The Adelphi Orchestra to Welcome Guest Soloist Christine Kwak for Season Finale Concert at Merkin Concert Hall, 6/9

The Adelphi Orchestra's concludes its 2015-16 season with its New York City Concert Series' finale "Celebrating a Grand Legacy", Thursday June 9th at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center. The performance will include Mendelssohn's Overture to the Hebrides, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor and Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D Major, with featured violin soloist Christine Kwak under the baton of conductor Jason C. Tramm.

For her performance of the Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D Major, Christine Kwak will be playing the very instrument which the 30 year old Russian violin virtuoso Adolph Brodsky premiered the Concerto for Violin in D Major in Vienna on December 4, 1881. Christine's instrument, known as the "Ex- Brodsky Violin" dates back to the 1751 Milan workshop of Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, esteemed to be one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments ever to have lived.

Over the centuries the violin has been the subject of attention. In his review, the influential German critic Eduard Hanslick, who attended the 1881 Vienna premiere of Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D Major wrote "the violin was not played but beaten black and blue" and accused Tchaikovsky and Brodsky of putting the audience "through hell" with music "which stinks to the ear." Perhaps Hanslick took umbrage to the piece, predisposed by the controversy surrounding the composition three years earlier, when the great violinist Leopold Auer, for whom the work was originally dedicated, declared the work "too difficult" and said he would not perform the concerto unless unsolicited changes were made to the composition. As a result, the intended premiere scheduled for St. Petersburg in March of 1879 was derailed, and with the premiere's cancellation, Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D Major quickly gained a reputation as unplayable.

The technical challenges facing any violinist attempting to perform Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D Major are intimidating, notwithstanding the legacy of Adolph Brodsky, who with his beloved Guadagnini violin in 1851, courageously premiered the concerto with Hans Richter and the Vienna Philharmonic, insisting he would perform the work just as the composer wrote it, regardless of the outcome.

Given the historical beginning of Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D Major subsequent musicians who take on the composition tread under the spotlight and upon a path of a grand legacy - but with this concert the most challenging footsteps Christine Kwak follows are those of her own. First featured as a five year old on CNN's "About Child Prodigies, " by age 11 Christine had already made her Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Alice Tully Hall debuts. Christine's teacher, the late Dorothy DeLay of The Julliard School (whose roster of pupils included among them Itzhak Perlman, Anne Akiko Meyers, Midori Goto, Sarah Chang, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Shlomo Mintz, Gil Shaham and Nigel Kennedy) described Christine's childhood recordings of the complete 24 Caprices by Paganini, as "one of the most astonishing accomplishments ... truly remarkable; one of the best caprices I've ever heard."

In addition to her academic pursuits (graduating from Columbia University in 2007 with a B.A. degree in Philosophy and receiving her M.M. degree from The Julliard School in 2009 and teaching at Cornell University in Ithaca) Christine has performed throughout the country. Her engagements include appearances with Westchester Symphony Orchestra; Queens Symphony; Little Orchestra Society at Alice Tully Hall, Brooklyn Philharmonic; Colonial Symphony; Bronx Symphony; Sea Cliff Chamber Orchestra, Westfield Symphony; Walla Walla Symphony; Massapequa Philharmonic; Long Beach Symphony; Yonkers Philharmonic; Colorado Springs Symphony; Orchestra New England; Colonial Symphony; the 4th of July celebration concert at Charles Ives Center with Ives Festival Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic, Livingston Symphony, Hoff-Barthelson Festival Orchestra, Merrick Symphony, Summit Symphony Orchestra, Centre Symphony and has appeared at The Caramoor Music Festival on the Performer's Showcase Series in numerous seasons, as well as the Freeport Concert Association and Ocean Grove summer series.

Now a first time mother of a toddler, Christine acknowledges the challenges of time confronting her with too few hours in the day. "Parenting becomes the most meaningful and important job to a new mom - in my case, it lends deeper meaning to my art. The music I play and strive to communicate encompasses a depth of emotion and wisdom that only motherhood could bring about. It's a beautiful thing I simply feel and experience in my heart and mind, and can only hope to convey in my playing - because of that I feel like a more complete musician and artist." Christine's future plans include teaching and continuing in all areas of performance, both as a soloist and chamber musician.

The Adelphi Orchestra's season finale concert concludes the Adelphi Orchestra's 62nd year of "Music for All" and celebrates its community of stakeholders: the exemplary musicians, individuals and artistic collaborators who have inspired and contributed to Adelphi Orchestra's distinguished legacy as Northern New Jersey's longest performing orchestra. The mission of the Adelphi Orchestra is to serve the musical and educational needs of the citizens of New Jersey, with special emphasis given to families with young children, seniors and those with limited financial means. To further this end, numerous concerts are offered free of admission charges. The Adelphi Orchestra strives to advance the orchestral arts through education, commissions, community partnerships and its robust young artist programing. To learn more about the orchestra and its programs visitwww.adelphiorchestra.org.

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