Wooden Fish Ensemble performs Joy of Beginning (2024) by Hyo shin Na

Hyo shin Na

Joy of Beginning (2024)

Wooden Fish Ensemble: Sue-mi Shin, violin; Rick Shinozaki, violin ; Sarah Lee, viola; Thalia Moore, cello; Thomas Schultz, piano

Joy Of Beginning for string quartet and piano was inspired by a Bertolt Brecht poem.

The Joy Of Beginning by Bertolt Brecht
Oh the joy of beginning! Oh early morning!
The first grass, when we seem to have forgotten
The color green. Oh, the first page of a book,
Long anticipated, utterly surprising! Read it

Slowly, since all too quickly
The un-read portion grows thin! And the first splash
Of water on my sweat-drenched face! A fresh,
Cool shirt! Oh, the beginning of work! Filling oil

Into the cold engine! The first try and the first hum
Of the motor springing into action! And the first drag
Of tobacco that fills the lungs! And oh, you,
You new thought, new idea!

This work was composed in 2024 with the generous support of InterMusic SF and the Elaine and Richard Fohr Foundation. (HSN)

Hyo-shin Na has written for western instruments, and for traditional Korean and Japanese instruments and has written music that combines western and Asian instruments and ways of playing. Her music for traditional Korean instruments is recognized by both composers and performers in Korea (particularly by the younger generation) as being uniquely innovative. Her writing for combinations of western and eastern instruments is unusual in its refusal to compromise the integrity of differing sounds and ideas; she prefers to let them interact, coexist and conflict in the music.
 
Sue-mi Shin has been performing in the violin section with the Monterey Symphony for the past nine seasons. Ms. Shin holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the Yale School of Music. She is also candidate for DMA at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Her major teachers include Ariana Bronne, Syoko Aki and Donald Portnoy. She has been coached by the members of the American String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet and Verdehr Trio and has performed in master classes for Charles Castleman and David Kim.
 
Rick Shinozaki is principal second violin of Symphony Silicon Valley and concertmaster of the Nova Vista Symphony. Solo appearances include the world premiere of Viennese composer Zdzislaw Wysocki's Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra under Kent Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony. Rick has collaborated closely with Bay Area composers Mark Fish and Durwynne Hsieh, commissioning, performing and editing their work, most notably premiering Hsieh's Concerto for Marimba, Violin and Orchestra with the Marin Symphony.
 
Violist Sarah Lee has performed with numerous orchestras, and chamber ensembles, and internationally performed solo works. Sarah is a member of the Monterey Symphony, the Santa Cruz Symphony, and performs with several other distinguished Californian symphonies. In addition, she performs in diverse Bay Area ensembles such as Opera Parallele, One Found Sound, and the Lucky Devils Band. Sarah was a featured soloist at Oxford Music Festival and has participated in other festivals, including National Repertory Orchestra, Kent Blossom Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. She's been Principal Viola at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
  
Thalia Moore joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Associate Principal Cello in 1982. A Washington D.C. native, she began her cello studies with Robert Hoftnekler, and after only 5 years of study, appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. She attended the Juilliard School of Music as a scholarship student of Lynn Harrell, and received her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in 1979 and 1980. While at Juilliard, she was the recipient of the Walter and Elsie Naumberg Scholarship and won First prize in the National Arts and Letters String Competition. In addition to her position in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Ms. Moore joined the cello section of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra in 1989.
 
Thomas Schultz has established an international reputation both as an interpreter of music from the classical tradition—particularly Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt—and as one of the leading exponents of the music of our time. Among his recent engagements are solo recitals in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, Ghent, Seoul, Taipei and Kyoto, and at the Schoenberg Festival in Vienna, the Piano Spheres series in Los Angeles, Korea's Tongyoung Festival, the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento and the April in Santa Cruz Festival.

Recorded live April, 27th 2025 at Old First Concerts, 1751 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94109. For more upcoming concerts please visit oldfirstconcerts.org