Music Fit for the Mast=
er
By Bryce
Christensen
A dominant cultural
influence for centuries in
By evening¹s end,=
the
audience understood just how fortunate Cedar City is to have in Prof. Xun S=
un
not only a gifted conductor for OSU but also an ambassador for cross-cultur=
al
exchange. For it is Sun¹s
recent work as a guest conductor for the Hunan Symphony Orchestra that open=
ed
the doors allowing incomparable Chinese musicians to come to
To be sure, a number o=
f the
invited soloists Thursday night were not Chinese. Indeed, Cedar City¹s own Pete=
Akins
was the featured soloist for the evening¹s first number, Strauss¹s
Horn Concerto No. 1 in E Flat Major.
OSU¹s executive director, Akins had dreamed for twenty-five yea=
rs
of playing a French horn solo with a symphony orchestra. As his instrument poured forth its=
deep
melodies, listeners savored a wonderful fusion of grace and power, keenly
appreciative of how the fulfillment of one man¹s dreams enriched the
waking lives of many.
More ethereal and spritely, the evening¹s second
selection‹Saint-Saën¹s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso a=
lso
featured a soloist from
It was not Price¹s
remarkable past work, however, but rather his breathtaking magic of this
particular night that brought the audience to their feet for a standing ova=
tion
at the conclusion of his number.
Cedar City resident
The last of the showca=
sed
local musicians, Brooke Mac Naughtan and Heather
Leavitt brought to Vivaldi¹s Concerto in G Minor for Two Cellos the
celestial delicacy, grace, and balance associated with 18th-century royalty=
. Their gowns almost as beautiful as=
their
music, this dazzling pair of sisters stirred in listeners a renewed sense of
how an exquisitely refined sense of form and balance actually liberates the
spirit from the dreary constraints of the everyday.
But listeners experien=
ced a
different kind of liberation as they listened to the visiting Chinese artis=
ts
repeatedly spotlighted during the evening¹s entertainment. The concert hall seemed almost to =
lose
the tethers tying it to earth when Qin Li raised her heavenly voice in the
Chinese folk song ³Friendship Forever.² For the benefit of English-speaking
listeners, OSU director Xun Sun explained that this empyreal song celebrates
the way the splendor of a true friendship surpasses the merely natural char=
ms of
trees and flowers. But even w=
ithout
Sun¹s helpful explanation, listeners could feel the way Chinese music
beckons listeners toward transcendent magnificence, drawing their souls tow=
ard
perfection in the very way the Master Kung recognized.
Less awe-inspiring but=
more
playful was Li¹s second number, ³Long Boat Song,² in which Li
reenacted the part of a perplexed Chinese young woman calling out for help =
in
crossing the water, her cries eliciting jocular responses from the members =
of
the OSU, who answered in chorus‹all in well-memorized Chinese! For sheer fun, no number surpassed=
this
song!
Returning to a more se=
rious
vein, Ke Ma ventured into Chinese Folk Opera to
perform
Joining Ke
Ma for the final number of the concert were Qin Li and two male Chinese
singers, De-Sheng Xie and
Dian Xong, dressed in the very colorful Chinese=
folk
costume of the
At the concert¹s =
close,
OSU conductor Xun Sun honored his Chinese guests with a special plaque
recognizing their contribution of Cedar City¹s musical heritage. But then the Chinese entourage
graciously reciprocated, presenting a series of four colorful scrolls of
Chinese art, collectively entitled ³The Four Seaso=
ns.² After all, the group remark=
ed
(with Sun translating), ³We all share the same earth, the same
seasons.² That sharing m=
ay
soon be more fully two-way: the visitors from China concluded the evening by
inviting the Orchestra of Southern Utah to perform in Hunan Province in 201=
0,
just nine or ten seasons from now. <=
/span>
The Master Kung would
approve.