Recitals Australia Presents
Lunch Hour Spring Series
North Adelaide Baptist Church Hall – Tynte Street, North Adelaide
Saturday 26 October 2024, 3.30pm and online
This October marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Ives’s birth. Pianist Esmond Choi will perform and share his journey on Ives’s First Piano Sonata.
“…The more one lives with this music and his life, the more giant Ives appears. He just rises and rises… He’s one of the greatest giants in music; I think he is one of the greatest giants in humanity.” James Sinclair
Throughout his musical life, Charles Ives faced constant disapproval from the American audience. However, towards the end of his life, he triumphed over this obstacle. This triumph was made possible by the unconditional love and support of his wife, Harmony Twichell Ives, who stood by him through it all.
His father, George Ives, demonstrated and taught him. Regardless of the style of music, from J.S. Bach to Stephen Foster, they are all equally important and significant in one way or another. By rejecting the conventional path to Europe and receiving additional training to become a full-fledged professional musician, Charles Ives embraced the sounds he heard around him in the New England Country life, a unique approach that would shape his musical journey.
Esmond Choi
Charles Ives (1847-1954)
Piano Sonata No. 1
in 5 movements, 7 sections
I. Adagio con moto – Andante con moto – Allegro risoluto – Adagio cantabile
IIa. Allegro moderato – Andante
IIb. Allegro – Meno mosso con moto
III. Largo – Allegro – Largo
IVa.
IVb. Allegro – Presto – Slow
V. Andante maestoso – Adagio cantabile – Allegro – Andante
Performance time approximately 40 mins.
An informative introduction by Esmond will precede the performance, and a post performance Q&A discussing Charles Ives will conclude the event.
Total event time is approximately one hour and ten minutes.
ABOUT Esmond
Esmond Choi is an Australian pianist/composer who has completed his undergraduate studies and continue studies with Lucinda Collins. He is currently studying Master of Philosophy in Performance with the supervision of Stephen Whittington and Konstantin Shamray; Esmond is researching Charles Ives’s artistic approach on being a musician and the preparation for performing the First Piano Sonata. For this project, he travelled to New England Conservatory in Boston and had a short intensive study with Stephen Drury on Charles Ives. Esmond is also the current pianist for the Novus ensemble with Jenny Hu (flute) and Jack Overall (Cello).
Under the name of Elder Music Lab, Esmond premiered the complete cycle of George Crumb’s Metamorphoses. Furthermore, he participated in PianoLab (2022) performing Crumb’s Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik and received a review from Limelight saying, “…Choi’s captivating performance was a revelation…”.
In 2023, Esmond made his solo debut at Tempo Rubato, Melbourne and received great success. Furthermore, under Dr Luke Dollman’s leadership, Esmond and a few other musicians were selected to be part of a collaboration project with Yong Siew Toh Conservatory’s new music ensemble OpusNovus and performed in Adelaide and Singapore. During the same year, Esmond was chosen to participate in the Recitals Australia’s fellowship program. In early 2024, Esmond performed Julia Wolfe’s East Boardway for solo Toy Piano at She Speaks Festival. And with the help of the fellowship program. Esmond presented two solo fringe recitals focusing on George Crumb’s complete Metamorphoses cycle and received a 5-star review from Barefoot Review: “Choi’s accomplished readings of these diverse and demanding works, combined with his thoughtful programming, made these recitals unforgettable.”
Recently, Esmond travelled back to the United States, San Francisco to attend the experimental music festival, The Other Minds Festival and Charles Ives conference in Bloomington, Indiana. The festival featured composers like Trimpin and Annea Lockwood, Jan Martin Smørdal, many more.