Elaine Chew, graduate student at the Operations Research Center and affiliated artist in the music and theater arts section, recently returned from an engagement at the President's Charity Concert with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, where she performed Richard Strauss' Burleske for Piano and Orchestra. "Whether dispatching chordal thunder, sprinting through scintillating virtuoso runs with sparkling fingerwork, or whispering tender poetry, she embraced all with panache, entertaining aplomb and an acute sense of wit, revealing herself as a real minx, coy but full of flair," wrote Lionel Choi for the Straits Times (Singapore). The concert, attended by the president and first lady of Singapore, spotlighted rising Asian talents.
In a review headlined "Dante Anzolini brings out the best in MIT Symphony," the Boston Globe's Richard Buell praised both the symphony's new director in his debut concert on October 23 and the orchestra, writing "It was clear at the start that Anzolini knew what he was after. And what's more important, it was clear that the players of this young and ambitious community orchestra knew what he was after, too. They were able to deliver it solidly and reliably, and at times even with a suggestion of brilliance."
The review also praised flute soloist, junior Ole Mattis Nielsen, who "showed an ease with [Carl Nielsen's Flute Concerto's] peculiar vernacular��������������������������� that was very impressive, as well as commendable in matters of technique."
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 28, 1998.
