Unsuk Chin: Alice in Geneva and Seoul Philharmonic tour

(April 2010)

Unsuk Chin: Alice in Geneva and Seoul Philharmonic tour

Unsuk Chin enjoys a busy schedule in coming months including the Swiss premiere of Alice in Wonderland and a European tour by theSeoul Philharmonic featuring two of her concertos.

Geneva Opera presents the Swiss premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland in June, the colourful opera’s second staging. The new production by Swedish director Mira Bartov opens on 11 June with six performances running through to 24 June. The cast is led by Rachel Gilmore in the title role, with Cyndia Sieden as the Cheshire Cat, Dietrich Henschel as the Mad Hatter, Andrew Watts as the White Rabbit and Karan Armstrong as the Queen of Hearts. Taiwanese conductor Wen-Pin Chien is in the pit with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Unsuk Chin’s opera, first staged by Achim Freyer at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 2007 conducted by Kent Nagano, sets a libretto by David Henry Hwang and the composer after Lewis Carroll’s immortal fantasy. Reviewers described the opera as “a wondrous new work” and “as colourful as a look through a kaleidoscope” and remarked on how “Chin’s synaesthetic sense for musical colour and aroma is phenomenal”.

To provide an introduction to the Korean composer's music, the Grand Théâtre presents an 'Evening with Unsuk Chin' on 30 May including performances by Ensemble Contrechamps of the suite from the opera snagS&Snarls (in the version for soprano and ensemble), Acrostic-Wordplay and six Piano Etudes. On 10 June, the day before the premiere, there is an introductory conference at 6.15 pm presented by Daniel Dollé in collaboration with the Association genevoise des Amis de l'Opéra et du Ballet.

Unsuk Chin is currently Composer-in-Residence with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra whose European tour between 29 May and 11 June features two of her concertos conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. The Grawemeyer Award-winning Violin Concerto features the original soloist Viviane Hagner with performances in Brescia (29 May), Bologna (31 May), Berlin (2 June), Dusseldorf (3 June), Essen (4 June), its Czech premiere in Prague (5 June) and Russian premiere in St Petersburg (11 June).

Chin’s concerto for Chinese sheng and orchestra, Šu, is performed on tour with Wu Wei as soloist in the Italian premiere in Bergamo (30 May), the German premiere in Berlin (2 June), Düsseldorf (3 June), Essen (4 June) and the Russian premiere in Moscow (8 June). Events in Essen are part of a season-long feature with Chin as resident composer at the Philharmonie, including performances of two works for voices and orchestra, Die Troerinnen and Kalá, on 29 May.

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Unsuk Chin: Alice in Geneva and Seoul Philharmonic tour

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