Student Musings

by Jisang Kymm, Princeton University Class of 2028

Jisang Kymm is a first year student intending to pursue a degree in Math at Princeton University. He is a violist and a winner of the 2024 Princeton University Orchestra Concerto Competition. In January 2025, he was an intern with PUC, acting as a patron guide for PUC’s installation of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra experience in virtual reality and spatial sound, among other projects.

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO), founded by legendary conductor Claudio Abbado in 1997, certainly lives up to the “chamber” in its name; agile, dynamic, and adaptive, the MCO pushes the boundaries of ensemble playing, championing world premieres and contemporary works while simultaneously reimagining and reinvigorating well-loved pieces in the traditional repertoire with innovative perspectives and exploratory interpretations. 

Indeed, no better word than “exploration” describes “Mahler Chamber Orchestra: in Virtual Reality and Spatial Sound.” The exhibit, featuring Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, redefines the role of the audience member not as a passive recipient of sound but as an active explorer, commander, and executive director of their own experience. As a PUC intern, I was fortunate to personally see and support the various ways in which people explored the exhibit—some sinking to the floor in meditation, others becoming conductors and violin virtuosos in their private virtual worlds, and still others (mostly small children) playing virtual reality hide and seek. 

As soon as the headset envelops your ears and eyes, you are no longer in the brightly-lit, expansive ceilings of Woolworth Center’s McAlpin Hall—you are now in the verdant groves of Shakespeare’s Fairyland, where Oberon and Titania, monarchs of the Fairies, hold dominion. Shimmering particles coalesce into the members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, each musician enveloped in a gossamer glow. And then the music begins, Mendelssohn’s graceful melodies just as magical as the setting it inhabits. Just as Shakespeare depicts a world caught between dreams and materiality, fantasy and reality, the MCO’s virtual reality exhibit invites the viewer to inhabit and explore a strange and beautiful realm that is all at once virtual, ethereal, and yet stunningly present.

by Lou Chen, Princeton University Class of 2019, founder and outgoing manager of Trenton Arts at Princeton, and PUC Committee member

Lou Chen founded Trenton Arts at Princeton as a student at Princeton University and was asked to continue the program as a staff member after graduation. Throughout his nearly ten years at Princeton, both as a student and a colleague to the PUC staff through his work with our Neighborhood Music Project, Lou has attended almost every PUC concert.

I don’t know what I had expected. But it wasn’t this. To feel so at ease in this beautiful, stately space. To feel such a close kinship with my fellow aural travelers, even though I knew none of them. And to feel so transported by the sound of bows kissing strings. One month since I arrived on campus as an anxious, adrift first-year, I finally felt at home.

As a Princeton student, I used to joke that the best part of living in Rocky College was that Carnegie Hall was only a few steps away. Thanks to Princeton University Concerts (PUC), students had the opportunity to watch world-class musicians perform in Richardson Auditorium.

Attending these concerts became as much a part of my routine as writing papers or hunting for free boba. Almost every Thursday evening, I’d eat dinner in Rocky, then walk over to Richardson and savor the music on offer: the gauzy sweetness of flutist Emmanuel Pahud, the pulsating dynamism of the Arcanto String Quartet, the soaring richness of mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton. During the intermission for students (called Internoshin’), I’d stuff my pockets full of free cookies and spirit them away to my dorm for later enjoyment, returning to my seat just in time for the second half.

The moment I entered the warm embrace of Richardson’s curved walls, whatever stress I was carrying with me would immediately evaporate. No more worrying about the problem set due tomorrow or the performance next week for which I was ill-prepared. Instead my thoughts would turn to, and only to, the music.

Indeed, it was when I was most stressed that I would force myself to attend PUC concerts. Tempting as it was to worry that two hours listening to music would mean two fewer hours doing coursework, I knew, deep down, that I would emerge from Richardson newly energized to tackle the task at hand.

After graduating in 2019, I was hired to work in the Department of Music and run the Trenton Arts at Princeton program. In this role, I was able to work closely with PUC on their new educational outreach program. And in a wonderful coming of full circle, I began to volunteer at PUC concerts: greeting patrons, handing out programs, assisting artists. I was no longer a guest of Richardson: now, I was one of its guardians.

And then, less than a year into my job, the pandemic shuttered Richardson’s doors. I watched as PUC concert after PUC concert was canceled. At first, as we all did, I hoped that the lockdown was temporary. Sure, it was tragic that we had to cancel Mitsuko Uchida, but in just a few weeks when the situation improved, we’d be able to present the Dover String Quartet! But no. The pandemic was here to stay. And Richardson – once bustling, once perpetually full of music – fell silent.

I did what I could do to maintain my connection to Richardson. During Zoom meetings, I’d put up a virtual background of the auditorium stage. While walking on campus, I’d stop outside and peer through the glass doors, as if to glimpse the ghosts of musicians past. And while writing emails, I’d play recordings of music to which I had been introduced in Richardson–Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, Dvořák’s “American” Quintet–as if the mere act of listening to these pieces would teleport me into the auditorium. I told myself, over and over, that the day would eventually come when the walls of Richadson would vibrate with music again, and my ears would embrace the music as an old friend.

That day finally came. Later than we had hoped, but it came. When the University reopened its doors last fall, Richardson slowly came alive. First, with a trickle of events–a talk here, a performance there. Then, a flood. It was as if a dam had burst; as if our pent-up desire for in-person interaction had found in Richardson a major outlet. As unconducive as the auditorium was to social distancing – seriously, woe betide the audience member with long legs – there was no replacing the utter joy, the utter relief, of being back in that space.

On February 17, PUC hosted its first Concert Classics performance in two years. I was assigned to check vaccination cards, which I did with an almost manic enthusiasm that I’m pretty sure frightened some of the patrons. But I couldn’t help it. Imagine if you were left without water for days; then, finally, someone gave you a glass. Would you sip it genteely? No, of course not. You would gulp it down greedily, water trickling down your mouth and splashing onto your clothes. You would drink as you have never drunk before, words of gratitude spilling from your parched lips as they take in life-giving liquid.

My PUC colleagues often joke that I need better hobbies. Who spends a weekday evening volunteering at a concert, instead of watching a movie or getting drinks with friends? It’s a good question, and one that I’ve pondered myself.

Perhaps the answer is a simple one:

Being in Richardson is not a hobby for me. That now, almost seven years since my first PUC concert, it’s remained a part of my routine even while everything around me has changed; even while I have changed.

And so, if you ever need me on a Wednesday or Thursday evening, you know where to find me. Standing outside Richardson, beaming through my mask, welcoming patrons to the concert – and welcoming myself back home.

by Ashley George, Princeton University Class of 2026

Ashley George is a Co-Chair of the Princeton University Concerts Student Ambassadors Committee. She is pursuing a degree in English and is also a member of the Chapel Choir.

To learn more about the soprano Golda Schultz and pianist Joanthan Ware’s performance on April 8, 2024, click here.

Having performed at some of the world’s greatest opera houses, Golda Schultz will soon be making her PUC debut at Richardson Auditorium. As the only solo vocalist in the 2023-2024 concert series, she is sure to deliver a unique performance that is not to be missed.

The concert’s program, entitled “This Be Her Verse”: Exploring the Female Perspective, has been described as “a love-letter to women in music.”

In this program, Schultz will be giving a voice to female composers such as Emilie Mayer whose talents have too often been overlooked. And not just any voice. Schultz’s soprano voice is absolutely stunning, with its warm tone and sparkling clarity.

I’m especially excited to hear her take on Rebecca Clarke’s musical arrangement of one of my favorite poems: W.B. Yeats’s “Down by the Salley Gardens”! I’m certain that Schultz’s deeply emotional delivery, paired with the poignant lyrics of the song, will leave the audience with a longing in their hearts and a tear in their eyes.

by Emily Yang, Princeton University Class of 2026

Emily Yang is pursuing a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Princeton University. In January 2024, she completed an internship with PUC.

To learn more about the soprano Golda Schultz and pianist Joanthan Ware’s performance on April 8, 2024, click here.

Born in South Africa, based in Germany, and on a worldwide trajectory, star soprano Golda Schultz is coming to New Jersey for her Princeton University Concerts debut in April. The program, “This Be Her Verse,” features a repertoire of operatic music composed by women.

What is it like when women tell their own stories?

Some of the pieces Schultz will be performing are by more well-known classical composers, like Clara Schumann (famed German pianist and composer) and Nadia Boulanger (eminent French teacher of generations of composers). Others are from composers who were highly regarded in their time, but have since been largely forgotten, such as prolific German composer Emilie Mayer and British-American composer/viola virtuoso Rebecca Clarke.

Some things I love about the program:

– I’m especially excited to hear Schultz and pianist Jonathan Ware perform Lieder, Op. 12: Lorelei — Clara Schumann’s dramatic piece about a sea siren — and Down by the Salley Gardens, a beautifully melancholy setting by Rebecca Clarke.

– In true Princeton fashion, keep an ear out for Schultz’s performance of The Tiger — the famous William Blake poem, set to music by Rebecca Clarke.

– The program also features a new piece, commissioned by Schultz and Ware in 2022: This Be Her Verse, written by multi-instrumentalist Kathleen Tagg and poet Lila Palmer — a dynamic three-piece song cycle about the experiences of women.

Schultz is a radiant singer, capturing emotions from dramatic to tender, exuberant to contemplative — what a joy and honor it will be to hear her bring the voices of women composers to life, through her own unforgettable voice!

by Lukas Arenas, Princeton University Class of 2026

Lukas is pursuing a degree in History at Princeton University. He has been PUC’s Office Assistant since Fall 2022 and became a PUC Student Ambassador in Spring 2023.

To learn more about Víkingur Ólafsson’s recital on Thursday, February 8, 2024, click here.

After a riveting concert in November of 2022, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson will be returning to Princeton University Concerts (PUC) and Richardson Auditorium with a performance of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations. As someone who attended Ólafsson’s previous PUC concert, I am deeply excited to see him perform once again. Ólafsson plays with a strong sense of passion, technicality, and ingenuity that can captivate his audience with ease. His masterful tonal control and articulation make him an ideal candidate to bring Bach’s music to life.

Published in 1741, the Goldberg Variations stands as one of J.S. Bach’s most ambitious works. It consists of thirty musical variations of a beautiful aria that plays over a ground bass. The piece is primarily in the key of G major and incorporates stirring technicality, syncopations, varied time signatures, and a persistent sense of creativity and enthusiasm. Such a piece displays the grandeur and extravagance of the Baroque period, while also incorporating some of the idealism that characterized the Classical period.

Given his musical prowess, Víkingur Ólafsson is more than capable of doing justice to the ambitious Goldberg Variations. His accolades of Best Instrumental Album and Album of the Year at the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards for his recording of Bach are evidence of just that.

As someone who loves Baroque music and was inspired by Ólafsson’s previous performance on PUC’s season, I am eager to see Ólafsson’s upcoming rendition of the Goldberg Variations. I believe it will be a must-see for fans of Baroque and Classical music alike.

by Andrew Park, Princeton University Class of 2026

In addition to being a PUC Student Ambassador, Andrew is a member of the Princeton University Orchestra and is the Arts/Special Events Chair for the New College West residential college.

To learn more about the Hagen String Quartet’s performance on March 7, 2024, click here.

To learn more about the Doric String Quartet’s performance on May 2, 2024, click here.

This season’s Princeton University Concerts (PUC) patrons have the wondrous privilege of seeing two of the world’s greatest string quartets, the Hagen and Doric String Quartets. I am excitedly awaiting the former’s return and the latter’s debut here at Princeton.

What I believe makes the string quartet, as a genre and ensemble, wonderful is its simultaneous simplicity and intricacy. 

Without the winds, brass, and percussion of an orchestra, stripping away melodic and harmonic excess allows chamber music to return to a four-part harmony. This is a proven and reliable framework that’s still open to immense ornamentation and creativity! Whether a composer adheres to the baroque voice leading tradition or decides to break the mold, the archetype tends to be easy for audiences to initially follow yet filled with enough nuance to encourage re-evaluation. Such interpretation is subject to individual opinion, but I find string quartets’ reduced ensemble size and structure easier to aurally digest.

The quartet’s combination of solo expertise with conductor-less collaboration allows for inspired interpretation. I love when composers compensate for the reduced parts by infusing each remaining one with greater harmonic variety and virtuosity, bringing out each string instruments’ potential.

For better and worse, every part is frequently without rest nor backup, demanding that each player stay continuously attentive.

Without a conductor in tow, highlighting and exposing players’ sounds challenges each to prove not just their talent but also their teamwork. As a string player myself, I especially adore that the players have complete artistic freedom, encouraging not just musical experimentation but mandating immense collaboration. I believe the best string quartets extract the symphony’s bombastic power and perfectly combine it with a soloist’s delicacy, offering near boundless-potential for composer and performance alike.

And to think that I haven’t even mentioned the actual quartets performing at PUC yet!

It’s wonderful to have the Hagen quartet, a venerable group of over forty years, come to Princeton once more. Prior reviews highlight their “sparkling spontaneity” and “textual transparency”, both praises I second after listening to their recordings. As someone with a classical music-playing brother myself, I’d personally love to know how the Hagen siblings’ upbringing and educational experiences contribute to their artistic decisions. A group that has completed both the Mozart and Beethoven string quartets, their Princeton program, a trio of minor key quartets, embraces yet distances themselves from the classical-era quartet. 

Haydn is a textbook-definition classical-era composer and is considered the Father of the String Quartet for his prolific output, so the decision to play Op. 76 No. 2 stands out for its minor key and ornamentation – it defies expectation. Keep your ears ready for the 3rd movement, a two part canon-esque minuet that defies convention. Debussy’s sole quartet is another unorthodox but inspired choice, an impressionist, poetic work whose keys and sounds challenge rules of classical harmony. This work was made only one year before Debussy’s famed Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune – it reflects the nasency of the composer’s vibrant, innovative style. Beethoven’s 14th String Quartet, the final piece on the repertoire, is a groundbreaking, unusual piece even by Beethovian standards. Consisting of seven movements and written only one year before his passing, it’s an emotional whirlwind and a worthy conclusion to any quartet concert – after all, if Beethoven (apocryphally) claims it as among his favorites, who are we to dispute? Each quartet may primarily be in a minor key, but all are certain to be major delights and enlightening listens for even our most experienced patrons.

Meanwhile, we’ve been waiting years for the Doric Quartet to make its PUC debut, which makes their upcoming concert all the more exciting! It’s always exciting to listen to a group capable of performing all kinds of quartets, and from what I can tell, Doric is one of these ensembles. I look forward to musing about this young quartet over Spring Break, when I have more time to breathe and listen to their music!

by Audrey Yang, Princeton University Class of 2025

Audrey Yang is pursuing a degree in French at Princeton University. In January 2023, she completed an internship with PUC and signed on to be the leader of the Student Ambassadors program.

To learn more about the Jupiter Ensemble’s appearance and get your tickets, click here.

The Jupiter Ensemble is unique in its founding — in 2018, lutenist Thomas Dunford called upon influential musicians he had encountered in his career, asking them to join him on a new musical adventure. In this way, the Jupiter Ensemble was born, a group of younger musicians channeling a shared musical energy to bring early music to life. The Jupiter Ensemble’s performances highlight the passion, power, and emotion in early music through their unique approach to playing together, marked by a striking sense of improvisational and collaborative freedom. 

Thomas Dunford has collaborated with many classical musicians and ensembles, but also cites jazz among his influences. Improvisation, after all, is something that transcends the limits of “classical” or “jazz”, which you might see as very separate categories and styles. From improvised jazz solos to baroque ornamentation, vocal riffs, and classical cadenzas, gaining exposure to different modes of improvisation can benefit any musician. 

You may feel as though classical music is guided by many rules, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t space for freedom and creativity in interpretation. The Jupiter Ensemble embodies just that: the spirit of creating and recreating musical works through collaboration and innovation.

For a younger audience, the Jupiter Ensemble is an excellent example of how we might dare to leave our own interpretive marks on already established repertoire, perhaps even teaching a greater lesson: not to be afraid to be a new voice in an age-old conversation. 

by Audrey Yang, Princeton University Class of 2025

Audrey Yang is pursuing a degree in French at Princeton University. In January 2023, she completed an internship with PUC and signed on to be the leader of the Student Ambassadors program.

To learn more about Alina Ibragimova’s and Cédric Tiberghien’s appearance and to get your tickets, click here.

Alina Ibragimova, violin, and Cédric Tiberghien, piano, are both well-known for their musical versatility, eagerly performing a wide range of repertoire from baroque to new commissions.

They bring this flexibility to the Richardson stage, performing Schumann’s first two violin sonatas, Mendelssohn’s Violin Sonata in F Minor Op. 4, and Webern’s Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, an chance for us all to gain exposure to lesser-known romantic pieces and modern repertoire. 

Additionally, these pieces all explore the idea of ‘firsts,’ each being its composer’s attempt at doing something new. Schumann had remarked, “I did not like the first Sonata for Violin and Piano; so I wrote a second one, which I hope has turned out better.”

Mendelssohn wrote his Violin Sonata in F Minor at only 14 years old, through which we may appreciate the calm, undramatic beauty of his early composition before he became known for more dramatic expressions. Webern’s Four Pieces for Violin and Piano Op. 7 is also regarded as the start of his experiments on form and sound material, and was his first piece ever printed.

Through these works, we might be able to gain insight into what it means to be producing creative work just for the sake of producing it — to be unapologetic about our ‘firsts,’ and to always seek challenges which push us to grow in our own passions.

by Perla Diaz, Trenton Central High School Class of 2023

Perla Diaz is a senior at Trenton Central High School (TCHS), where she plays in the TCHS Orchestra and participates in programming by our partners at Trenton Arts at Princeton (TAP). She began playing the violin when she was in the fifth grade and started playing in the Trenton Youth Orchestra in 2019..

To learn more about Alexi Kenney’s appearance and get your tickets, click here.

I cannot wait to hear 29 year old music explorer Alexi Kenney captivate us all with what’s sure to be a breathtaking performance of his Shifting Ground program. We are honored to hear an artist as talented as Kenney play his “blend” of Bach and contemporary pieces, a program with a fascinating choice of music that you wouldn’t put together otherwise. Even if it is not your first time listening to Kenney play, you are up for a ride, an experience difficult to forget. Some of the pieces on his program are absolutely gorgeous and hypnotizing, while others are weirdly creepy but mesmerizing at the same time.

In his Shifting Ground program, Kenney uses the piece “Under A Tree” by Du Yun, a chanting recording of the ancient language Vedic Sanskrit, as a backing track to one of the pieces he will perform.

While listening to the set, I was fascinated by the soft, melodic beginning and the change to more harsh, snappy sounds. It became unsettling but entertaining. It’s definitely one of the pieces I want to hear the most in person!”

The pieces Kenney will be performing are proof that music, however different, can still come together and create something enjoyable for all.

by Helia Cui, Princeton University Class of 2023

Helia is pursuing a degree in Music at Princeton University. In January 2023, she completed a Princeternship with PUC through the University’s Center for Career Development.

To learn more about Fred Hersch’s appearance and get your tickets, click here.

If you didn’t know Fred Hersch before, a Google search would give you all his accolades — “a living legend”, “select member of jazz’s piano pantheon”, “fifteen-time GRAMMY nominee”. . . Equally legendary as his musical career, Fred was one of the first openly-gay, HIV-positive jazz musicians who remains an AIDS activist to this day.

At this point you may feel like Fred and you come from different universes. At his PUC debut, however, aside from bringing all that wonderful music, Fred will engage in an intimate conversation with the audience, sharing his experience facing what everyone inevitably faces — illness. In the year 2008, Fred was so sick from AIDS and related diseases that he fell into a two-month coma.

He came out of the coma unable to hold a pencil, not to mention being able to play the piano, and yet with an ever-deeper connection to music and a renewed determination to make as much music as he can.”

The project “Breath by Breath”, all composed by Fred during the pandemic, is a showcase of music’s ability to soothe, to reflect, and to invigorate.

The major part of the project, the eight-part Sati Suite (Sati is the Pali word for “mindfulness” or “awareness”) takes inspiration from Fred’s longtime insight meditation practice. When we think of meditation music, jazz may not be the first that comes to mind.

What does Fred find in meditation that he is now communicating to us through music? I can’t wait to hear.

Two more points on the program worth noting for classical music enthusiasts

– “Breath by Breath” features Fred’s first incorporation of a string quartet into his compositions.

– “Pastorale” which pays homage to Robert Schumann.

For the eminent musician, for the vibrant music, for an experience that speaks to our fundamental existence as human beings, this is a concert not to miss.

by Helia Cui, Princeton University Class of 2023

Helia is pursuing a degree in Music at Princeton University. In January 2023, she completed a Princeternship with PUC through the University’s Center for Career Development.

To learn more about Alexi Kenney’s appearance and get your tickets, click here.

Violinist Alexi Kenney’s upcoming program on Thursday, February 16, 2023  is unique first of all for its format. I would call it a “playlist” concert —single movements are played one after another mostly without pause.

Similar to how a modern listener would head to Spotify (or Apple Music) and select a playlist, Alexi will bring us a holistic program that not only takes inspiration from J. S. Bach but that is also his own expression, innovatively mixing Bach with works by composers of our time. If we think about it, all music written has once been ‘contemporary’ music.

Alexi’s program connects the “contemporary” music for Bach to contemporary music for us, bringing to light the common threads that transcend history.

Some things I love about the program:

– All the Bach pieces come from his Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, a foundational repertoire for the violin as a solo instrument. The ending piece of the program, the masterful, monumental Chaconne from Violin Partita No.2, is a series of variations on a repeating bass-line. This is a reference to the program title “Shifting Ground.”

How does this “ground” shift throughout the program? We can only listen to find out!

– As for the contemporary compositions, they have a story behind them that speaks to our shared experience living in today’s world.

The first contemporary piece in the program, “Playing Changes” from Violin Diptych by Samuel Adams, for instance, was written in the pandemic and came out of the composer’s desire to connect in the difficult time.

The piece by Du Yun, “Under A Tree,” uses as its backing track a recording of vedic Sanskrit chanting. I’m very curious to see how the violin would stand out against this religious backdrop.

– For those of you wondering how music could interact with visuals, the lighting of this production is designed by Jane Cox, Director of Princeton’s Program in Theater, award-winning lighting designer and two-time Tony Award nominee. Be ready for your eyes and ears to be pleased at the same time!