Artistic Director and Conductor for the Cape Symphony Jung-Ho Pak has worked with world class artists like Yo-Yo Ma and James Taylor, and has conducted orchestras around the world.
He thinks that every person deserves a chance at experiencing beauty and joy. He thinks that a symphony can be as loved as a pennant winning baseball team, as customer oriented as a first class hotel, as fun as a giant amusement park, and as entrepreneurial as a high tech, start-up company. And he thinks that audiences want one thing: to experience something unforgettable.
Have you ever wondered what a Maestro listens to to prepare for upcoming performances? Jung-Ho Pak has shared some of his picks for his upcoming performances!
Maestro Pick:
Traumeraii by Robert Schumann
Performed by Legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz
I often tell students that their primary goal as artists is not to play notes perfectly, but to make people feel. That’s the hard part. There are a lot of people who can “sound” like classical musicians, but very few people who can change the world. In this historic 1986 performance where Horowitz returns to Moscow for the first time after defecting Russia in 1925, we can see how music was meant to be played, without artificial pretense, without self-conscious effort, just wisdom balanced with beauty and taste. The tears in the audiences are, perhaps, the most important aspect of this performance.
Maestro Pick:
Fly Me to the Moon
It’s too difficult to pinpoint who is the greatest talent on stage. Is it the composer Bart Howard for writing such a breezy melody and whimsical song? Is it Quincy Jones for arranging the song that seems to capture the “rat pack” hip style of 1960’s jazz so authentically? Is it Count Basie and his Band for displaying their usual understated sassiness with muscular elegance? Or is it the Chairman of the Board who can bend any phase like Superman bends steel or Michelangelo paints with a brush? You decide.
Maestro Pick:
Bugs Bunny as conductor “Leopold Stokowski”
Anyone who knows me knows how much I shy away from the word “Maestro,” (Just Google “Maestro and Jerry Seinfeld” and you’ll see what I mean.) In this send-up of the mythic image of Leopold Stokowski (you might remember him and the Philadelphia Orchestra featured in Fantasia), Chuck Jones and company show how silly the image we have of the serious maestro. Interestingly, the location seems to be in their back yard at the famous Hollywood Bowl. My guess is that most of America owes its introductory appreciation of classical music to Bugs Bunny.
For More Information on the Cape Symphony
For more information, please visit the Cape Symphony’s page for upcoming performances, tickets and additional information!
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