Music Guild Season to Conclude With Mendelssohn, Mozart and Copland

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

St. Matthew’s Music Guild will conclude its 39th season of concerts on Friday, May 31, with a concert beginning at 8 p.m., featuring the Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s.

“The concert features the orchestra’s concertmaster, YuEun Gemma Kim, in [Felix] Mendelssohn’s ‘Violin Concerto in E minor’ along with [Aaron] Copland’s ‘Music for Movies’ and [Wolfgang] Mozart’s ‘Solemn Vespers,’ with the Choir and Soloists of St. Matthew’s Parish,” read a statement from Music Guild.

Mendelssohn composed “Violin Concerto” in 1822, though it was not published until after his death.

“In 1951 a member of the Mendelssohn family presented the manuscript to violinist Yehudi Menuhin who presented the work at Carnegie Hall in 1952 and many times thereafter,” continued the Music Guild statement. “It is a tour-de-force for the violinist, and full of the youthful vivacity and charm of other works from the composer’s youth, such as the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ overture.”

Copland’s piece is gathered from music from three of his film scores (“The City,” “Our Town” and “Of Mice and Men”). It is a five-movement suite, designed for small orchestra and dedicated to French composer Darius Milhaud.

“Mozart composed the ‘Solemn Vespers’ in 1780 for use in the Salzburg Cathedral,” according to the Music Guild statement. “Far from a solemn work, the ‘Vespers’ features some of Mozart’s most beautiful and engaging choral music. The texts are all from the Book of Psalms with some movements bold and exuberant, others lyrical and quiet, and others in a strict contrapuntal style.”

Kim attended the University of Southern California beginning in 2013, where she studied with “famed violinist and teacher” Midori Goto. She has played internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, in a “wide variety of repertoire on modern and Baroque instruments.”

Other ensembles Kim performs with around the U.S., Asia and Europe include Delirium Musicum, American Bach Soloists, Boulder Bach Festival, Voices of Music, Noree Chamber Soloists and Kuhmo Chamber Music Society. She has been the concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s since 2022.

The concert will take place at St. Matthew’s Church, located at 1031 Bienveneda Avenue. Tickets are $45.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit musicguildonline.org or call 310-573-7422.