This concert, slated to start at 7:30 p.m., will feature the winner of the School of Music’s Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition, pianist Hyojin Shin MUS ’22. The program consists of Smetana’s overture from “The Bartered Bride”; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no 4 in G major, Op. 58; and Shostakovich’s Symphony no 6 in B Minor.

The performance is meant to serve as “a cleansing, type of musical experience that connects to a deeper level emotionally,” Milanov said. 

According to his website, Milanov is currently the music director of the Columbus Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony and Princeton Symphony orchestras — and chief conductor of the Slovenian RTV Orchestra in Ljubljana. 

He has taken positions throughout the United States as well as in Spain and Bulgaria. His career has seen collaborations and work with artists like Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell and Hillary Hahn. 

Yale Philharmonia violinist Oliver Leitner ’23 MUS ’25 described Milanov as “a great educator” who “explains the pieces in ways that are great for us [the Yale Philharmonia],” he said. 

Milanov noted both similarities and contrasts between each of the three pieces for the concert. According to Orrin Howard of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Smetana himself transcribed the overture from his first second opera, also called “The Bartered Bride.” Drawn from the finale of the second act, the music of the overture is drawn from the scene when the protagonist signs a contract voluntarily giving up his claim to his fiancee while townspeople watch. Milanov said the work can be described as “really cheerful,” mirroring the last movement of the Shostakovich, the program finale.

Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto was written in 1807 and is the second-to-last concerto the composer wrote. Many admirers of Beethoven noted its unique qualities. Davis Morgenstern ’26, an undergraduate pianist, said that he views the concerto as reminiscent of “older-style Beethoven.” 

Shostakovich’s Symphony No.6 was written in 1939, and according to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, symbolizes Shostakovich’s complicated relationship with composing for the Soviet Union while opposing Stalinist practices. 

While Milanov said that Shostakovich is rarely heard in concert halls, he said that it “demands an incredible power and virtuosity.” 

Milanov said that his background growing up in Bulgaria was crucial to his interpretation of the piece. Growing up with family members who fought in both World Wars and experiencing the Iron Curtain first-hand, Milanov cited a personal connection to Shostakovich. 

Milanov explained that the Shostakovich has a “dual meaning,” as some listeners may hear “hear a march,” while others may hear “oppression.” 

“Half of the symphony is a very introspective movement that deals with our most private fears and hopes,” Milanov said. “That very intimate world gets shattered and exposed to bright daylight with a lot of sarcasm. One asks itself “What is real? What is inside us?”

The Yale Philharmonia is the largest performing group at the School of Music. 

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Salovey’s connection to The Game stretches back decades. He arrived at Yale as a graduate student in 1981, before joining the department of psychology as an assistant professor in 1986. He was inducted as Yale University’s 23rd president in 2013. 

The Yale-Harvard football rivalry dates back to 1875. Since then, the game has become an iconic sporting event, representing a fierce rivalry between the two Ivy League universities. Since the rivalry started in 1875, Yale has won 69 games to Harvard’s 61 games, with 8 games resulting in a tie.

“We have been especially good under pressure this year, and I predict the final score will be 24 to 21, with Bulldogs being victorious,” Salovey said when asked about his predictions for the score. “As the song goes, Harvard’s team will fight to the end, but Yale will win.”

Yale goes into the game with a 6–3 overall record, 4–2 in the Ivy League. 

The Game is about more than just football — it is a celebration of tradition, school pride and varsity athletics at their finest. While the teams have traded wins and losses over the decades, the rivalry has stood the test of time. Through two World Wars, the Great Depression and various social upheavals, the Game has also historically served as a site of protest. 

In 2019, during Salovey’s tenure, climate change activists rushed onto the field at the end of the halftime show to protest both Harvard and Yale’s fossil fuel investments. 

Other notable Games during Salovey’s time as president include the 2018 edition hosted at Fenway Park and the infamous double-overtime win in 2019.

Salovey also looks forward to continuing his friendly rivalry with the Harvard president, Claudine Gay. This will be Gay’s first Game and Salovey’s last. 

“I have a very special gift for her, courtesy of the Yale football team, and I hope to present it to her as a consolation prize at the Game itself,” he said.

Beyond predicting a Yale win, the president discussed the broader significance of varsity athletics within the Ivy League. 

He said that the Game helps participating students “develop into leaders,” and that it also “bring[s] our community together.”

“I hope this is the year we can completely fill the Yale Bowl with university community members and New Haven neighbors alike,” Salovey told the News. 

Salovey will also continue a tradition of giving the team a pep talk before the game, which he called “a thrill,” especially when the Elis are in contention for an Ivy League championship, and when “it is not already snowing.”

Kickoff is set for noon at the Yale Bowl in New Haven.

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Before the orchestra played any music, director Alasdair Neale presented an overview of the night, which would showcase music “from the heart” with “little artifice.” 

The concert work began with a meditative drone tone played by the strings that gave way for a notable clarinet solo. According to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Copland’s “Suite from Appalachian Spring” is considered one of the composer’s “populist” American works created during the Great Depression and world wars. Based on Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” ballet, the suite follows a similar storyline, which, according to the Martha Graham company, depicts a “young frontier couple on their wedding day.”

Neale is no stranger to the intricacies of this suite.

“Appalachian Spring is a piece that I have always been incredibly fond of since I encountered it as a teenager in the United Kingdom. I know it from many different angles,” Neale said. “I played the flute in orchestra and the cello in the original chamber version — and conducting it has been essential to my repertoire. As an example of classic, American-sounding music from the middle of last century, that was one of the paradigms.” 

Neale first encountered Time for Three at a music festival in Sun Valley, and after being enamored by them, felt an urge to feature them with the New Haven Symphony. He mentioned that he wasn’t sure if the audience members knew what they were going to witness and experience.

Neale emphasized that while both works are different, they both “connect with the broad public very genuinely and beautifully.”

Time for Three, the winner of the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, is composed of Nicholas Kendall on the violin, Charles Yang on the violin and Ranaan Meyer on the double bass. According to National Public Radio, the original Time for Three trio — featuring Zachary DePue at the time on violin instead of Charles Yang — met at the Curtis Institute of Music. 

Their compositions “swing wildly between pop, bluegrass and jazz,” according to the NPR website.

“Contact” opened up with an acapella melody sung by members of Time for Three, a new sonic texture compared to the instrumentals in the Copland.  

Kevin Puts’ “Contact” is a four-movement work written for Time for Three. According to Puts’ own program notes for the piece, Puts decided to collaborate with Time for Three after watching their performance of Vertigo and noting their similar musical styles. 

While Puts decided to experiment with adding a capella to a quintessential concerto, after working on it with Time for Three more over the pandemic, they decided that the work they created, originally dubbed the Triple Concerto, had “abstract musical expression going on” and that “there was a story being told,” the program notes stated.

The name “Contact” is derived primarily from the tonalities in all movements of the piece.

“Could the refrain at the opening of the concerto be a message sent into space, a call to intelligent life across the vast distances containing clues to our DNA, to our very nature as Earth people? Could the Morse code-like rhythms of the scherzo suggest radio transmissions, wave signals, etc.?” the program notes continued, explaining his thought process and intentions behind the piece. 

Following “Contact,” Time for Three and New Haven Symphony presented several shorter selections. First, they performed Time for Three’s own “Vertigo” song, followed by Ben King’s “Stand by Me,” in which Time for Three told the audience to sing and dance along and then an arrangement of Monti’s “Czardas.” Their renditions yielded a long, standing ovation from the audience. 

The musicians in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra viewed the collaboration between the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Time for Three positively. For Oliver Leitner, a violinist in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the concert was “fun” and “refreshing.”

“In a way I was just very glad that we programmed something like this that was so different and refreshing,” Leitner said. “[It is] music  that is harmonically different than what we normally do, and connects with the audience.” 

The New Haven Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1984, is the fourth oldest orchestra in the United States.

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The night exceeded any of my expectations. 

YSO, led by maestro William Boughton, programmed two pieces with an intermission in between the works for that night’s concert: Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 featuring Nam and Richard Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathusa.” 

Two days before the performance, I was in the same hall listening to another rendition of Tchaikovsky with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and world-renowned pianist Joyce Yang. With Yang’s powerful interpretation still present in my mind, I wondered whether Nam and the symphony orchestra would live up to those standards. 

After bowing, Nam nodded to the conductor. Maestro Boughton lifted his baton, and Tchaikovsky’s iconic horn motif filled the hall.

Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor was written in 1875. Written in three contrasting movements, this concerto was first criticized by pianists, who loathed its difficulty and its progressive elements, such as stating the first theme in D flat major, the relative major signature of the key of the piece — which seems silly in retrospect today given some works written after the Tchaikovsky. 

However, after receiving a premiere in the United States, the piece received praise for the way it moved audiences. Ever since, Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1” has been notorious for its difficulty and known for its popularity. As someone who has been training in classical piano for 13 years, I refuse to attempt it. 

I was immediately drawn in by Nam’s opening chords in the first movement, “Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso — Allegro con spirito.” Nam’s tone was firm but never harsh, providing a cushion for the symphony orchestra to sing the melody of the piece. Their lush lyricism warmed my heart, and as a friend of Alex who has discussed the difficulties in achieving the right sense of phrasing with these chords, I smiled. 

The drama and beauty the performers evoked made me lose sight of my role as a reviewer. A special moment came during an iteration of the second theme of the first movement, where a flute soloist’s melody soared above Nam’s supportive accompaniment figures. The collaboration between Nam and YSO was electrifying. I pictured myself as a bystander in their musical dialogue, lost amid their dramatic interactions. When Tchaikovsky asked for the soloist to battle with the orchestra, I heard extreme conviction and stubbornness from both parties. When Tchaikovsky wrote unison lines, I observed that all sounds blended into an exuberant melting pot.

The second movement, “Andantino semplice – Prestissimo – Tempo I,” began with quiet pizzicatos from the string instruments followed by a carol-like melody. YSO and Nam passed the melody around, creating a moving, sonorous dialogue. I couldn’t help but be impressed by Nam’s masterful execution of articulation in the “Prestissimo” section, creating a cheerful ballet. Yet, when YSO and Nam returned to the carol-like melody, they took my breath away: they changed characters back to the serene carollers they were — almost like the ballet section did not happen at all. 

Nam and YSO continued almost attacca to the third movement. “Allegro con fuoco – Molto meno mosso – Allegro vivo,” and they immediately captured the movement’s angst. At the same time, Nam and YSO preserved the rhythmic integrity of the movement that made it exciting. They continued to demonstrate their strong collaborative skills, emphasizing contrapuntal elements in the music that added color and dimension to the piece. Both parties successfully built up to the finale of the movement: a climax where after hundreds of measures of fighting, the orchestra and soloist played a final melody together.

Their performance, deservedly, received a standing ovation. Nam’s collaboration with YSO was praised by musicians and non-musicians alike. 

“The orchestra had a good blend and supported the soloist very well. Great listening, but also powerful when it needed to be,” Jeth Fogg ’27, a violist in Davenport Pops Orchestra, said. 

The orchestra’s goal of having the concert be a vehicle to let classical music be more accessible seemed to be accomplished as well.

Another attendee, Keely Balfour ’27, mentioned tearing up during the second movement. 

“I thought it was going to be laid back and mellow, but there were parts where it ramped up,” Balfour said. 

During the intermission, I quickly did some research on Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathustra,” YSO’s second selection. It was a piece I was not familiar with. 

Composed in 1896, Strauss’s composition “Also sprach Zarathustra” was written based on Nietzche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” It consists of nine movements, each modeling a different chapter in the book.

According to the classical music magazine Grammophone, the work is an exploration of the relationship between humanity and the universe, with Strauss utilizing different harmonies (B major for humanity and C major for the universe) to depict these two entities. I was taken aback by how deep the music was going to be. How would the ignition and virtuosity of Tchaikovsky, which some criticize as “superficial,” work with the intellectual and philosophical music that characterizes Strauss? 

When YSO played their first note, a disturbing and haunting rumbling was produced by the lower strings, organ and lower woodwinds. I got goosebumps, as I braced for the beginning of an emotional rollercoaster. YSO’s performance was filled with memorable moments. I felt overwhelmed — in a good way — like I was hit by powerful rays of sunshine when the orchestra filled up the entire concert hall in the “Sonnenaufgang” movement. I danced in my seat during concertmaster Miriam Viazmenski’s ’25 characteristic and confident reading of the violin solo in “Das Tanzlied,” while I held my breath during the haunting last movement that begins with 12 strikes of midnight. 

Interestingly, Strauss’s intention for this work was to never resolve the dissonance between humanity and the universe, something I understood as the orchestra kept the tension in the ending when the upper strings and winds play a B major chord and the lower strings pluck a low C.

As a reviewer, I can of course nitpick specific moments of uncertainty, incohesiveness or unclarity in the performance, but my philosophy as a musician is to always comprehend what I felt during a concert. The orchestra concert was far from perfect, but it moved me far away from Woolse — far away from Yale — and into the sonic universes they created. 

Vien Le ’27, a cellist in YSO, said that YSO members were happy with their performance.

“The wall of sound we created, it just resonated through the hall … It just brought about this feeling that was so grand, and it’s just kind of an indescribable feeling,” Le said. 

An indescribable, grand feeling — I couldn’t agree more with this description of the concert.

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Wei is one of this year’s four alumni who came to campus to receive the Wilbur Cross Medal. Wei’s event was also part of the Dean’s Invited Speaker Series, which organizes discussions with prominent industry leaders in engineering and adjacent fields.

While the session was originally intended to be a conversation between Wei and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo LAW ‘98, Raimondo was unable to attend due to obligations in Washington, D.C. 

Instead, Dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences Jeffrey Brock ’92 facilitated the discussion, which centered on Wei’s time at Yale, his transition from academia to industry and the role of the United States in semiconductor manufacturing. 

“So many of our alums have made their way to the top of the industrial world, in one role or another, that have incredible stories,” Brock said when introducing Wei at the event. “Our guest today really implemented that probably more than any of our alums.” 

In his opening remarks, Brock commented on Wei’s tie, which was navy blue and covered in white Yale logos. Wei said that the event was the only time he could wear the tie with pride, joking about possible complaints from other schools’ alumni if he wore it to work. 

In the beginning of the discussion, Wei described his educational journey. After attending college in Taiwan, Wei said he was drawn to Yale in part to work with his graduate mentor, Professor Tso-Ping Ma. Wei said that Ma greatly influenced him and taught him how to research and write well. 

“[Ma] was very patient and very instructive,” Wei said. “He also showed me how to write a good paper.” 

After earning his PhD from Yale, Wei worked for various semiconductor companies, eventually joining Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in 1998. Over the next decade, he climbed the company ladder and was appointed CEO in 2018.  

In his discussion, Wei reflected on his transition from managing transistors as an engineer to managing people as CEO. After pointing to the large number of policy and industry leaders that Yale has produced, Wei cited President Peter Salovey’s research on emotional intelligence as essential reading for future leaders. 

“I like to manage the machine because it doesn’t protest,” Wei said. “Managing people is way tougher.”

Wei also talked about the importance of semiconductors in the modern age. 

Wei said that there are important applications for semiconductors in autonomous driving, medical operations and artificial intelligence. 

“[The] semiconductor is the center of every technology,” Wei said.

Following Brock’s interview questions, undergraduate and graduate students asked Wei questions about his career and present-day issues related to technology. 

One student asked about why TSMC recently decided to build a semiconductor production plant in Phoenix, Arizona. Wei said TSMC chose to locate the plant in Arizona where there was the larger pool of skilled workers, a practical limitation that TSMC faced in Taiwan. 

“To tell the truth, the U.S. is the country with the most talented and innovative people, especially for the Ivy League student,” Wei said. 

He said that the U.S. government’s commitment to helping TSMC build this plant might encourage the construction of more American factories in the future. 

Another student asked about TSMC’s role in an era of rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. Wei declined to comment, though he noted that China is the company’s second largest customer.

Several students told the News that were excited to hear about Wei’s experiences, especially about his enthusiasm for Yale and the importance of semiconductors.  

“I thought the talk was insightful about Yale and international trade,” Connor Flood ’26 said. 

In the event, Wei offered advice to students about how to achieve success after graduating school. Wei emphasized the importance of enjoying one’s work, no matter the industry. 

“You have to find passion in your work,” Wei said. “If you cannot find passion, don’t do it. Change to another company, or change your boss.”

TSMC was founded in 1987.

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On Sept. 28, audiences packed Woolsey Hall as they were greeted by New Haven Symphony Orchestra president Keith Churchwell — also president of Yale New Haven Hospital — who received a welcoming ovation as he announced the orchestra’s return to Woolsey Hall.

The symphony programmed three pieces of their classical musical repertoire, featuring pianist Joyce Yang and organist Nathaniel Gumbs MUS ’11. Due to previous gathering restrictions wrought by COVID-19, This night marked the first time in three years that the New Haven Symphony Orchestra performed at the University. 

“What’s the right tone to strike?” New Haven Symphony Orchestra musical director Alasdair Neale MUS ’85 asked in reference to one of the pieces. “What’s the right piece to say to everybody that we are back in Woolsey Hall?” 

As the fourth-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra has performed in the New Haven area since its first concert in 1895. Its close relationship with Yale, stemming from its inclusion of faculty from the School of Music, cemented Woolsey Hall as one of its historical home bases. 

The return to Woolsey left the musicians feeling “relieved” and “glad,” said New Haven Symphony violinist Oliver Leitner ’23 MUS ’26.

Such an occasion inspired Neale, former conductor of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, in his programming of the concert, where themes of triumph and celebration reigned, particularly in “Masquerade.”

“The piece is all about a musical party, a celebration of people gathering together in music,” said Neale. “I thought that sparked the right notes to speak in the beginning of the evening.” 

The concert began with a harsh clap from a whip followed by a chromatic frenzy in the strings. Written for the last night of the 2013 British Broadcasting Corporation Proms — an eight-week season of daily classical musical concerts — “Masquerade” by Anna Clynne was Neale’s choice to start off the night’s celebratory music.

Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto features some of the most iconic melodies in the classical music repertoire. Written in 1875, it fit Neale’s criteria of wanting to program a “Romantic crowd-pleaser,” he said.

Neale first fell in love with the piece after hearing it when he was 11 years old. It was one of the first times that music made him “swoon,” he said.

World-renowned soloist Joyce Yang, the second-prize winner of the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, is no stranger to this piece. Having played it for 20 years, Yang described the piece as an “old friend.”

“As a young student, you try to climb the Mount Everest of technical challenges,” Yang said. “Once you more-or-less conquer that, the piece starts opening up to you in a lyrical way. There is great lyricism and poetry that is really the heart of the piece.” A special moment in Tchaikovsky comes at the end of the third movement, where the piano soloist performs in near unison with the orchestra after intense musical drama between different instruments beforehand. The result was a powerful ending that led to a standing ovation from the audience.

The second half of the concert opened up with Saint-Saens’ 3rd Symphony, dubbed the “Organ Symphony” due to the inclusion of an organ in two of its four sections. The performance featured Gumbs, the Director of Chapel Music at Yale, and was one of the first pieces Neale planned for the recital. 

Gumbs was a “perfect match” for this concert, Neale said, as he hoped to incorporate the Yale organ community into the program, and the choice of performing the Saint-Saens with Gumbs seemed “obvious,” Neale said.

Neale remains optimistic about the future of the orchestra, despite uncertainties caused by COVID-19.

“I want us to feel like we’ve finally, finally emerged from any cloud of the pandemic,” Neale said. “This was a healthy, robust size audience. I hope that trend will continue for the rest of the season, because our audience is our lifeblood.”

The New Haven Symphony Orchestra will be performing again in Woolsey Hall on Oct. 26, featuring Grammy-winning trio “Time for Three.” 

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