda Sullivan. Praised for her tone that “shone like bright jewel” (San Jose Examiner), Kim plays on a rare 18-carat -gold flute specially made for her by Verne Q. Powell Flutes.

Jonathan Swensen (cello) ?rst fell in love with the cello upon hearing the Elgar Concerto at the age of six, and ultimately made his concerto debut at the age of twenty performing that very piece with Portugal’s Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música. Since then, he has appeared as soloist with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Mobile Symphony Orchestras, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Venice State Symphony Orchestra, Denmark’s Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, and the Sun Symphony Orchestra in Vietnam. Winner of the prestigious 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Swensen has also captured First Prizes at the 2018 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, 2018 Khachaturian International Cello Competition, and 2019 Windsor International String Competition. In his native Denmark, he was recipient of the Jacob Gades Scholarship in 2019, the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize in 2017, and First Prize at the 2016 Danish String Competition. Young Concert Artists presented Jonathan’s recital debuts in New York on the Michaels Award Concert at Merkin Concert Hall, and in Washington, D.C. on the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Recent recital and chamber music appearances outside of the U.S. have included a return to Armenia to take part in the Khachaturian Festival in Yerevan, the Usedomer Musikfestival in Germany, the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen, and a South Korean debut at the Seoul Arts Centre. Swensen is also a frequent performer at festivals in Denmark, including the Schubertiaden, the Copenhagen Summer Festival, and the Hindsgavl Summer Festival.

Irina Zahharenkova (piano) is one of the leading keyboard performers of her generation to emerge from Estonia. She has won first prizes from major international piano competitions such as the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition (Leipzig, Germany – 2006), Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition (Terni, Italy – 2006), International Competition George Enescu (Bucharest, Romania – 2005), and the Jaén International Piano Contest (Jaén, Spain – 2004). In 2008, she was a prize-winner in the Artur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel. Zahharenkova has also been a laureate as a harpsichordist in the Prague Spring Competition in the Czech Republic (2005), and as a fortepianist in the Festival van Vlaanderen competition in Bruges, Belgium (2004). She was a winner of 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award. As a concerto soloist, Zahharenkova has appeared with BBC Ulster Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Israel Philarmonic Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and Sinfonia Finlandia, among others. Her repertoire encompasses a wide range of musical styles from Baroque to contemporary. Zahharenkova teaches piano at the famed Sibelius Academy and at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Camerata Pacifica, considered one of the nation’s leading chamber ensembles, has captivated, delighted, and enthralled audiences with its adventurous music since its inception in 1990. Hailed as “innovative and intrepid” (The Daily Telegraph), “visceral and powerful” (The Economist), the collective, comprised of virtuoso musicians from around the globe, is renowned for its musical versatility and bold programming that illuminates the limitless scope of the chamber music repertoire. Camerata Pacifica presents heritage works beside less familiar music and commissioned pieces. Its considerable commissioning portfolio includes more than 20 works by such established and rising composers as John Harbison, Jake Heggie, Huang Ruo, Lera Auerbach, Bright Sheng, Ian Wilson, David Bruce, and John Luther Adams. Three new commissions for the ensemble are currently in process from Clarice Assad, Libby Larsen, and Niloufar Nourbakhsh. The chamber collective has also been lauded for its warm and engaging rapport with audiences, bringing context and immediacy to the music it performs. Based in Santa Barbara, California, the ensemble enjoys a busy performance schedule throughout Southern California and beyond. Camerata Pacifica presents a flagship series of nine programs each season, showcasing its exceptional musicians as well as a range of distinguished guest artists. Each program is structured as a week-long residency with the ensemble performing in four Southern California locales: The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; The Colburn School’s Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles; the Museum of Ventura County in Ventura; and Santa Barbara’s Music Academy. The chamber ensemble has previously toured to Hong Kong and appeared at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, and major concert halls in London, Dublin and Belfast. Camerata Pacifica was founded by Artistic Director Adrian Spence, an acclaimed “high-flying flautist” (The Irish Times) applauded for his “unstoppable energy, his organizational genius, his taste in music and musicians” (Noozhawk). A native of Northern Ireland, Spence’s keen artistic sensibilities are evident in every aspect of Camerata Pacifica, from the ensemble’s stellar roster of international chamber artists and thoughtfully curated musical offerings, to its authentic connection with audiences. He also sets the tone for the deep comradery among the collective’s musicians, which is evident both on and off stage.

In addition to its busy performance schedule, Camerata Pacifica is committed to serving the community. In 2021, Camerata Pacifica, in collaboration with UCLA Health, developed The Nightingale Channel, a landmark resource for hospitals providing programming drawn from the ensemble’s extensive video library of its performances delivered via iPads to patient bedsides and care teams. Based on the well-documented positive effects of music in healing, The Nightingale Channel has been adopted by UCLA Health, UC Davis Health, Keck Medicine at USC, Loma Linda University Medical Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, and Augusta University Health, and is being introduced to other hospitals across the country.