Triumph of the Spirit

Beethoven Symphony No. 3, Eroica
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with soloist Stephen Kim
Mollicone Final Light

Two 19th century masterworks, plus a recent composition by noted Bay Area composer Henry Mollicone, each illustrating a triumph of the spirit.
In the depths of despair over his deafness, Beethoven found a new voice and new hope in the writing of the Eroica. Tchaikovsky, in writing the Violin Concerto, recovered both his inspiration and his health after a terrible bout of depression following the failure of his disastrous marriage. Mollicone’s ethereal Final Light depicts, in the composer’s own words, “passage of the soul from this world to a higher realm” and the attainment of true spiritual peace.

Violinist Stephen Kim, 14, recently won first prize in the prestigious California International Young Artists Violin Competition, sharing the gold medal with a 24-year-old violinist. A winner in the Fremont Symphony’s 2010 Young Artist Competition, Stephen also won first prize in the Felix Khuner Cocerto Competition, the Mondavi Center Young Artist Competition and the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, among others. He has been featured soloist on National Public Radio’s From the Top.