Discoveries: Musical Postcards

Joseph Young, conductor | Bokyung Byun, guitar
Villa-Lobos – Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9
Rodrigo – Concierto de Aranjuez
Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 4 (Italian)

Inspiration can be found in many places —from music we hear to vacations we take. Bach’s music fascinated Villa-Lobos, who traces connections between the German composer and the music of Brazil in his Bachianas Brasileiras. The royal site of Aranjuez deeply moved Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo, whose alluring Concierto de Aranjuez has come to be the most famous work for guitar and orchestra, even finding its way into commercials for popular brands. Korean guitarist Bokyung Byun, the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, brings the music Rodrigo described as “the perfume of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains” to life. Mendelssohn’s vacation to Italy led to the irrepressibly joyful Italian Symphony. American conductor Joseph Young, music director of the Berkeley Symphony and Peabody Conservatory – and an engaging educator of the young and young-at-heart – conducts.