Leland Ko - Cello
A message from Leland about this concert:
I have a fascination with folk music — not just as a link between popular music and classical music, but as a bridge between classical musicians and people from all over the world.
This program is full of some of the most vibrant and invigorating music I know for solo cello as well as piano and cello, and captures the dance and the spirit of life that so many cultures have in common. “Volksgeist” translates literally from German as “people’s spirit,” but refers more broadly to a national spirit or a shared cultural spirit.
WILLIAM HENRY SQUIRE: Danse Rustique, Op. 20 No. 5
BELA BARTOK: Rhapsody No. 1 for Cello and Piano
BRIGHT SHENG: 7 Tunes Heard in China (1995)
ROBERT SCHUMANN: 5 Pieces in Folk Style, Op. 102
ZOLTAN KODALY: Cello Sonata, Op. 8
A cellist of Chinese-Canadian descent, yet born and raised in the Boston area, Leland has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across America’s east coast, as well as internationally in Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Israel, and Spain. Violinist Itzhak Perlman has described Leland as someone that “plays with the beauty of sound and subtlety that we don’t often encounter in a cellist of his age,” someone who is “a musician who willingly considers all aspects of music.” Leland was named a recipient of the Presidential Scholar Award at New England Conservatory for 2022-2024 and the Spark Fund from The Joy of Music Inc., and was a Young Artist in Residence for American Public Media’s radio program Performance Today in 2023.
Leland graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in German Literature. He went on to complete an M.M. at The Juilliard School under the teaching of Minhye Clara Kim, Timothy Eddy, and Natasha Brofsky, and is currently an Artist Diploma candidate at the New England Conservatory under guidance of Yeesun Kim and Donald Weilerstein. He plays a Spanish cello ca. 1769 attributed to Juan Guillami and nicknamed “El Tiburón,” and a bow ca. 1830 by Jean Dominique Adam, both on generous loan from the Canada Council. He resides in Boston, with his 11-year-old cat, Ham.
For more information: https://www.lelandko.com/about
All programs are subject to change.