Eastman Showcase 2004
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A Musical Ambassador to Siberia
Sophia Gibbs Kim (MM ’98), the Jack L. Frank Instructor in flute in Eastman’s Community Music School, recently returned from a five-week stay in Siberia — as a participant in an exciting opportunity to bridge two countries through music. As a member of the American-Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO) she played in a five-week residency with Novosibirsk Philharmonic, only the third American musician to play within a Russian orchestra.
ARYO, a child of Glasnost, was founded in 1987 as a diplomatic initiative to bring the then Cold War superpowers together in an unprecedented partnership centered on young people and music. It has since gained international recognition as a world-class musical ambassadorship and training program.
Novosibirsk, deep in the heart of Siberia, is Russia’s third largest city. Sophia lived with a clarinetist in the Novosibirsk orchestra and his wife, a flutist in the city’s opera orchestra. She participated in day-to day-activities of the orchestra, performed in a concerto concert and in a solo recital, and taught at the Special School for Gifted Children, comparable to Eastman’s Community School. “Making music with Russian musicians is a very emotional experience,” says Sophia. “They really care about every phrase.”
Sophia’s concerto performance included two Eastman-related works: Night Soliloquy by the late Kent Kennan (BM ’34, MAS ’36), and the Serenade by Howard Hanson, Eastman’s most famous director. Her solo recital also included Kokopelli by ESM alumna Katharine Hoover (BM ‘59). “The Russians are very excited by American music, and by all new things,” says Sophia. “They really loved them. I was pleased to find that even in Siberia, musicians have heard of Eastman! I had instant credibility because they introduced me as ‘from Eastman.’”
“It was truly an amazing experience, like visiting another world,” says Sophia. “Before leaving, I was so concentrated on the concert preparation, it was all about the music. Once I was in Russia, it became a much larger experience, about people and about life.”