Performing Arts Series Spotlight: Sophie Shao

If you ask a student what they are doing at 8 p.m. on a Friday night, you’d probably expect to hear about parties and relaxing after a tough week of classes.  However, if there is ever a reason to mix up your weekend festivities, this is it.

On the weekend before exams, take a few hours for the opportunity to see world-renowned cellist Sophie Shao debut a piece written specifically for our own  Paul Nelson in honor of his 30th and final season as Performing Arts Series Director, in addition to pieces by Haydn and Brahms. Come to the Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts (MCA) Concert Hall this Friday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. to witness Sophie Shao and Friends.

This event is so much more than classical music. The genre is delightful by itself, but this event is a celebration of much more. It is the world premiere of the commissioned work “Revelations” by acclaimed composer, flutist and Professor of Music Su Lian Tan to commemorate the man who not only dedicated his life to both our school and to the musical world but kindled her own passion.

This concert reaches beyond classical music aficionados and has significance to every student here. Yes, there will be baroque and classical pieces, but there will also be the contemporary expression of one student’s admirations for her teacher.

“In Paul Nelson, I have not only found a very good friend, but a mentor whom I hold in the highest regard,” Tan said. “Much of the structure of the first movement is shaped to express life as scholar, teacher and role model. The effort of seeking while feeling the pressures to achieve, alongside devotion to a community of peers and students, are described in the layering of Baroque counterpoint and contemporary rhythms and note palette. These elements progress in their individual manner and are held together by form. The challenge of pursuing higher ground in the face of relentless distractions becomes the ethos. The instruments race urgently to an apex, a density of experience, only to give way to more thought and contemplation.”

Director of the MCA Liza Sacheli added that Tan’s new piece will be a departure from the rest of the concert program’s classical music.

“It will be contemporary music—not just safe, pleasant melodies—but edgy, challenging, totally modern sounds,” she said.

According to Tan, the piece ends in chaos—no one will leave the Concert Hall “humming the melody.” This is going to be very fresh, surprising work with so much meaning behind it. This is not just “older music,” it is a modern melody with a history and intimacy that is rarely so relatable. The rest of Shao’s repertoire on Saturday is also relatively accessible and should provide depth and interest for everyone. The Haydn piece, which many consider to be a masterpiece for a string quartet, should be exceptional, given that Ms. Shao has extensive experience performing baroque and classical pieces.

Ms. Shao has a celebrated history performing at the College and around the world.  She attended the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at thirteen and continued her studies at Yale, receiving a B.A. in Religious Studies and an M.M. from the Yale School of Music. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including an Avery Fisher Career Grant and top prizes at the Rostropovich and Tchaikovsky international music competitions.

Her career takes her all around the world. Highlights of last season include her Washington recital debut at the Phillips Collection, an appearance on “What Makes it Great” at Lincoln Center, performances of Howard Shore’s Mythic Gardens (a concerto written for her) with the BBC Concert Orchestra in London and the 21st Century Symphony in Switzerland.  This weekend, she is joined by a full piano quintet for her annual Sophie Shao and Friends tour.

The College’s incredibly personal concert hall, a phenomenal venue for any performance, will thrust you into the forefront of the action.  Not only will you be in a hall rivaled by no other college, these world-class performances are provided to us as a discount you will never see outside the bubble. Artists such as Shao and her companions cost dozens of times more expensive in the real world than the $6 tickets subsidized for us here.

A liberal arts education should include exposure to the arts as much as any other discipline.  Classical music is a tradition that has spanned centuries with pieces being performed 300 years after their composition.  How much can be said for the music being produced today?  This concert in particular will display a breadth of music rarely found at a classical performance with pieces imbued with significance for the college community.

Give yourself a break before starting in on next week’s work and come to the MCA Concert Hall on Friday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. to broaden your cultural horizons, enjoy a phenomenal performance by world-renowned performance artists and make this weekend a little different than all the rest. Tickets are $6 for students, $15 for faculty, staff, alumni and other ID card holders and $20 for the general public. Visit go/boxoffice or stop by our office in McCullough or the MCA!