(Above: Guest violinist Paul Huang performs with the Eugene Symphony on Dec. 9; guest conductor Erina Yashima is on the podium.)

By Randi Bjornstad

The Eugene Symphony’s concert on Thursday, Dec. 9, offers a couple of new twists in terms of musical stars, not to mention a program carefully crafted to complement the holiday season.

Erina Yashima is guest conductor with the Eugene Symphony on Dec. 9, 2021.

To begin with, the concert will be conducted by Erina Yashima, assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Yashima hails from Germany, where she was born to Japanese immigrant parents. At age 14, she got her first taste of conducting when she was a student at the Institute for the Early Advancement of the Musically Highly Gifted, a program of the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media.

According to the Philadelphia Orchestra’s website, in addition to her debut in Eugene, Yashima’s schedule in the 2021-22 season includes her first conducting appearances with the Seoul (Korea) Philharmonic, the Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestre Métropolitan in Montreal, the Albany (New York) Symphony, the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker in Germany, and the National Opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where she will conduct Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte.

Yashima began studying with the legendary Italian conductor Riccardo Muti in 2015, and has collaborated with musical luminaries that include cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christoph Eschenbach, and Edward Gardner.

A second up-and-coming musician, violinist Paul Huang, also makes his debut with the Eugene Symphony on Dec. 9, playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4. It will be preceded by Lyric for Strings by composer George Walker, described as a lament dedicated to his grandmother. The third piece will be Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, often referred to as Winter Dreams.

Born in Taiwan and now a resident of New York City, Huang began violin lessons at age 7 and was named the first winner of the Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He has appeared with orchestras internationally, and in addition to Eugene, he plans to make a whirlwind of debuts in 2021-22 with U.S. symphony orchestras in Colorado, Charlotte, Tucson, Knoxville, Des Moines, Brevard, and Reading. He has developed a reputation for successfully stepping in as a replacement for other star violinists, including Anne-Sophie Mutter and Midori.

Winter Dreams

When: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

Where: Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, One Eugene Center, downtown Eugene

Tickets: $10 (students); $25-$38-$50-$62 for adults; some packages and discounts available

Additional Opportunities:

  • Guild Concert Preview Discussion — 6:30 to 7 p.m. in the Silva Concert Hall
  • Dress rehearsal — 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8, as conductor, soloist, and symphony musicians hold a final rehearsal for the Thursday evening performance; tickets available in lots of two or four only, or by prior arrangement with the ticket office, at 541-682-5000

Information or tickets: eugenesymphony.org, hultcenter.org, ticket office at 541-682-5000

Covid-19 Protocol:

  • Photo ID and proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test, taken within 48 hours of the event required for entry to the Hult Center
  • Masks required at all times in the building

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