The West Texas A&M University Symphony Orchestra will hold a concert this month with South Korean graduate student Minkyoung Song as the featured soloist.

“This concert could be described as a meal; you will have a bit of everything. We’re not going to skimp on anything. You’re going to get a full meal with these performances,” said Dr. Mark Bartley, Music Teacher Lilith Brainard, Director of Orchestral Activities and Associate Director of WT’s School of Music.

Song has been pursuing her master’s degree at the university since January 2021. She said she decided to study abroad at WT after a group of university staff and students performed at the University. of Suwon, which Song attended before going to WT, and the encouragement of his adviser in South Korea.

“I came here because I wanted to study in a bigger world, a world that I had never seen or experienced before, and I thought at WT that I could study music on my own and learn about different cultures,” said said Song.

Dr. Choong-ha Nam, WT’s Piano Teacher and Song’s Piano Teacher, spoke about Song’s development and desire to learn over the past three semesters at WT.

“She has grown a lot in such a short time. As a student, she is very serious about doing her best to learn music and being able to communicate her musical content,” Nam said.

“As performers and performers, we not only play the piece of music as it was written, but there are many instances where we have to interpret the composers’ intentions to really understand the emotional content of the music. that we play.. And that’s where Minkyoung excelled and showed progress during my time working with her,” Nam said.

The soloist will perform alongside WT’s 60-piece orchestra. Song will perform the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the orchestra during the concert. The program will also include “Afro-American Symphony” by William Grant Still, as well as a Hungarian march and an elegy by Samuel Jones.

“Since most performers dream of performing at least once with an orchestra, I am very grateful to have such a valuable opportunity. It’s an honor to be able to stand on a stage with such a great conductor and orchestra members. … I mostly practice and play alone, but whenever I collaborate with other instrumentalists, I feel the pleasure of communicating and harmonizing through music,” Song said.

The concert will take place on the WT Campus on February 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall. Free entry.