Download: Vivian Fung Concerto with Harpist Bridget Kibbey

LPR Live

Simply put, the vast majority of classical music performance features the work of dead composers. Performers don't have the chance to ask a work's creator for advice; can't inquire about phrasing, articulation, or dynamics; and almost never were these pieces written specifically for them.

For this episode of LPR Live, however, quite the opposite is true. You'll hear the world premiere performance of Canadian-born composer Vivian Fung's Harp Concerto, the fruit of a close collaboration with New York City-based harpist Bridget Kibbey, heard here live at Le Poisson Rouge on April 6, 2014 with conductor Andrew Cyr leading the Metropolis Ensemble.

Throughout the collaborative process for this tailor-made concerto, Kibbey and Fung were in constant contact, with Fung catering her writing to Kibbey's singular musicianship while Kibbey provided input for idiomatic – ;and sometimes un-traditional – approaches to the instrument. The result is a vividly colored exploration of style and sonority that showcases the virtuosity of both performer and composer.

In conversation before the performance, Kibbey and Fung are joined by Metropolis Ensemble director Andrew Cyr to discuss the dynamics of their close-knit collaboration, the thrills of live performance, and what it took to turn the harp from angelic arpeggiator to virtuoso protagonist.

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