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Feb. 1, 2025 at Bates Recital Hall

The Abduction from the Seraglio Overture. (.W.A. Mozart)

Guitar Concerto No. 1., I. Allegretto (Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco)
Aytahn Benavi, guitar

Concerto for Viola, I. Andante comodo (William Walton)
Jason Sheng-Chieh Lan, viola
Matthew Pavon, guest conductor

Violin Concerto in A Major, Op. 8, I. Allegro moderato (MieczysƂaw KarƂowicz)
Zichuan (Kevin) Wang, violin

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 26,  I. Allegro con fermezza (Aram Khachaturian)
Yida An, violin

This is the eleventh annual Texas Rising Stars concert, a collaborative project between the University of Texas Butler School of Music and Austin Civic Orchestra.  Its purpose is to provide unique opportunities for BSoM string musicians to work with the ACO and its musicians. The UT students performing today were chosen via competition.  This concert, conceived by Professor Brian Lewis, combines the best in the Austin area community orchestra with the best from the UT String Department for a truly exciting concert. This collaborative concert between the Butler School of Music and the Austin Civic Orchestra is funded in part by the David and Mary Winton Green Chair in String Performance and Pedagogy.

Program Notes and Performers

The Abduction from the Seraglio Overture – In 1781, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had already achieved considerable fame for his talent as a pianist and violinist; he spent much of his youth touring Europe with his mother, father, and sister performing recitals and concerts for nobles. After spending a few years in the service of Archbishop Colloredo in Salzburg, Mozart left to pursue a career as a freelance performer and composer in Vienna. What followed was a period of great productivity and success. His opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, was written at the request of the Austrian emperor Joseph II. It premiered in 1782 and quickly enhanced Mozart’s reputation across the Continent. Amidst this whirlwind of success, Mozart also married Constanze Weber.

The Abduction takes place in sixteenth-century Turkey and concerns the efforts of Belmonte to find his lover Konstanze who has been abducted by pirates and sold to a Turkish Pasha named Osmin. All ends well after Osmin takes pity on Belmonte and pardons both him and Konstanze (and their devoted servants) from further punishment for their attempts at escape. The overture evokes comedy before the events of the plot even begin, signaling that this will be a light-hearted opera. Mozart opens with rousing percussion in the Turkish style, incorporating the sounds of timpani, triangle, cymbals, and bass drum (this was a style that countless later composers would mimic). This short overture is fast-paced and exciting! — Indianapolis Symphony

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Aytahn Benavi, born in Austin, Texas in 2001, is one of the eminent young guitarists in America. Aytahn began his studies with the Childbloom guitar program, under Chris Stone and founder Kevin Tayor. At age 12, he also began studying with Joseph V. Williams, and Adam Holzman. Currently Aytahn is working on his undergraduate studies at the University of Texas under professor Holzman, as well as pursuing a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Aytahn has won numerous first prizes in 18 and under competitions throughout the United States, including the CSU Guitar Symposium and Competition, Boston GuitarFest academy competition, Texas Guitar Competition and Festival, Indiana International Guitar Festival and Competition, and James Stroud International Classical Guitar Competition. He is a three-time laureate of the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Youth Competition. Success has also come to Aytahn in open division competitions, with prizes won at the Houston Classical Guitar Festival, CSU Guitar Symposium and Competition, and Ex-Aequo International Classical Guitar Competition, among others. 

Aytahn has also been a part of some unique musical experiences. In 2017, he performed on the 340th episode of the NPR radio show From The Top, featuring the music of composers of Jewish heritage. In 2018, Aytahn premiered The Joyful Island, an original piece written for him by Italian composer and musicologist Angelo Gilardino. In 2023, Aytahn was selected along with five other up-and-coming guitarists to premiere Six by Six, a sextet by Sergio Assad.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco Guitar Concerto No. 1 – Beginning at the end: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco made his later career in Hollywood. He has four full movie scores to his credit: And Then There Were None (1945), Time Out of Mind (1947), The Loves of Carmen (1948), and The Brave Bulls (1951). In addition to these scores, he wrote uncredited incidental music for a long and dramatic list of productions, including such films as: Gaslight (1944); Hellcats of the Navy (1957); and Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere (1951). He was also a teacher and mentor to Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, and AndrĂ© Previn.

Before his venture to Hollywood, Castelnuovo-Tedesco had written concert music for many of the great virtuosi of the twentieth century.  His most fruitful collaboration was with Andres Segovia, for whom he wrote a guitar concerto in 1939 and to whom he dedicated numerous important guitar works. He had written a violin concerto for Jascha Heifetz in 1932, and a cello concerto for Gregor Piatigorsky in 1935.  It is hard to imagine a better path for a composer to have before him, but times did change.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco was from a Sephardic family which had been in Tuscany since 1492, when they had been expelled from Spain. Mario’s decision to be a composer and a rising tide of anti-semitism made it clear that he must leave Italy. Castelnuovo-Tedesco appealed to friends in America, notably Arturo Toscanini and Jascha Heifetz, to help him with emigration.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco grew up in modernist times, and was well aware of modernist developments, but he steered clear of its stiffer winds. His music, however chromatic or technical, is more traditional and tuneful than that of most of his contemporaries. — Timothy Summers

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Jason Sheng-Chieh Lan has rapidly established himself as a versatile violist through his extensive experiences and unconventional collaborations. He holds the distinction of being the youngest violist in history to present a debut recital at the Taiwan National Concert Hall, performing to a sold-out audience. In subsequent years, he has performed as a soloist with the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra and the Austin Civic Orchestra. Beyond conventional venues, he was invited by Louis Vuitton to collaborate on concerts and was also honored to perform at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Davos World Economic Forum as an outstanding artist.

A Juilliard alumnus, freelancer with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and a teaching assistant and doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin, Jason began studying the viola at the age of nine. He is a National Competition Prize Winner in Taiwan and has received top scholarships from Idyllwild Arts Academy, as well as full scholarships and fellowships from Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Tianjin Juilliard, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Chamber music has always been a significant passion for Jason. He participated in the inaugural class of the International Chamber Festival at Tianjin Juilliard School of Music, as well as in the Music Academy of the West and the String Quartet Seminar. He has had the privilege of working and performing with esteemed musicians such as Richard O’Neil, Nobuko Imai, the Takács String Quartet, the Miro String Quartet, the Shanghai String Quartet, the Juilliard String Quartet, Scott Lee, and faculty members of the Tianjin Juilliard School.

Matthew Pavon is a conductor and violist studying Orchestral Conducting under Farkhad Khudyev at The Butler School of Music. In his role as Teaching Assistant for University Orchestras, Matthew assists in conducting and administrating the University Symphony Orchestra and Co-Directs the University Orchestra.

Matthew holds viola performance degrees from Evangel University (B.M. ’19) and Missouri State University (M.M. ’22). While at Missouri State, he served as a Graduate Assistant for Orchestral studies and led the Missouri State University Orchestra and the University Repertory ensembles for three years. After graduating, he continued as the Assistant Conductor for Missouri State University from 2022 to 2023. Guest conducting appearances have included concerts with the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, the Missouri Philharmonic, Drury University Orchestra, and several orchestral clinics. Matthew believes in supporting the arts in his communities. In 2021, he founded the Galloway Chamber Orchestra in Springfield, MO and served as their artistic director until July 2024. Matthew is also currently on staff as the workshop conductor for the Youth Symphony of Kansas City. As a violist, he was an active member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra for seven years and a frequent substitute violist with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. Matthew’s passion is to work with people of all ages and backgrounds through music. He lives in Austin, TX with his amazing wife, Leianna, and their mini-Australian Shepherds, Koda and Ellie.

Walton Viola Concerto – In 1928, the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham suggested to the 26-year-old William Walton that he write a work for the virtuoso violist Lionel Tertis. Walton was intrigued, largely due to his liking for Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, a viola concerto in all but name. He also felt the new work might offer him the chance to escape the reputation as a modernist enfant terrible he had acquired through such pieces as the witty ‘musical entertainment’ Façade (1923) and the jazzy overture Portsmouth Point (1926). He composed the concerto during the winter of 1928–9 while staying with friends on the Amalfi coast. On his return to England in the spring of 1929 he sent it to Tertis – who promptly, and ironically, rejected it as ‘too modern.’

An upset Walton toyed with the idea of re-writing the piece for violin. However, BBC music producer Edward Clark suggested he send it to the violist and composer Paul Hindemith. Hindemith liked the work, and gave it its premiere on 3 October 1929 at the Queen’s Hall in London, with the Henry Wood Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. The premiere of the Viola Concerto met with much acclaim, and established Walton’s reputation as a leading British composer. However, Walton himself was not wholly satisfied. In 1961 he revised it, creating a more intimate scoring, adding a harp, reducing the triple winds to double, and cutting the tuba and one of the trumpets. This version was premiered in 1962. The first movement Andante comodo is in a compressed sonata form. The first theme (‘the first subject’) is a yearning melody passed between the viola and the oboe. For the calmer second theme (‘the second subject’), the viola is accompanied by pizzicato (plucked) strings. The mercurial middle (development) section includes two dramatic orchestral outbursts, a brief tango-like episode and a short cadenza-like passage for viola with tremolo (extremely rapid) string accompaniment. In the final section (the recapitulation, which returns to material from the opening section) the viola’s flowing triplets accompany the orchestral melody. — Kate Hopkins

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Zichuan (Kevin) Wang is a Doctor of Musical Arts student majoring in violin performance at the University of Texas Butler School of Music. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Born in 1998 in Wuhan, China, Kevin began studying violin at the age of four with Mingjian Liu, a renowned violin maker and director of the Wuhan Chamber Orchestra. Under Liu’s guidance, Kevin gained extensive stage experience. In 2012, he joined the Wuhan Chamber Orchestra as assistant concertmaster, performing at local music festivals.

Kevin began his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2016, where he trained with esteemed faculty including Ivan Zenaty, William Preucil, Brian Lewis, and Stephen Rose. In 2023, he joined the Butler School of Music to pursue his doctorate, continuing his studies with Brian Lewis.

An accomplished musician, Kevin has won numerous accolades. These include the Erudite Prize at the Huangshan International Art Festival (2006), the Golden Award at the 10th CCTV Young Artists Competition (2011), and First Prize in the Concerto Competition at the New York Summer Music Festival (2013). He also participated in the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2015.

KarƂowicz Violin Concerto in A Major – Polish composer and conductor MieczysƂaw KarƂowicz was born into a noble family in a region of the Russian Empire now part of Belarus. His father Jan was a Polish linguist, lexicographer, and musician. As a child, KarƂowicz studied violin, for which he later composed his concerto in A Major. KarƂowicz worked on the concerto from the spring to the winter of 1902. A fully mature composition, crowning the first stage of KarƂowicz’s career, it was dedicated to the outstanding virtuoso StanisƂaw Barcewicz, who was also KarƂowicz’s teacher. Barcewicz was the first performer of the work, at a concert in Berlin on 21 March 1903, devoted exclusively to KarƂowicz’s music.

A work with a cheerful disposition, sometimes with a youthful and optimistic character, the Violin Concerto indeed demonstrates KarƂowicz’s full grasp of violin technique. The first movement, in the form of a sonata allegro, is based on two themes. The first of them is very untypical as it is played chordally by solo violin (it is probably the only such instance in the history of the genre). It is contrasted with the cantilena second theme. The development is crowned with a cadenza, which, unlike cadenzas of a virtuoso character, is integrally linked to the entire musical material. — Marek WieroƄski

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Yida An was born in Lanzhou, China. He began to study violin with Prof. Li Shuming at the age of six before entering Beijing Eastbank Academy of Music to study with Prof. Chai Liang. He then received his undergraduate degree from Central Conservatory of Music under guidance of Prof. Xie Haoming before earning his master‘s from Bard College Conservatory of Music where he has studied with Prof. Adele Anthony and Prof. Gil Shaham. He is currently enrolled in the Artist Diploma program at UT Austin Butler School of Music in 2024, studying with Prof. Brian Lewis.

During his time so far at UT Austin, he has served as the concertmaster of UT Symphony Orchestra and has also been a member of UT String Project. He has been a soloist collaborating with Tan Dun conducting The Orchestra Now at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He collaborated with Joan Tower on Music Alive! concert. He has performed with The Orchestra Now at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and several times with the Bard Chinese Ensemble. He has collaborated and soloed with Chai Liang conducting the Accent Symphony Orchestra at the Beijing Concert Hall.

Khachaturian Violin Concerto in D minor – Aram Khachaturian was a Soviet Armenian composer who, with Prokofiev and Shostakovich, is considered one of the “titans” of Soviet music. Born in what is now Tbililisi, Georgia, to a poor Armenian family, Khachaturian grew up with the Soviet Union, watching it transform itself from an antidote to Imperial tyranny into a tyranny of Stalin’s own.

In his youth, he was fascinated by the music he heard around him, but at first he did not study music or learn to read it. In 1921, he travelled to Moscow, where, despite his lack of musical training, he was admitted to the prestigious Gnessin Institute, studying the cello for three years before enrolling in courses in composition. He continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1934.  His First Symphony, marks his initial success at blending the thematic material from the music of his beloved Armenia with the structures of the classical symphony.  He later won recognition with a piano concerto, followed by the violin concerto (1940), and one for cello in 1946. Of Khachaturian’s many compositions, probably the best-known are the “Adagio ofSpartacus and Phrygia” from his ballet Spartacus, and for the “Sabre Dance” from his ballet Gayane and the adagio from the same ballet. Khachaturian was in jubilant spirits at the time he was composing his Violin Concerto.  His ballet Happiness had just had a successful premiere in Moscow, and he was awaiting the birth of a son. He completed the concerto in two months, and it premiered in Moscow in November of 1940.  The exotic Oriental flavor of Armenian scales and melodies and the captivating rhythmic diversity of dances that pervade the concerto set it apart immediately, announcing to even the most unsophisticated ear that this is no product of Western Europe. — Beaverton Symphony

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