In Monday’s (9/26) Hartford Courant (Connecticut), Vanessa de la Torre writes, “Never before had a hip-hop artist shared the stage with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra at the Bushnell, but Sunday proved to be a day of many firsts. Carolyn Kuan’s first full-length concert as the symphony’s music director was a free concert for the people, with popular pieces from ‘The Nutcracker’ and Beethoven setting up a medley of performances that flouted tradition. The Baltimore beatboxer named Shodekeh managed to blend a harmonica with his vocal percussion and got a standing ovation. In another surreal scene, UConn’s 100-member marching band performed the university fight song in the aisles of the ornate Mortensen Hall. There was even a juggler. It was billed as ‘Picnic in the Park,’ but event officials decided Friday night to move the show from Bushnell Park to the nearby concert hall under the threat of wet weather. … The orchestra’s new maestra, a native of Taiwan, first came to the United States at age 14 to attend high school in western Massachusetts and then Smith College as an undergraduate. Now 33, Kuan is the first woman to lead the orchestra, picked early this year out of seven finalists who each guest-conducted with the Hartford symphony.”
Photo by Charlie Shuck
Posted September 28, 2011
