Beach Cities Symphony Concert Reviews and Articles

For reviews of recent Beach Cities Symphony concerts published in the newspaper Daily Breeze: 

[click here] for a review of the January 2007 concert "Beach Cities Symphony rises to rapture with virtuoso Cani!". 

[click here] for a review of the May 2006 concert "Review of Ian Counts' Rachmaninoff Concerto Performance with the Beach Cities Symphony". 

[click here] for a review of the January 2005 concert "Violinist steals show at Beach Cities Symphony". 

[click here] for a Daily Breeze article in November 2004:  "They're very different violinists with a common love -- making music".

[click here] for a review of the October 2004 concert "Soloists Carry Beach Cities Symphony's Mahler".

[click here] for a Daily Breeze article in October 2004: "Young artists signal bright musical future".

Young Audience Reviews

Review of Concert on Friday, March 25, 2005 – Soloist Sebastien Koch

Review by Kevin Jung*  

I was sitting in the dimmed auditorium, waiting for the soloist performance to start.  It wasn’t long before the stage lights turned on and dazzling light flooded the stage.  Maestro Barry Brisk and 1^st violinist Rebecca Rutkowski walked out onto the stage and the audience burst into applause.  Now, the only one left to come out was the soloist, Sebastien Koch.  My mind raced back to the time of my own performance with the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra, nearly five years ago.  What was I doing moments before coming onstage?  I remember being more nervous than I had ever been in my entire life.  My hands were cold, my legs were shaking, and I couldn’t even remember the first few measures of my piece!  I had a sick feeling in my stomach, and I couldn’t wait for the performance to just be over. 

Before Sebastien Koch came out, I wondered what he must have been going through, backstage.  Was he going through the same things I went through?  Was he sweating?  Practicing?  Nervous?  Tense?  Excited?

My answer came when Mr. Koch stepped out into the blinding stage lights and walked over to the piano.  His posture was upright but still relaxed.  He walked with confidence.  He was here to perform, and he was prepared and ready.  I knew then that he did not go through the same things I went through backstage.  I knew his performance would be wonderful even before he began.

The piece, Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 5 for Piano and Orchestra, was an absolute treat.   Saint-Saëns toured quite a bit, which also meant that he traveled quite a bit as well.  This piano concerto is sometimes named the “Egyptian” concerto, because the inspiration for this piece came from Saint-Saëns second trip to Luxor, Egypt in 1896.  When Saint-Saëns first performed this piece in Paris in June 1986, he had already been performing for 50 years.  It was proof that his skills were just as fine tuned as they were when he first started.  This piece is one that showcases a pianists technical and artistic ability, both of which Koch displayed.

In the first movement of the concerto, Koch effortlessly swept through the fast passages.  The first movement seemed structured and neat, as if it was the beginning of a Classical style piece.

Once the second movement began, the color of the music changed, and Koch's demeanor instantly changed, and he became increasingly focused.  The orchestra did a beautiful job with the second movement, and the soloist and orchestra combined into one beautiful sound.  The second movement had such an exotic sound, and by closing my eyes I was transported into distant lands in the Far East.

In the Molto Allegro, the final movement of the Saint-Saëns piano concerto, Koch continued adding intensity to his playing, up until an exciting finish, a dazzling display of virtuosity.  Koch’s performance was not simply one with just content, and merely delivering the notes, but one that showed depth and understanding of what the composer intended.

It was a wonderful performance, with the orchestra doing an excellent job as usual, a top-notch piano soloist, and a rare performance piece.  I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my Friday night any other way.

*The author of this review is currently a Junior at University of California  San Diego majoring in Computer Science. Kevin was a winner of the MTAC Artists of the Future contest and performed with the BCSO in May 1999.

This page last updated April 1, 2008

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