Maestro Picks – Jung-Ho Pak’s Music Selections

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:

Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony no. 3, “The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”
Performed by the London Sinfonietta, conducted by David Zinman f& eaturing Dawn Upshaw

Every once in a very rare while, a piece of classical music enters into the public consciousness. This is very difficult and rare because if anything has the title “classical music” on it, it becomes something for “those other people”. However, this piece became a huge sensation. The text itself was inspired by the tragedy of the Holocaust, but it is the universal message of sorrow and loss of a mother and child that breaks through the listener’s unfamiliarity with Polish. I had the honor of preparing the University of California Symphony for the late composer as he made his only US conducting debut back in the early 2000’s. I remember him as being warm and a little extravagant. He still stands a giant in helping usher in the profound Eastern European influence upon western art music.

Maestro Pick:

“Memory” from Cats

It amazes me that Elaine Paige is not more revered in America since she originated some of the most iconic Broadway roles, particularly those written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Much of the success of his most popular musicals like Cats is due to indelible performances, and this is one of them. She makes us understand why the musical is one of the greatest art forms, blending both great acting and singing.

Maestro Pick:

The works of Ludwig van Beethoven, conducted by Roger Norrington.

Here’s a gift to you… a Roger Norrington YouTube channel. Norrington was one of a handful of seminal revolutionaries in the 1980’s who showed that period instrument performances (orchestras using instruments patterned after the originals around 175 years earlier) were the future. The raw and clear sound of his musicians, along with his tenacious desire to capture the composer’s original intent, make all of his interpretations extremely refreshing and illuminating.