It's all happening.
Hear Bion Tsang live on MPR
Minnesota Public Radio broadcasts the opening weekend of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Bion Tsang joins them as guest Principal Cellist and soloist in the Haydn Sinfonia Concertante, Hob. I:105. The live broadcast airs on Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 8:00 PM CST. Listen to the online stream at ClassicalMPR.org.
Bion Tsang, in a brief appearance at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, leaves an impression on W. Henry Duckham of the Cape Cod Times. Duckham writes: "Trio No. 2 in E minor by French composer C. Saint-Saens, the concluding work of the concert, added the estimable cellist Bion Tsang. This is a work of large proportions and emotional content and, by some accounts, the trio for violin, cello and piano of the late Romantic period. It certainly has all the required elements—dark and ominous themes, heartfelt and tender melodies, sudden emotional outbursts and hearts-on-sleeve élan.
"Cellist Tsang, with his understated playing, draws you in, and a memorable moment occurred in the andante con moto movement when violinist and cellist became tonal soul mates whispering together the most tender of Saint-Saens' passages."
Read the full review... "Festival musicians play with subtlety and emotion"
Andres Diaz (pictured left) and Bion Tsang proudly showing off their new cellos made by Wayne Burak. The two cellists performed together last night in the Glazunov Cello Quintet (Op. 39) at the Seattle Chamber Music Society's 30th Summer Festival. The Burak cellos more than held their own next to the 1723 "Ex-Kiesewetter" Antonio Stradivarius and 1744 Michel'Angelo Bergonzi violins played by Augustin Hadelich and Andrew Wan, respectively.
Wayne Burak Strings on Facebook...
Bion Tsang now performs exclusively on a new cello from the workbench of Wayne Burak. The Hawthorne Series cello, completed less than three months ago, is modeled after the cellos of Antonio Stradivari. Bion uses Larsen strings on the cello for the A and D (...a first for him, coming from Jargar strings) and Thomastik Spiracore Tungsten strings on the G and C. Of his new instrument, Bion says, "I feel liberated by Wayne's cello! It's so easy to play and projects everything so clearly." You can hear the cello up close on the web during the KING FM 98.1 live broadcasts of the Seattle Chamber Music Society's summer festival concerts at Benaroya Hall next month. To learn more about the affordable, fine instruments of Wayne Burak, visit his showroom online at www.wayneburakmusic.com.
Wayne Burak Strings on Facebook...
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is going the extra mile - literally - to bring music to its audiences.
The coffee was on and clusters of patrons waited quietly with their hands folded -- a full half-hour early. Yes, this clearly was a Lutheran church, not a concert hall.
But on this night, Trinity Lutheran in downtown Stillwater had traded its ecclesiastical purpose for a date with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Conductor Roberto Abbado would lead the group through Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Prokofiev, with guest cellist Bion Tsang.
Small-town charm and informality aside, once these patrons gathered in the square sanctuary with its timbered apse and exposed-brick walls, the SPCO delivered a committed reading of the Russian masters. As Tsang speared the highest notes of Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme," the aesthetic beauty of live performance came into full relief with a pure sound, the animated personality of musicians engaged in high art and the community of a full audience.
Each venue takes on the characteristics of its distinctive neighborhood. Stillwater has a Scandinavian, small-town feel. The following night, 50 miles across town in the high-powered western suburbs, Wayzata Community Church exhaled New England elegance. A fortress of Congregationalism, the church has a tidy library, colonial furniture and parquet floors in the airy foyer. This venue, with 670 seats, sold 92 percent for four concerts last season.
David and Terri Wood have been driving the 10 minutes from their Maple Plain home ever since the Wayzata concerts began four years ago. They've been to the Ordway, but how can you beat this?
Richard Oberg and Susan Doyle are regulars, too, with seats right up front, not far from Bob and Mary Jo Newman of Greenwood. Bob appreciates being able to stretch his long legs on the aisle. Retirees Charlie and Marlys Rosengren of Plymouth pointed out that the SPCO "fits our budget a little better." Dave Wagy of Shorewood used to have season tickets for the Minnesota Orchestra, but "it was tough to get there after work on Friday nights."
As was the case in Stillwater, this is a sophisticated audience. They listen intensely, collective murmurs releasing the palpable tension when Tsang again dispatches the "Rococo." When the cellist leaves the stage, beads of sweat are visible on his forehead as he passes just a few feet from the Woods and the Newmans. The intimacy is a rare opportunity for music patrons.
By Graydon Royce
