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Georgia Tech School of Music Presents:
Concert Orchestra Student Showcase

Georgia Tech School of Music Presents:
Concert Orchestra Student Showcase

Friday, April 12th 2024
7:30pm
West Village Concert Hall

Georgia Tech Concert Orchestra

Andrea Perez Muksdi, Chaowen Ting, conductors

For their season finale, the GT Concert Orchestra explores a captivating journey through diverse themes, opening with Rossini’s L’Italiana In Algeri. Next in the program is Daniela Mercado’s Dos Estados, followed by Claudia Montero’s Rincones de Buenos Aires. The program concludes with Holst’s The Planets.

Program

44 Duos
  • 16. Burlesque
  • 32. Dance from Maramaros
  • 33. Harvest Song
  • 36. Bagpipes
  • 42. Arabian Song
  • 44. Transylvanian Dance
Bela Bartok (1881 – 1945)

transcr. Bouma
Emma Axelson, viola
Ivy Xue, viola
Piano Quartet in Eb major, Op. 47
  • I. Sostenuto assai – Allegro ma non troppo
  • II. Scherzo
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Claire Kim, violin
Ivy Xue, viola
Sean Yoshihara, cello
Adrian Cheung, piano
L’Italiana In Algeri (1813)
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Dos Estadas (2023)
Daniela Mercado (1977)
Rincones de Buenos Aires (2016)
Claudia Montero (1962-2021)
The Planets (1916)
  • I. Mars, the Bringer of War
  • IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Program Notes – L'Italiana in Algeri

The overture of L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers), a two-act opera composed by Gioachino Rossini, successfully debuted in Venice on May 22, 1813. Rossini’s distinctive style of mixing opera seria(serious style of opera) and opera buffa(comic operas) shines through. The opera follows the adventures of Isabella, an Italian woman, who arrives in Algiers in search of her lost lover, Lindoro. Through cleverness and wit, she outsmarts the Bey of Algiers and his court, ultimately reuniting with Lindoro and escaping to freedom.

 

Program Notes – Dos Estados

“Dos Estados” (Two States) is a work composed of two pieces. The first, "Immersion," is inspired by the movie of the same name by Win Wenders. It has a melancholic character, with slow melodies that seek to immerse us in a watery and immersive mood. It is followed by the work "Delicate but Spicy" which has the rhythm of Tango, very characteristic of Argentine music, and is a purely rhythmic piece in which many resources and phrasings typical of the Tango genre are developed.

 

Program Notes – Rincones de Buenos Aires

Rincones de Buenos Aires (Corners of Buenos Aires) was originally for string orchestra, and at the request of an orchestra in Taiwan, the composer decided to orchestrate it for full orchestra. The piece is also edited for string quintet and represents one of the most performed works in Montero’s catalog. The piece is organized as a suite, in three movements. 

The first is inspired by an iconic square, “Plaza Francia,” and it’s very French harmonies gave Montero the inspiration to fill this number with lyricism. Harmonies that change colors, planes, and textures. The second, "It Rains in Buenos Aires," evokes Baroque writing. Here the composer tried to express the feeling of the city itself when it rains. The raindrops are heard in the pizzicato, alternating with instrumental solos in the woodwinds. The third number, "Microcentro 12:30," presents a more polyphonic writing, where the different families of the orchestra work on various rhythms, as if reflecting the coming and going of a lively metropolitan city, a tapestry of colors that evokes with Tango rhythms, the coming and going of people. It includes a brief interlude full of tenderness.

 

Program Notes – The Planets

Gustav Holst’s The Planets is a monumental orchestral suite that takes listeners on a cosmic journey through our solar system. Composed between 1914 and 1917, each movement represents a different planet, drawing inspiration from both astrology and mythology. A complete list of movements in Holst’s The Planets follows: 

Mars, the Bringer of War 

Venus, the Bringer of Peace 

Mercury, the Winged Messenger 

Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity 

Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age 

Uranus, the Magician 

Neptune, the Mystic

 

picture of composer Daniela Mercado

Composer Bio – Daniela Mercado

Pianist, composer, and arranger

Daniela Mercado began playing the piano at the age of eight. In addition to performing varied, Mercado decided to arrange music for others and release her own music.

Her first composition was "Song for Olivia to do what she really wants," dedicated to her newborn daughter. Its title encapsulates the search for freedom from her upbringing, but also her own compositional freedom, influenced by all the music she interpreted, especially urban music, but without imposed fixed forms, in search of her own language.

Mercado studied at La Colmena School of Musicians and with teachers such as Diego Schissi, Luis Lewin, Nicolás Ledesma, Agustín Guerrero, Victoria Asurmendi, and Octavio Brunetti. She has performed at prominent venues such as the Café Vinilo Pianists Cycle, the "Night of Ideas" organized by the French Alliance, and the "Culture in the Courtyard" series by the Córdoba Culture Agency, among others. In September and October 2021, the Symphonic Band of the Province of Córdoba and the UNC Symphony Orchestra premiered works arranged by her specifically for these ensembles. 

Mercado also participated as a pianist and educator at the La Rioja Music Fair in 2018 and 2021, and as a workshop leader at the Eighth Congress of Popular Music of the UNVM. In 2022, the female ensemble "Warmi" premiered symphonic versions of her compositions in Salta and São Paulo (Brazil). She won a 2022 Creation Scholarship awarded by the FNA to write orchestral versions of her Cinematographic Tales as well as third place in the International Composition Contest "Let's Talk About Composers III."

Her music is increasingly requested by different groups, organizations from the United States and France will soon premiere her music. Her compositional work is published by EPSA editorial, and her music by Epsa Music.

Ensemble Members

Violin I 
Lawrence Ro, ConcertmasterElectrical Engineering
Joshua SampsonComputer Science
Stephen LinderComputer Science
Anu RaghavanChemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Wesley ChukumahBiomedical Engineering
Yijie JinMathematics
Pearl ParkElectrical Engineering
Tanvi ThallapallyBiochemistry
Katherine StoneBiology
Antoine MarinAerospace Engineering
Violin II 
Joshua Kinoshita, PrincipalMusic Technology
John AucklyAerospace Engineering
Christopher LinderComputer Science
Arshiya RahmanComputer Science
Nishka SoniIndustrial Engineering
Varsha JacobComputer Science
Sanai WilliamsArchitecture
Addison HarmerPhysics
Alexa VittiChemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Chengrui LiComputational Science and Engineering
Viola 
Nicole Redder, PrincipalOperations Research
Angela XuComputer Science
Katherine PochEnvironmental Science
Emma AxelsonCivil Engineering
Cello 
Madeline Belew, PrincipalChemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Roy MazorMechanical Engineering
Philip ChoAerospace Engineering
Abigail SimBiology
Jamie KingChemical Engineering
Sophia AndersonMaterials Science and Engineering
Klara KunzChemical Engineering
Bass 
Iris Smith, PrincipalMathematics
Matthew WallochBiomedical Engineering
Flute 
Sieun KimComputer Science
Cindy Wei ZhouBusiness Administration
Oboe 
Keerthana KumarBiology
Liam NunnCivil Engineering
Raymond YangBiomedical Engineering
English Horn 
Oliver LongChemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Clarinet 
Philip WuComputer Science and Mathematics
Jason ZhangComputer Science
Bassoon 
Jesse BrunerNuclear Engineering
Hannah TourialIndustrial and Systems Engineering
French Horn 
Joseph HardinComputer Science
Tristan LaanaitFulton Science Academy and Georgia Tech, Dual Enrolled
Catilyn MizeAerospace Engineering
Trumpet 
Mayson BeykePsychology
Akhil GundraAerospace Engineering
Alex KehlerAerospace Engineering
Armaan LalaComputer Science and Mathematics
Trombone 
Jonatan GonzalezAerospace Engineering
Rowan HolcombeMechanical Engineering
Eli TarrComputer Science
Autumn ZerfossCivil Engineering
Tuba 
Alejandro MartinezPhysics
Harp 
Anoushka ScariaComputer Science
Timpani/Percussion 
Alexander EvittAerospace Engineering
George EwaskiewDodgen Middle School
Kwanwoo LeeComputer Science

Georgia Tech School of Music

Through interdisciplinary degree programs, outstanding performance ensembles, and innovative research endeavors, the Georgia Tech School of Music cultivates a rich legacy of musical traditions and develops cutting-edge technologies to help define music's future. The School serves students in bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs in music technology and offers innovative performance opportunities, courses, and cultural and artistic experiences for students throughout the Institute.