Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra - Mozart Clarinet Concerto - Burnie

Program:

ELGAR Serenade for Strings

MOZART Clarinet Concerto

TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence

Jun Yi Ma (Director)

Frank Celata (Clarinet)

“In the beginning there was the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, the first truly great work for clarinet and orchestra.”

A classic in every sense of the word, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto is filled with memorable themes and sensual colours. Hear it performed by celebrated Australian clarinettist Frank Celata.

Tchaikovsky was an inveterate traveller and the Souvenir de Florence was begun during one of his Italian sojourns. Vibrant and reflective by turns, it is one of his most treasured works.

Elgar’s Serenade for Strings is likewise a classic. Written when Elgar was starting out in his career, it remained a personal favourite of the composer’s right to the end of his life.

Jun Yi Ma

Born in Shanghai in 1972, Jun Yi Ma began violin studies at the age of six, gave his first televised performance three years later and was soloist with the Shanghai and Beijing Symphony Orchestras at the age of ten. In 1989 he was appointed Concertmaster of the Asian Youth Orchestra and in 1992 was Concertmaster and soloist with the Australian Virtuoso Chamber Orchestra.

He studied at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music with Jan Sedivka, and at the Sydney Conservatorium with Charmian Gadd and John Harding. He has performed before three US presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush and Bill Clinton. He became Concertmaster of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) in 2002 and has been a regular Guest Concertmaster with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. He appears regularly as a soloist with the TSO and was co-soloist in 2006 alongside Nigel Kennedy.

In March 2009 he was soloist in Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta under Yip Wing-sie and more recently played in the Worldwide Chinese Festival Orchestra in Beijing and was Assistant Concertmaster in the Asia-Pacific United Orchestra in New York. He is Professor of Violin at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music and has been appointed Coordinator of the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute.

Frank Celata is Artistic Director of the Australian International Symphonic Orchestra Institute (AISOI). He has been a member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 1993, and has appeared as soloist on numerous occasions including performances of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, Krommer’s Double Clarinet Concerto with Lawrence Dobell, and a concerto written for him by Australian composer Gordon Kerry.