Park University's International Center for Music Hosts 2nd Annual Free Holiday Concert

 Park University’s International Center for Music (Park ICM) announced today that it will host its second annual holiday concert, "An Intimate Christmas with Park ICM," at the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, located at 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, MO. The event will take place on December 2, 2023, commencing at 7:30 p.m. This holiday concert is open to the public and free of charge with a reservation.

Following a successful sellout showing at last season's debut holiday concert, the ICM Orchestra returns under the direction of Steven McDonald to present an evening of diverse Christmas pieces, both

well-known and lesser-recognized, providing a unique and complementary addition to the Kansas City area's musical offerings.

"The program will once again offer a variety of Christmas pieces both familiar and less

well-known, serving as an elegant companion and contrast to the music presented by other fine ensembles in the Kansas City area," said Steven McDonald, the Director of the Orchestra at Park ICM.

The program includes the 20th-century composer Ralph Vaughan’s reimagining of the English Renaissance tune “Greensleeves” (perhaps written by Henry VIII himself), which is best known in America as the Christmas hymn “What Child is This”. The haunting melody for harp, flutes, and strings in the extended piece “Fantasia on Greensleeves” alternates between minor and major keys, creating a mood of depth, wonder and mystery.

The audience can also look forward to the wonderfully sweet and somewhat extroverted “Skater’s Waltz” by the French composer Emile Waldteuffel presenting various images of an afternoon’s skate. Its warm melody alternates with the sounds of Sleigh Bells, and even includes a sudden slip and fall on the ice!

The Orchestra will also perform Alessandro Scarlatti extended Christmas Cantata for solo soprano and strings with soprano soloist Soyoun Lim Chun. This festive piece draws on a Sicilian shepherd’s dance evoked in Christmas concertos from Italian composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Dr. Chun is equally comfortable in opera, recitals, orchestral performances, and chamber music settings. She has been teaching at Bethel College since 2006 and holds a doctorate degree with honors from the University of Kansas, a master's from the New England Conservatory, and a bachelor's from Seoul National University. Dr. Chun has participated in masterclasses at the famed Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. She resides in Lawrence, KS, with her husband and three children.

Finally, solo pianist Sihao Qin will deliver a performance of Johann Strauss (ii) and Josef Strauss's delicate Pizzicato Polka and the stirring Radetzky March - pieces reminiscent of a New Year’s Day celebration in the golden age of Vienna, Austria. Qin began his musical journey at the age of 5 and quickly gained recognition. He was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music Middle School in Beijing, China, where he studied under the guidance of Zhiwei Zhang and Qifang Li. In 2017, he joined The Barstow School and Young Artists Music Academy in Kansas City and currently studies with Stanislav Ioudenitch at the International Center for Music at Park University.

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