Wednesday, October 22, 2008
By Matt Brady
Fort Collins Symphony Director Wes Kenney is about to be reunited with one of his most accomplished and interesting pupils after more than twenty years. Nokuthula Ngwenyama, 32, was eight years old when Kenney conducted her in a Los Angeles youth orchestra. At the time, Ngwenyama was only just beginning her studies with the violin, a pursuit that would lead her to international acclaim as a stellar soloist on the viola. “He was actually my first conductor ever,” Ngwenyama said in an interview. “I had studied before but that was really the beginning of my musical education as far as learning the orchestral repertoire.”
Though they parted ways after a couple of years, the two have managed to keep in touch, enough so to eventually come full circle with this weekend’s upcoming performance. “The music world is really small so I’ve heard about how he’s been doing and what he’s been up to and vice versa,” she said. “I haven’t seen him in a very long time so this is going to be very exciting.” Kenney concurs with the small-world view of musical circles, noting that there’s no question it attributed to this weekend’s reunion. “She (Ngwenyama) was an adjudicator for an international violin competition a couple years back in Salt Lake City and one of our (FC Symphony) players was also a judge there. They were talking and he mentioned my name and she said, ‘I know Wes Kenney!’” [Full Post]
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
By Matt Brady
Fort Collins Symphony Director Wes Kenney is about to be reunited with one of his most accomplished and interesting pupils after more than twenty years. Nokuthula Ngwenyama, 32, was eight years old when Kenney conducted her in a Los Angeles youth orchestra. At the time, Ngwenyama was only just beginning her studies with the violin, a pursuit that would lead her to international acclaim as a stellar soloist on the viola. “He was actually my first conductor ever,” Ngwenyama said in an interview. “I had studied before but that was really the beginning of my musical education as far as learning the orchestral repertoire.”
Though they parted ways after a couple of years, the two have managed to keep in touch, enough so to eventually come full circle with this weekend’s upcoming performance. “The music world is really small so I’ve heard about how he’s been doing and what he’s been up to and vice versa,” she said. “I haven’t seen him in a very long time so this is going to be very exciting.” Kenney concurs with the small-world view of musical circles, noting that there’s no question it attributed to this weekend’s reunion. “She (Ngwenyama) was an adjudicator for an international violin competition a couple years back in Salt Lake City and one of our (FC Symphony) players was also a judge there. They were talking and he mentioned my name and she said, ‘I know Wes Kenney!’” [Full Post]
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