Buffalo Rising: BEETHOVEN’S EMPEROR with pianist Stewart Goodyear has both audience and musicians excited at Kleinhans
Article by Peter Hall, published on April 21, 2024
“It’s been four years since COVID-19 sent a chilling ripple, and sometimes it feels as if, like Sleeping Beauty, we’re just now finally out of a trance. Speaking of which, the opening contemporary work at the concert was created during COVID-19 by Canadian-born, Juilliard-trained, now California-based composer Vivian Fung, also in her 40s. Her “Prayer” was inspired by the music of the 12th-century Benedictine nun/composer/mystic Hildegard von Bingen. It’s beautiful reminding me of the best gaming music being heard today.
As conductor David Lockington told us from the podium, “Prayer” was originally composed to be performed during the COVID-19 shutdown by a virtual orchestra made up of 35 musicians representing 28 orchestras across Canada and intended to be heard not in a concert hall but over your mobile phone.”