Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues – commandingly played by the young Seattle-born pianist August Baik, now based in Boston – provided a bracing solo contrast, as its grinding mechanical repetitions gave way to the workers’ song buried within them, turning the piece’s evocation of industrial oppression towards resistance and hope.
Baik then joined the strings to conclude the programme with Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 1, the astonishingly assured work of a composer still in his teens. There was something operatic here, too, in the sweep and ardour of Dohnányi’s youthful Romanticism. Lee led the strings with particular fire, while Baik blended naturally into the ensemble, bringing character to the piano writing without overwhelming the strings. Dohnányi already had a knack for metrical games and sleight of hand, which the five players pulled off deftly.
- Thomas May, The Strad
"Baik’s playing of ‘Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues’ was particularly spectacular."
- David M. Rice, Classical Source
"Two musicians who play opposite ends of the piano form an uneasy symbiosis. The keyboardist represents the mind, which brings out a hymn-like melody. The other musician, who dampens and attacks the strings with cloth, hammers, cards, and ping pong balls, stands for the body struggling to keep up. But the music projects, beneath its aggressive theatrical gestures, a hidden cooperation behind the dichotomy. The musicians lunge at each other initially but adapt to their shared weaknesses. In the end, there’s no resolution, only the heart-rending feeling that the physical presence can never fully recover. Tanglewood Music Center Fellows Ariel Mo and August Baik, though, made their gestures into statements of strength and solidarity." - Aaron Keebaugh, The Boston Musical Intelligencer
“The commitment and sincerity of the two performers (Ariel Mo & August Baik) made the combination of sound and gesture compelling.”
- Larry Wallach, the Berkshireedge
“The best performance I heard all weekend wasn’t some bombastic orchestral score or earth-shaking choral work. It was the TMC chamber concert… an all-out performance of Brahms’ first Piano Quartet, one of my all-time favorites. Written when Brahms was in his 20’s, it’s easily one of the most exuberant pieces of music ever written. After meandering for the first three movements, it explodes into a lightening-quick gypsy tune, “Rondo alla Zingarese” played with fire by fellows Miles Huang, violin, Seth Goodman, viola, Max Healy, cello, and August Baik, piano.”
- Peter Matthews, Feast of Music
"Ives’s The Celestial Railroad... as originally composed isn’t as frequently performed, despite forming the backbone of several major works. Don’t mention this discrepancy to performer August Baik, whose interpretation thereof shone brightly. Baik felt comfortable in the thorniest dissonance to the most unusually placed rag and “Battle Cry of Freedom!” quotation, reflecting the unusual and parodic journey of the actual celestial railroad through Destruction. Could he be a candidate to learn the railroad’s famous half-cousin in the second sonata? Time will tell, but this reviewer thinks so."
- Ian Wiese, The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Preview:
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- Diane Urbani de la Paz, Peninsula Daily News
August Baik previews Seattle Symphony's 'Celebrate Asia' - New Day NW
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"A phenomenal young pianist with a unique voice"
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Jeremy Denk, American Classical Pianist and Author
Northwest Asian Weekly
"August has an extremely sharp ear. He knew exactly what he wanted to hear. The feedback he was able to give me and the musicians were very detailed and very approachable."
Sunny Xia, The Seattle Symphony Associate Conductor
"...the concert opened with the compelling “Chuseok Overture for Orchestra” by Korean American composer August Baik."
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