MusicUNTOLD receives program notes for world premiere performance of "Candlelight for Soprano" of South Korean Composer Dr. Joo Poong Kim

Dr. Joo Poong Kim

John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

MusicUNTOLD received program notes for world premiere performance of "Candlelight for Soprano" by South Korean educator/composer Dr. Joo Poong Kim during 50th Anniversary Martin Luther King, Jr 'SYMPHONY of BROTHERHOOD' Concert on Sunday, August 18, 2013, Zipper Hall-Colburn Hall, downtown Los Angeles.

See attachment

Thanks
John Malveaux
www.musicuntold.com

Program Note: "Candlelight for Soprano" 

This piece was composed to commemorate and honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose vision and leadership helped our society to advance towards greater civil equality for all. This piece attempts to capture the fragility of a candle’s flame, vulnerable to being extinguished by the slightest of winds. Yet with consistent care and protection, even this fragile flame can light the way in the darkest of times. Dr. King was that care and protection, kindling the fragile flame of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. That flame grew stronger and brighter, and ultimately lit the way towards greater equality for the entire nation. This piece is, therefore, titled “Candlelight” to express Dr. King’s legacy. The melody attempts to express the equality of all men and women through its harmonious sounds, while the vertical harmony of the accompaniment is structured as a dissonant chord, composed using the homophonic texture. We may have heard the phrase “The night is darkest before the dawn.” The interaction between the harmonious melody and inharmonic accompaniment represents the struggle and darkness that faced Dr. King and his followers during the Civil Rights Movement. Yet the piece concludes by reaching an overall harmony. This ultimate harmony represents not only the achievements of Dr. King’s vision, but also this composer’s hope that the advances in civil rights we enjoy today continue to strive so that Dr. King’s vision of equality for African-Americans extends to equality for all minority groups.