PAULA ZAHN HOSTS BENEFIT FOR INTERNATIONAL SEJONG SOLOISTS FEATURING VIOLINIST CHO-LIANG LIN AND CELLIST DAVID FINCKEL AND NEW YORK PREMIERE OF PENDERECKIS SINFONIETTA FOR STRINGS

CNN news anchor Paula Zahn will serve as emcee for Kaleidoscope," the fourth annual benefit concert of International Sejong Soloists (ISS) featuring violinist Cho-Liang Lin, cellist David Finckel and the New York premiere of Pendereckis Sinfonietta for Strings, on Sunday, November 9 at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. ISS is the New York-based conductor-less string ensemble that is widely-acclaimed for its precision, high energy, rich sound and interesting repertoire.

(PRWEB) October 13, 2003 --CNN news anchor Paula Zahn will serve as emcee for Kaleidoscope," the fourth annual benefit concert of International Sejong Soloists (ISS) featuring violinist Cho-Liang Lin, cellist David Finckel and the New York premiere of Pendereckis Sinfonietta for Strings, on Sunday, November 9 at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. Zahn, an experienced cellist who began playing when she was five, returns for the fourth consecutive year as host of the benefit for ISS, the New York-based conductor-less string ensemble that is widely-acclaimed for its precision, high energy, rich sound and interesting repertoire.

Cho-Liang Lin will join ISS violinist, Frank Huang, who is the winner of this years Naumberg competition, for Bachs Two Violin Concerto. Honored as Musical Americas Instrumentalist of the Year in 2000, Lin is one of todays leading violinists. In high demand across the U.S. and around the world, Lin has performed with New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, London Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonia, Israel Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His recordings on the Sony label have won Gramaphone awards and Grammy nominations, as well as Stereo Reviews Record of the Year" honors. In 1997 he founded the Taipei International Music Festival, the first large-scale international music festival in the history of his native country. He also has been the Artistic Director of SummerFest La Jolla since 2001. A faculty member of The Juilliard School, Lin resides in New York City.

David Finckel joins the ensemble for Haydns C Major Cello Concerto. Audiences around the world have been enchanted by Finckels elegant and impassioned interpretations of classic and contemporary masterpieces for the cello. Hailed by Germanys Nordwest Zeitung as one of the top ten, if not top five, cellists in the world today," Finckels recent activities as orchestral soloist include performances of the Shostakovich 1st Concerto with the Louisiana Philharmonic; the Haydn C major Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony; an Aspen Festival Orchestra debut in Bloch's Schelomo, under Sergiu Commissiona; the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomass Ritual Incantations with the Aspen Chamber Orchestra; and performances and a recording this season of John Harbisons Cello Concerto with the Albany Symphony. Finckel has also, with pianist Wu Han, launched Music@Menlo, a new chamber music festival in Silicon Valley and he is a co-founder of ArtistLed, the first musician-directed and Internet-based classical recording company (www.ArtistLed.com). As a cellist with the Emerson String Quartet, he has been a regular faculty member of the Isaac Stern Chamber Music workshops at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center.

The repertoire will also include the New York premiere of Pendereckis Sinfonietta for Strings and Griegs The Last Spring from Elegiac Melodies." The Sinfonietta for Strings is an orchestral version of his String Trio (1990-91). It was premiered internationally on February 17, 1992, by the Sinfonia Varsovia at the Polish Radio Concert Hall in Warsaw under the composers direction. Like many of Pendereckis shorter works, the Sinfonietta shares thematic material with several of his largest works -- in this case the Interludium between Acts I and II for his opera Ubu rex, which also dates from 1990-91, and the Adagio (Symphony No. 4) from 1989.

The event begins promptly at 6:45 p.m. and includes a cocktail reception and silent auction. Tickets are $200 for patron seating and $150 general admission and can be purchased by calling ISS at 212-580-5494. The New-York Historical Society is located at 2 West 77 Street at Central Park West.    

About International Sejong Soloists:
Praised by The Washington Post as a top-notch conductor-less string orchestra," ISS has performed at the worlds most prestigious venues since its founding in 1995. Uniquely comprised of todays leading young soloists hailing from eight different nations, the New York-based ensemble is known for its cohesiveness, beautiful sound, and refreshing style-performing string orchestral works as well as solo and chamber repertoire. Continually performing to capacity audiences, ISS has collaborated with artists such as Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Kyung Wha Chung, Vladimir Feltsman, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Sharon Isbin, Cho-Liang Lin, Carmen Pelton, Gil Shaham, Kyoko Takezawa, Benita Valente, and Eugenia Zuckerman. At the invitation of the World Cup committee, ISS performed for the 2002 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Congress representing 204 nations in Seoul, Korea. In December 2002, the ensemble was featured on CNNs American Morning with Paula Zahn.
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