Proclaimed “incredible” and “impeccable” (Craig Bakay, Frontenac News, 2019), Clara Moellman’s performances show off “her passion and her persistence,” according to Orchestra Kingston music director John Palmer, who adds, “She has really impressed everyone.”
Clara Moellman, winner of multiple Kiwanis Music competitions, recalls, “I was 13 years old when I first heard a recording of this violin concerto by the famous David Oistrakh. I knew, even back then, that I wanted to achieve that kind of strength and power of interpretation.”
Kingston audiences will be the winners when they hear Clara Moellman perform the truly “barnstorming” Max Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 with Orchestra Kingston, Sunday 19 February 2023 at The Spire 2:30pm in Kingston.
After many years of intensive study and practise with well-known Kingston teacher and violinist Caroline Bourque, 16 year old Clara says, “I now understand well all the orchestral colours of Bruch’s ‘grand and lyrical’ piece.”
Moellman explains the wide, emotional range of the Bruch. “The first movement is meditative and introduces me to the audience. Then, the tender melodies of the second movement lead to a kind of conversation between me and the orchestra. Finally,” she concludes, “the joyful, exuberant third movement leads us all to the concerto’s final, fiery finish.”
Palmer says, “Music does great things for kids and families, offering young people like Ms Moellman the self-discipline that leads to knowing exactly what they are doing and exactly what they want. The Moellman family is a pleasure to work with.”
Celebrating women in the Arts, the concert program concludes with the “big hearted” Gaelic Symphony No. 2 by Amy Beach. With over 300 compositions to her credit, Beach was the “most frequently performed American composer of her generation.”
Praised as “big hearted, irresistible, confident” (Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone, 2003) this work was the most successful of any symphony composed by her contemporaries. Beach drew inspiration for this large orchestral work from the simple, rugged, and unpretentious beauty of Old English, Irish, and Scottish melodies; thus, she subtitled the work, “Gaelic”.
An American child prodigy, Amy Beach made her performance debut at 16 years of age and within ten years published the Symphony No. 2 in E minor, her “Gaelic Symphony”, then saw it debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, all while she was still in her twenties.