The stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City has long been synonymous with musical excellence, and on Tuesday night, a select group of Boston University School of Music students will add their names to the prestigious roster of performers who have graced its halls.
The musicians, who won BU’s annual Carnegie Hall competition held last fall, will represent the university’s top talent, said Michael Reynolds, director of the School of Music.
“Once you’ve played in Carnegie Hall, that goes on your resume forever,” Reynolds said. “Notoriety like that is always a positive thing for any institution…It’s sort of a status symbol.”
The concert features a diverse lineup, with musicians and singers bringing personal and cultural connections to their chosen pieces.
Soprano saxophonist Ana Diaz Asencio, a doctoral student in the College of Fine Arts, will perform “Mi Bailaora” by David Salleras.
Originally from the south of Spain, Diaz Asencio said she connects deeply with the piece, which fuses elements of Spanish flamenco with contemporary classical music.
“It represents a lot of who I am and the music that I like and the culture that I’m from,” she said. “It’s also even more meaningful to represent not only who I am, but also my university and my culture.”
Not only did the piece resonate deeply with her, but Diaz Asencio also sees the performance as a defining milestone in her musical journey.
“When you read the bio of someone that has a career in music, that’s something that people mention, because it’s a milestone in your career, the first time you play at Carnegie,” she said.
Pianist Alexandru Prigalo, a CFA doctoral student, will perform movements from Igor Stravinsky’s “Petrushka,” a Russian piece that Prigalo said he feels connected due to his Eastern European heritage.
“This is music that I grew up with,” he said. “Now I finally get to perform something that I’ve been hearing since I was a child.”
Prigalo said he also chose this piece for its difficulty.
“I decided to challenge myself,” he said. “If I’m going to lose, at least I will lose with a bang.”
Flutist Catherine Butler, a CFA graduate student, will perform Claude Debussy’s “Syrinx,” in honor of her late grandmother, who passed away the day before the first round of fall competition.
“She was really supportive of all my music,” Butler said, referring to her grandmother. “She would have been so excited and happy, so I’m definitely dedicating this performance to her.”
Percussionist Yun-Chen Chou, a CFA doctoral student, will take the stage with Pius Cheung’s “Etude in F-sharp Minor” on the marimba — a piece she had long aspired to play.
“I hope [the audience] will be touched by my performance, because it’s supposed to be a subtle, beautiful piece of music,” Chou said.
Chou said she did not expect to be performing on “one of the world’s finest performance stages” during her first year at BU.
“I’m extremely grateful and humble to be one of the competition winners that gets to represent BU,” she said. “We have a lot of on-campus concerts, but it’s very exciting to get to play for people outside of school and in New York City.”
The evening also features vocal performances from CFA doctoral students Erin Matthews and Libang Wang, both accompanied by CFA student and pianist Ethan McGrath.
Matthews will perform selections from Benjamin Britten’s “On This Island,” with some parts of the piece connecting to the world today, she said.
“The text [is] about empires falling and the just and the unjust changing places and the unloved will have their power,” she said. “I just find it very striking, especially for right now.”
For Matthews, the performance is both a privilege and an opportunity to leave a mark.
“I just hope to make an impression,” she said. “It’s an honor to be seen at the level of all these other amazing artists in BU’s music program.”
Wang will perform “Phidylé;Le Manoir de Rosemonde” by Henri Duparc, while fellow CFA students, cellist Lily Uijin Gwak and pianist Kyunga Lee, will perform variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen, WoO46” by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Reynolds said the competition and performance reinforces BU’s reputation as a premier music institution.
“We’re generally considered to be one of the six top university-based schools of music in the country, and this really helps us maintain that status,” Reynolds said. “It ends up being a great recruiting tool for some of the best talent to come and study here.”
With each performance, the students not only will showcase their individual artistry but also carry forward BU’s legacy of musical excellence, he said.
“Carnegie Hall has very high standards,” Reynolds said. “It showcases the fact that we have some of the top teaching faculty, who have often had very distinguished careers in the performing world, and the quality of the students … Over time, we’ve really developed a reputation.”
