Emerging Young Artists: Anita Pari & Jaeyoung Chong

Program:

Folk Suite for Solo Cello - Jaeyoung Chong
I. Regal
II. Jig
III. Vast
IV. Briskly
V. Fugue - Regal

Escape - Anita Pari
I. Lento, rubato - Moderato - Lento, grave
II. Lento
III. Moderato, pesante
IV. Allegro - Adagio

Cello Sonata, Op. 119 - Sergei Prokofiev
I. Andante grave
II. Moderato
III. Allegro, ma non troppo

Anita Pari is a composer, pianist, and cellist from Ottawa, currently pursuing a PhD in Composition at McGill University. In recent years, Anita’s music has taken inspiration from a variety of themes, ranging from mental health to the study of birdsongs that she has encountered while birdwatching. Through her creative work, she often reflects on and reimagines aspects of her lived experience, drawing from circumstances and events that have shaped her identity. She has recently received the Luba Zuk Piano Duo Composition Commission Prize from McGill University and been invited to compose a piece for the QUASAR saxophone quartet. Anita’s compositional output includes music for orchestra, wind ensemble, choir, various chamber groups, solo piano, live electronics, and fixed media electronics. Her compositions have been performed by the Prisme Ensemble (“Incongruous”), the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble (“The Voices that Pull Me from the Darkness”), the McGill Wind Orchestra (“Bright Distance Blurring”), the Composer-Performer Orchestration Research Ensemble (“To A Lullaby”), the Cecilia Quartet (“Nocturne for Strings”), and the Harmonia Choir (“Worlds Apart: Pappy's Song"), among other groups. In addition to her work in composition, Anita frequently performs her own music or interprets other composers’ works in concert. Anita has given solo recitals across Ontario as well as soloist appearances with orchestras such as l'Orchestre classique de Montréal, the National Academy Orchestra, the Lancaster Symphony, and the Frost Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, she recorded and released a CD featuring a selection of her own compositions, which included her fourmovement cello sonata “Escape” and her solo piano works “Directions” and “Urban Movement.” Later that year, she went on to perform these works at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. Anita holds ARCT diplomas in piano and cello as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from Carleton University, where she received the Governor General’s Academic Medal for graduating at the head of the 2020 undergraduate class. In 2022, she completed her Master of Music degree in Composition at McGill University. She currently studies composition with Dr. Melissa Hui, and has formerly studied with Dr. Brian Cherney (composition), Dr. James Wright (composition), Nicole Presentey (piano), Dr. Jamie Parker (piano), and Peter Rapson (cello).

Jaeyoung Chong is a trained and established cellist and a profound musician passionate in many artistic mediums such as improvisation, creative live performance, composition, electroacoustic technology and music production. His recent awards include Music New Brunswick's "Recording of the Year" for his self-produced album "Nostalgia”. Born in South Korea, Jaeyoung began studying at the age of 8 and quickly reached an advanced level when he moved to Canada with his family in 2005. Under the direction of Shimon Walt, a renowned cello professor at Dalhousie University, Jaeyoung has continued to develop his musical abilities leading to many awards and distinctions from local, provincial, and national levels. Summer music camps and festivals, such as Domaine Forget, NAC Pre-college program, Orford and National Youth Orchestra of Canada, are normal occurrences for young Jaeyoung. He has managed to work with renowned cellists like Steve Doane, Matt Haimovitz, Blair Lofgren, Richard Aaron, Phillipe Muller, Laurence Lesser, and Collin Carr. Jaeyoung received his Bachelor in Music Performance from the University of Ottawa in 2017 under the direction of Paul Marleyn. Jaeyoung was heavily involved in the Ottawa music scene throughout his undergraduate years. He was a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, was a featured soloist with the University of Ottawa Orchestra, won over $10,000 worth of scholarships, bursaries and competition which lead him to more performance opportunities such as being a featured soloist with the National Arts Center Orchestra. After his studies in Ottawa, he received a full-ride scholarship to Rice University and pursued his masters degree under the tutelage of Desmond Hoebig, a renowned soloist and orchestral cellist of today. As for his creative endeavours, Jaeyoung has experimented with composition from an early age and continued to test his creative potential through solo works, chamber works and improvisation. At the age of 19 he released his first album “Endless” where he experimented with minimalist compositional techniques. Through out his studies at Rice University, he found an interest in electroacoustic music and performed a creative recital project called “New Modern” where he performed his own works accompanied by backing tracks produced by himself along with contemporary works by other composers and improvisations.

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