Kaufman Music Center – Music Speaks: Into the Light – Jordan Bak, viola & Ji Yung Lee, piano at Merkin Hall

A star in the making (Seattle Pi), Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak is an outstanding artist of passion, energy and authenticity in the recital and chamber music arenas. A Sphinx MPower Artist Grant Recipient and a top laureate of the 2020 Sphinx Competition, Bak is also a winner and Audience Prize recipient of the 2019 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, the recipient of the 2019 Samuel Sanders Tel Aviv Museum Prize and the 2019 John White Special Prize from the Tertis International Viola Competition. In addition to his growing solo career, Jordan Bak is a member of the celebrated New York Classical Players and is a featured artist for WQXRs inaugural Artist Propulsion Lab.Bak says, Into the Light is really a storybook of my own life centered around the subject of under-representation in Classical music through the lens of an under-represented instrument. Through that, I share personal West Indian influences and culture, memories from my childhood, family members who have inspired me and shaped my perspective, even as healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and connect that with the current work Im doing to hopefully motivate and give opportunities to the next generation of musicians of color. Into the Light speaks to todays important conversation of diversity and true equal opportunity in the arts, finding ones own voice despite the circumstances, and poses the question of, What can we do to ensure that our future in Classical music shines even brighter?