Heartsong: Mendelssohn, Guo, & Rachmaninoff

Violin

Described as “superb” by The New York Times, violinist Tai Murray has established herself a musical voice of a generation.“Technically flawless… vivacious and scintillating… It is without doubt that Murray’s style of playing is more mature than that of many seasoned players… “
(Muso Magazine)

Appreciated for her elegance and effortless ability, Murray creates a special bond with listeners through her personal phrasing and subtle sweetness. Her programming reveals musical intelligence. Her sound, sophisticated bowing and choice of vibrato, remind us of her musical background and influences.

Tai Murray plays a violin by Tomaso Balestrieri fecit Mantua ca. 1765, on generous loan from a private collection.

Murray is an Associate Professor, Adjunct, of violin at the Yale School of Music, where she teaches applied violin and coaches chamber music. She earned artist diplomas from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and the Juilliard School.

Read more at colbertartists.com.

Composer

Moni (Jasmine) Guo is a classical pianist, contemporary concert composer, and film composer from Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. She has appeared as both a performer and composer in Asia, Europe, South America, Canada, and the United States. Known for her passion to use music to encourage and comfort people, she also hopes to use her work to bridge Western and Eastern culture.

Over the years, she has received a number of awards and fellowships, including receiving 2nd place in the American Prize competition in 2020, being the recipient of the 2021 ASCAP Morton Gould Award, being selected as one of the featured composers by the 2023 ACO Earshot program, and being named the 100 Most Influential Chinese in 2023 by Forbes China.

After receiving her Ph.D. from UCLA, Jasmine now serves as an assistant professor in Commercial Music Production at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Read more at jasminemoniguo.wixsite.com.

About the Toulmin Commission here.

Composer

Born: February 2, 1809
Died: November 4, 1847

Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies, concertos, piano music, organ music and chamber music.

Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto was his last concerto. It has remained as one of the most prominent and highly-regarded violin concertos in history, developing a reputation as an essential concerto for all aspiring concert violinists to master.

In 1906, the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim said:

“The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, most uncompromising is Beethoven's. The one by Brahms vies with it in seriousness. The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch. But the most inward, the heart's jewel, is Mendelssohn's.”

Composer

Born: April 1, 1873
Died: March 28, 1943

Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music.

Rachmaninoff was not altogether convinced that he was a gifted symphonist. At its 1897 premiere, his Symphony No. 1 was considered an utter disaster; criticism of it was so harsh that it sent the young composer into a bout of depression. Even after the success of his Piano Concerto No. 2, Rachmaninoff still lacked confidence in his writing.

He was very unhappy with the first draft of his Second Symphony but after months of revision he finished the work and conducted the premiere in 1908 to great applause.