Urban Milwaukee Dial sings their praises of 'Violin Concerto No. 1'

"Fung’s concerto creates a mystic sonic landscape of colors and atmospheres that transport the listener to an otherworldly place."

Kristin Lee with the Milwaukee Symphony did a stunning job in bringing Violin Concerto No. 1 to life this past week! (May 14th-17th, 2015)
All the Colors of the Orchestra - review from Urban Milwaukee Dial
"If you ever like to put music on a linear timeline to see what has changed over the last couple of hundred years, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra program last weekend was a good spot to place your push pins. Two works of Ludwig van Beethoven from 1800 and 1812 were coupled with a sparkler by Maurice Ravel from around 1914 (orchestrated in 1919) and a stunning violin concerto from Vivian Fung that premiered in 2011—in music history terms, that ink is still wet.""What hasn’t changed in composition over that span is as notable as what has. The blending of orchestral colors is part of a composer’s craft, and a lot of what Fung did to paint the soundscape in her Violin Concerto is presaged in Ravel’s glittering Le Tombeau de Couperin and in the sonic surprises that Beethoven mustered from the growing forces he employed."..."Jump two hundred years ahead to Fung’s Violin Concerto, and what becomes apparent is that big dynamic contrasts and the power of thematic exchanges between soloist and orchestra are as exciting now as they were in Beethoven’s day. What is different is how Fung’s concerto creates a mystic sonic landscape of colors and atmospheres that transport the listener to an otherworldly place. Gamelan-inspired bursts of energy flash in and out of the fabric to be replaced by ghostly sighs and moans. Long glissandos filled the hall with aural sensuality, the curious orchestration techniques of mouthpiece buzzing in the trumpet and horn kept the listener off-balance, and haunting intervals in a trumpet and clarinet pairing had me looking around for a different instrument entirely.""Additionally, emphatic percussion effects created a fantastic musical tension that laid the foundation for the extraordinary playing of guest violinist Kristin Lee. Fung wrote the magical concerto for Lee, who wholly owns this piece. Her phenomenal technical ability makes Fung’s challenging music seem easy, but it is Lee’s rock-star vitality and passion that elevated the performance to levels of ecstasy. Fung’s concerto is worthy of becoming a regular part of the standard concerto repertoire, and Lee’s performance simply wowed me."by William BarnewitzRead full article here.