Emmanuel Séjourné's Marimba Concerto (original version) feat. Julia Tan

Emmanuel Séjourné (b. 1961) is a contemporary French composer and percussionist who has made a name for himself with his rhythmic, energetic music that draws freely on the worlds of Western classical music and popular culture. Head of Percussion at the Strasbourg Superior Academy of Music & Arts, his music has been performed and recorded by orchestras including Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonia Toronto and the Osaka Philharmonic.
This concerto was commissioned by the percussionist Bogdan Bacanu and first performed in 2005. It has since become one of the most popular pieces for the marimba and has been performed with orchestras around the world over 600 times. The concerto you will hear in this performance is the original two-movement version of the piece (Séjourné added a new first movement in 2015).
After a brief introduction from the strings the spotlight turns to the soloist and there is a beautiful opening cadenza to set the scene. The first movement mixes Romanticism in its melody with jazz influences in the rhythms, something the Canadian percussionist, Anne-Julie Caron, picked up on when she said the concerto is ‘unique because it is one of the rare pieces to put the marimba in a romantic context.’
Next comes the second movement, ‘Rythmique, energique’, which is packed with virtuoso playing and irresistibly toe-tapping rhythms. It is no wonder this has become one of the most popular percussion concertos ever written, and it is the perfect vehicle to celebrate this year’s brilliant President’s Young Performer.
EMMANUEL SÉJOURNÉ (b. 1961)
Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra (2005)
0:00 I. Tempo souple
11:30 II. Rythmique, energique
Julia Tan, marimba (President's Young Performers Concert soloist)
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Joshua Tan, Associate Conductor
JULIA TAN
-----------------
Born in Singapore, Julia Tan began her musical journey at age eleven on the piano. She was introduced to percussion in Secondary school, and completed her Diploma studies as the Best Graduate from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Julia then received her Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from the Mannes School of Music (New York) on a full scholarship. Upon graduation, Julia was awarded the George and Elizabeth Gregory Award for Excellence in Performance and the Mannes Dean’s Award. Her teachers include Eriko Daimo, Maya Gunji, Joseph Tompkins, Michael Werner, Mark Suter, Christian Schiøler and Glen Velez.
As a soloist, Julia made her debut performing Anders Koppel’s Marimba Concerto No. 1 after winning the Mannes Concerto Competition 2019. She has also appeared as guest percussionist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Ding Yi Music Company, Singapore Lyric Opera and The Philharmonic Orchestra in Singapore. She also performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York in collaboration with the Mannes Orchestra, as well as the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra in Chengdu.
An avid collaborator and educator, Julia seeks to inspire others and connect people together through music. She also has a profound interest in pedagogy and hopes to inspire future youths and promote percussion literature.

[@ALTnOtes]

I’ve been looking for concertos to learn on marimba- this might be it!

[@ThatWasLoud]

This is the best recording of this piece on TH-cam.

[@JimNicholls]

An interesting piece, beautifully performed by Julia Tan on what is a far-from-easy instrument. I hope to see more by her in future. Great work by the orchestra, too.

[@mellowxiumin]

a very emotional and touching piece.. so beautiful and moving. this is also a good way to appreciate a rare music instrument :) thank you for sharing