Tickets & Events
SYMPHONIC LANDSCAPES
October 4 — 7:30pm
We open the season with a musical journey that explores landscapes of nature
and the soul. Deep Summer Music, from celebrated Minnesota composer Libby
Larsen, captures the light and sweeping horizon of the prairie in late summer.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, bursting with emotion and fiery energy, showcases
dynamic violin soloist Rui Du against a backdrop of lush orchestral color. The
evening concludes with Brahms’ monumental Symphony No. 1, which moves from
brooding tension to radiant resolution.
PRE-CONCERT TALK - 6:30PM
This concert includes a pre-concert talk in Presentation Hall.
"Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto showcases the richness, lushness, intimacy, and breathtaking virtuosity of the violin. The expansive orchestration sets a perfect stage for the soloist to shine — from the sweeping lyricism of the opening, through the tender beauty of the slow movement, to the electrifying brilliance of the finale. I am thrilled to have Rui Du as the soloist for this incredible concerto."
Chia-Hsuan Lin,
Rochester Symphony Music Director & Conductor
Program
Deep Summer Music
Violin Concerto
Symphony No. 1
Violin
Rui Du was appointed assistant concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2015. He had previously been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where he won fourth chair in the first violin section in 2012 and soon after was named acting assistant concertmaster. Additionally, he served as concertmaster of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2009. Since 2015, Du has been a regular guest concertmaster of China’s Qingdao Symphony Orchestra under maestro Zhang Guo-Yong. He has also served as concertmaster of the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, Hebei Symphony, Guiyang Symphony and North Dakota Symphony, and as associate concertmaster of the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra.
Du has won numerous competitions, including the Grand Prix at the 2006 Canetti International Violin Competition in Paris, where he also clinched numerous concert engagements. He appears regularly as a soloist and recitalist across the United States, Europe and throughout Asia, and has been featured as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival Ensemble, and the symphonies of Fujian, Hebei, Qingdao, Baltimore, Mankato and South Dakota. Du has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Osmo Vänskä, Zhang Guo-Yong, Nicholas McGegan and Delta David Gier, among others.
An avid chamber musician, Du has worked and performed with many great musicians, and has participated in renowned summer music festivals including those of Aspen, Tanglewood, Las Vagas, Canetti and Voyage, among others. He also performs regularly on the chamber music series of the Minnesota Orchestra and ProMusica Minnesota, and through Mankato Symphony Orchestra’s Music on the Hill series. With his wife Hanna Hyunjung Kim, principal pianist of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, he co-founded Ensemble Muzén, a mixed chamber ensemble with renowned musicians in the Twin Cities.
Born in Hefei, China, Du studied in the Music Middle School of the Shanghai Conservatory; he completed a bachelor’s of music from the National University of Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, where he won the Artistic Achievement Award, and subsequently received a master’s of music and graduate performance diploma with a full scholarship from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. His teachers include Zhou Bin You, Qian Zhou, Victor Danchenko and Herbert Greenberg.
