The Well-Tempered Ear

American violinist Joshua Brown wins a global competition in China

November 16, 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger

Earlier this week — just before the start of the tense American-Chinese summit meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping — the young American violinist Joshua Brown (below)  won a global music competition in Beijing, China.

It is not exactly a Van Cliburn moment in terms of his victory at the first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 at the height of the Cold War. For that surprise win, the young Cliburn received instant stardom and received a ticket tape parade in New York City.

Plus, Cliburn’s first recording for RCA of the Tchaikovsky First and Rachmaninoff Third piano concertos became the first classical recording to sell a million copies. 

Still, the win by the 24-year-old Brown — who has won many other national and  international competitions — should bring the American musician wider recognition at home and abroad through many more bookings and recordings as well as the first prize of $100,000 and three years of tours under management through an agent that come with the gold medal. 

You can hear him play an unfamiliar piece by the opera composer Richard Wagner in the YouTube video at the bottom.

By the way, second prize was also won by America violinist Ellie Choi while third place went to Chinese violinist Chaowen Luo. Both are 22.

Here is the story in The Strad:

https://www.thestrad.com/news/violinist-joshua-brown-wins-100000-first-prize-at-beijings-global-music-education-league-competition/17263.article

And here, with some other details, is the story on The Violin Channel, which also allows you to hear the competition.

And if you would like to know more about him, especially his full biography, here is a link to his own website:

https://www.joshuabrownviolinist.com/

Have you heard him or of him?

What do you think?

Do you think we should or will get to hear him perform live in Madison?

The Ear wants to hear.


This Wednesday, Just Bach debuts its free 30-minute online concert of solo and chamber organ music with a sing-along cantata chorale

January 19, 2021
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post: 

Happy New Year from Just Bach!

We hope this finds you all well, and ready to experience more of the timeless beauty of music by Johann Sebastian Bach (below, 1685-1750) in 2021, because we have a lovely new program ready to debut on this Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 8 a.m. (It will stay up indefinitely after the premiere, so you can listen to it before or after the Inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.)

As regular performers on Luther Memorial Church’s weekly “Music at Midday” concert series, Just Bach presents half-hour programs on the third Wednesday of each month. The spring semester’s dates are: Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21 and May 19. 

Our online concerts — Dave Parminter is the videographer — are posted early Wednesday mornings at 8 a.m. on the Just Bach and Luther Memorial YouTube Channels. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ

Viewing the virtual concerts is free to the public, but we ask those who are able to help us pay our musicians with a tax-deductible donation at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick…

Our January concert opens with Just Bach co-founder and Grammy-nominated soprano Sarah Brailey (below) – a graduate student at the UW-Madison — providing welcoming remarks. 

The program offers two trio sonatas from the set of six that Bach composed for solo organ. Bruce Bengston (below) will perform Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, BWV 528, on the big Austin organ up in the church’s balcony.

Then Bruce will switch to the small portative organ and join violinist Kangwon Kim (below top) and violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below middle) in a performance of Sonata No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 526, arranged for violin, viola and organ continuo (a rehearsal photo is below bottom).

Sarah, who also recorded herself paying a cello part, closes the program with the final chorale from Cantata 149 —Ach Herr, laß dein lieb Engelein (Ah, Lord, let your dear little angel) — a powerfully transcendent movement that Bach also used to close the St. John Passion. (You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

We encourage viewers to sing along by following the chorale sheet music, which will be displayed on the computer screen as Sarah sings and Bruce accompanies on the organ.

The world needs this soul-centering music now more than ever. Please join us this Wednesday, Jan. 20.

 


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