A USASEF SATELLITE EVENT

“ADVENTURES IN SCIENCE AND MUSIC”

A Post-EXPO SATELLITE EVENT of the
INAUGURAL USA SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FESTIVAL
– the FIRST NATIONWIDE CELEBRATION OF SCIENCE

When: Saturday   November 13, 2010 at 10:30 am
Where: Embarcadero Marina Park South
…………..(at the foot of Marina Park Way in San Diego, CA)

Admission: FREE!       Map/Directions

Presented in association with the Maritime
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) EXPO and Arts Festival

FanFaire Foundation is proud to host “ADVENTURES IN SCIENCE and MUSIC,” one of more than 50 satellite events being held across the US  as part of the Inaugural USA Science and Engineering Festival which will be held in Washington DC from October 10-24, 2010. The first nationwide celebration of science, the Festival was organized “to re-invigorate the interest of our nation’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by producing and presenting the most compelling, exciting, educational and entertaining science gatherings in the United States.”

Due to a a totally unexpected set of circumstances beyond our control that transpired recently, coupled with a funding shortfall in these economically challenging times, the full-scale Satellite Event originally scheduled to be held in Oceanside (CA) has been postponed to USASEF 2011. In its place is a downsized version of the event, a symphonic concert with a strong science flavor, featuring music composed by Alexander Borodin, one of the world’s great composers, who throughout his life was a renowned MD and Professor of Organic Chemistry, as well as by other composers including the young pediatrician and violist from Escondido (CA) Byron Chow.  As the program below shows, there will also be music inspired by the four elements of nature (air, water, earth, fire) and the elements of the Periodic Table as well as a Dr. Jekyll chemical moment. The event will start with a short talk on science and music

Directed by Dr. Angela Yeung, who also has a background in science, the concert features the Greater San Diego Community Orchestra many members of which are scientists and engineers -  an eloquent demonstration of Einstein’s dictum that

“The greatest scientists are always artists as well.”

The post-(USASEF) EXPO event will be held on Saturday at 10:30 am on November 13, 2010 in association with the Maritime STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) EXPO and Arts Festival at the beautiful Embarcadero Marina Park South in San Diego.

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PROGRAM

The Greater San Diego Community Orchestra
Dr. Angela Yeung, Director
Daniel Myers, tenor

Alexander Borodin ……………Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor

Brian Balmages …………………Petite Symphony: Elements (Air, Water, Earth, Fire)

Tom Lehrer ………………………..The Elements*(of the Periodic Table)

Frank Wildhorn ………………….This is The Moment from “Jekyll & Hyde”*

Byron Chow………………………..Suite for Orchestra

*with Daniel Myers, tenor

Program subject to change without notice.

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The ARTISTS

Dr. Angela Yeung
Dr. Yeung was Director of the USD Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2010. Apart from directing the Greater San Diego Community Orchestra, she is Principal Guest Conductor of The Chorale Singers in Jakarta (Indonesia) and a much sought-after guest conductor and clinician nationally and internationally. An Associate Professor of Music at the University of San Diego, she has a PhD in Music Theory from Columbia University in New York City. Learn more about Dr. Yeung.

Daniel Myers
Daniel  has sung as a soloist with numerous local organizations, among them the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera, San Diego Lyric Opera, J*Company, and the San Diego Repertory Theater.  A winner of many awards, he won first place in the pre-college division of the San Diego chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing earlier in 2010.  Danny, 17,  is an eleventh grader at High Tech High International.  He enjoys inventing and discovering how things work, and plans to pursue careers in singing and engineering.

The Greater San Diego Community Orchestra
The 50-member orchestra is composed of experienced amateur musicians based in San Diego County who love making music together under the leadership of Dr. Angela Yeung.

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
Throughout his life, the great composer Alexander Borodin served two masters, MUSIC and SCIENCE with equal passion and great success.  He declared his parallel passions even as a boy -  playing the flute, piano and cello; composing a flute concerto at 13; and tinkering with test tubes in his mother’s kitchen, at times producing accidental fireworks! Holder of an MD and a PhD in Chemistry, he may have been the first to link cholesterol with heart disease and was a distinguished Professor of Chemistry known for his work on aldehydes.  A founding member of the RUSSIAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, he was also a member of Russia’s “MIGHTY FIVE COMPOSERS.”  His works, which include three symphonies, a tone-poem, several songs and piano pieces, chamber music and his one major opera, Prince Igor, from which the “Polovtsian Dances” are taken, have become part of today’s standard concert and operatic repertoire, quite an accomplishment for someone who wrote music without the benefit of a formal music education.  The best known selections from the opera, the “Polovtsian Dances” are orchestral showpieces and are often performed today as stand-alone pieces.

Brian Balmages (1975- )

Brian Balmages  is an active composer, conductor, producer, and performer who has a bachelor’s degree in music from James Madison University and his master’s degree from the University of Miami in Florida. His fresh compositional ideas have resulted in a high demand for his wind, brass, and orchestral music throughout the world.  Each of the four short movements of his “Petite Symphony: Elements” refers to an element of nature: Allegro non troppo (AIR),  Largo (WATER), Scherzo (EARTH),  and Allegro vivace (FIRE) .

Tom Lehrer (1928 – )

Born Thomas Andrew Lehrer, Tom Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician who has lectured on both mathematics and musical theater. He is best known for the humorous songs he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. In “The Elements”, Lehrer sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the “Major-General’s Song” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.

Frank Wildhorn (1959 – )

An American composer born in New York City, Frank Wildhorn is best known for his musicals and popular songs.  In 1999, he became the first composer in 22 years to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll and Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and The Civil War. The song “This is The Moment” is sung by Dr. Jekyll right before he drinks the solution he himself created, so it is a somewhat chemically science-y song!

Byron Chow (1975 – )

An avid pianist and violist, Byron Chow is a pediatrician at Neighborhood Healthcare, a community clinic in Escondido, California.  Byron, who obtained his degree from Yale University, often organizes and plays in benefit concerts for the community.  His Suite for Orchestra was premiered by the University of San Diego Symphony Orchestra in spring 2010 under the baton of Dr. Angela Yeung.