Clarinetist to play at UVa
Clarinetist Jiyeon Choi will be the featured musician in the third concert of the University of Virginia Chamber Music Series, which begins at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday in the auditorium at Old Cabell Hall.
The program will include Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 167,” three miniatures by Krzysztov Penderecki, “Blush” by Jean Ahn and “Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Viola” by Carl Reinecke.
Joining Choi will be pianist Hana Lim, violist Ayn Balija and pianist John Mayhood.
Published in 1921, the Saint-Saëns sonata is one of the composer’s final works. Penderecki composed his miniatures at age 23, while he still was a music student. Ahn’s piece reflects many characteristics of Korean music.
Choi joined the UVa College of Arts & Sciences faculty as a lecturer in clarinet and as principal clarinetist in the Charlottesville Symphony at UVa in the fall of 2019.
Choi also is principal clarinetist for the Sinfonia da Camera in Illinois and a member of the clarinet faculty at Blue Lake Arts Camp in Michigan. She is an advocate for contemporary music, and her primary research explores the chamber music of Jörg Widmann, a renowned German clarinetist and composer, according to her biography online. She also specializes in standard solo, chamber and orchestra repertoire.
She received a doctor of musical arts degree in music performance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in New York and a bachelor of music degree from the Ewha Womans University in South Korea. J. David Harris, Kenneth Grant and Jeongmin Song are among her principal teachers.
Public tickets to Sunday’s concert are $15; UVa faculty and staff members pay $13, and students pay $5. UVa students who reserve seats 24 or more hours in advance at the box office’s student ticket portal can get in for free. Tickets will be available at the box office one hour before the performance as well as online at artsboxoffice.virginia.edu or by phone at (434) 924-3376.
Ford wins UVa Law award
University of Virginia law student Yewande Ford has won this year’s Gregory H. Swanson Award.
The award, which includes a $2,000 tuition grant, recognizes students who “demonstrate standards of character and conduct” exemplified by School of Law alumnus Gregory Swanson, according to the school’s website. Swanson was the first Black student to attend the university or its law school, who won the right to attend in 1950 after suing the school in federal court.
Ford, who is finishing her third and final year as a law student, is the president of the Black Law Students Association at the university. Last year, she organized hybrid and in-person events to strengthen social bonds that she said had been weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is “one of the most extraordinary students I have ever known at the law school,” UVa law professor Michael Doran, who nominated Ford, wrote in his nomination.
Ford said that the Black community she knew on Grounds was different than the Black communities she knew growing up. But that only provided an opportunity to foster and grow the community at UVa, she said.
“Growing up in New Jersey, and at Howard University and at Goldman Sachs — all of those had really strong Black communities — I had never been in a situation where I felt like the Black people were a little disjointed,” Ford said in a statement released by the law school. “Obviously it was through no fault of UVA, but because of the pandemic I felt like we were just becoming disconnected and so I really wanted to bring back a close sense of community.”
Doran said he expects Ford will excel in her future legal career.
“I fully expect that Yewande will not only thrive as a tax lawyer but will serve as a role model for other young women of color who, although interested in tax, might hesitate to enter a field still overwhelmingly white and male,” Doran said.
Under her leadership, the organization was named the 2021-22 mid-Atlantic chapter of the year, according to the school.
Ford received the award on Thursday at an event celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Housing group gets big grantThe Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority has been awarded $116,732 in federal funding to help establish a new “family self-sufficiency” coordinator.
The two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides funds for the coordinator who will be tasked with helping area households increase financial literacy, according to a statement. The new coordinator will be responsible for partnering with organizations that offer coaching and workshops on financial topics such as credit, debt, savings, budgeting and banking services.
The family self-sufficiency program is voluntary and allows participants up to five years to achieve their goals and “graduate” from the program, according to a statement. For more information, contact matthewsk@cvillerha.com.
— FROM STAFF REPORTS
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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