ORGAN
RECITAL
FRESCOBALDI
~ DE GRIGNY
J.S. BACH ~ VIERNE
SOOHWANG CHOI
RIEGER Organ
YoungSan Art
Hall ~ Seoul, Korea
RICHARDS FOWKES
Organ
Christ Church ~ New
Brunswick, New Jersey
MS1334 ~ $14.95
"Native
Korean Soohwang Choi...gives attractive recitals on two very different
instruments. First, on the Rieger Organ (2002) of the Youngsan Art Hall, Seoul,
Korea, she gives a varied program with a wide range of styles, beginning with
two contrasted Toccatas by Girolamo Frescobaldi, the first a “dissonance and
suspension” toccata with unexpected chords and syncopations, appropriate for
the most dramatic moment in the Mass, the elevation of the Host. The other is a
better-behaved, homophonic toccata, intended to inspire a mood of reverence.
Next, Ave Maria Stellis by Nicholas de Grigny uses reed stops, uneven
rhythms (notes inégales)
and rich ornamentation to create an intimate effect appropriate to the Feast of
the Annunciation. Finally, the highly chromatic Symphony No. 1 by Louis Vierne
uses all the resources of the Rieger, a true symphonic organ. Its six movements
consist of a solemn Prelude, a strict Fugue leading up to a fff dynamic,
a gentle Pastorale featuring hautbois and flute in dialog, a lively
Allegro, a sweet but rather bland Andante, and an Animated Finale. On the
Richard Fowkes Organ of
Christ Church
,
New Brunswick
,
New Jersey
, Choi gives an eloquent account of J.S. Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 2 in C Minor,
BWV 526, a work that demands as much from the pedals as it does the manuals. The
mystery and charm of the opening Allegro, reminiscent of Bach’s Concerto for 2
Violins, is succeeded by a
Largo
of delicate beauty and an Allegro finale with a joyous ritornello.”
Audio
Video Club of Atlanta ~ December 2009
“In
this recital of organ works from three centuries and three different countries,
SooHwang Choi plays with superior technique and outstanding musicality. Also she
demonstrates an impeccable understanding of the contrasting musical styles of Frescobaldi,
de Grigny, Bach, and Vierne.”
George
Ritchie
Professor of Organ Emeritus
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
“SooHwang
Choi performs with a grace and elegance that is rare in the world of organ
playing. She is comfortable with an unusually wide range of styles—from
Frescobaldi to Vierne. Whether performing small, intimate works written for the
elevation at Communion or large, grandiose compositions crafted for concert
performance, she is able to capture the spirit of the music and bring it to an
engaging realization.”
George
B. Stauffer
Dean and Professor of Music
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Rutgers
University
*
* *
SooHwang
Choi maintains
an active career as an organist. She has given debut concerts at “The New Wave
Organist” of Japan’s Organists Association in Japan in 1996, a solo recital
at the Sejong Cultural Center in Korea in 1997, and a solo recital in the United
States under the title, “The Journey of Faith Through Early Organ Music”. As
a recording artist, Ms. Choi has released several live organ concerts on CD that
feature early music from Italy, France and Germany. Based on her own research of
the life and works of Girolamo Frescobaldi and J. S. Bach, she has articles for
several academic journals. In addition, her lectures on the subject have
included collaborations with Professor Edoard Bellotti at the Symposium in
Korea. In Korea, Ms. Choi has taught as an organ lecturer at Dankuk University,
Pyungtaeck University, Ewha Womans University, and Hansei University and was an
affliated faculty member of Sungkyul University. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree
in Church Music from Ewha Womans University (Seoul, Korea), a Master’s Degree
majoring in organ from Musashino Academi Musicae (Tokyo, Japan), and a Doctoral
degree majoring in organ from Hansei University (Kunpo, Korea). She has also
been awarded scholarships as an honored student from Ewha Womans University,
Hansei University, Rutgers University, and a full scholarship from the ‘Ministry
of education of Japan’. Ms. Choi is currently pursuing an additional doctoral
degree at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New
Jersey, where she is an assistant organist. She studied with Antonius Bittmann,
Dean George B. Stauffer, Mark Trautman, MoonKyung Chae, JaKyung Oh, and Teruhisa
Fujieda. She took further organ courses of study with Jon Lauvik, P.
Wackwitz, Hans Davidsson, William Porter, Edorado Bellotti, Christoph Wolff,
Peter Williams, Jean Guillou, Ludger Lohmann, Christoph Bossert, Davitt Moroney,
and Tsuguo Hirono in Germany, Italy, Korea, and Japan. She has made concert
appearances in New Jersey, New York, Tokyo, Yokohama, Musashino, Shinjuku,
Kanagawa, Kawaguzi, Wonju, Seoul, Berlin, and Smarano, receiving much critical
acclaim. As a result, she has been the subject of numerous articles published in
leading Korean music magazines and newspapers. SooHwang Choi is a staff member
of the Korean Organist Society and main organist of Palisades Church in New
Jersey.
