Seattle Symphony: Potlatch Symphony

• Swil Kanim, violin
• Sunny Xuecong Xia, conductor

Returning to a landmark project from 2013, Potlatch Symphony 2020 brings the Seattle Symphony and artists from Puget Sound's First Nations together in an exchange that celebrates this region's land and ancestral history. In addition to this world premiere, the Symphony will share the stage with our Community Partner, Kids in Concert, for a side-by-side performance.

About Seattle Symphony

Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives, and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, and two Emmy Awards, and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle.

About Kids in Concert

Kids In Concert is modeled after El Sistema, the internationally renowned youth orchestra movement from Venezuela that has brought remarkable outcomes socially and musically across the globe.
Kids in Concert believes in El Sistema's core values:

- Every human being has the right to a life of dignity and contribution, filled with beauty.
- Every child can learn to experience and express music and art deeply, can receive its many benefits, and can make different critical life choices as a result of this learning.
- Overcoming poverty and adversity is best done by strengthening the spirit, creating, as Dr. Abreu puts it, “an affluence of the spirit,” and investing that affluence as a valued asset in a community endeavor to create excellence and beauty in music.
- Effective education is based on love, approval, joy, and consistently successful experiences within a high-functioning, aspiring, nurturing community. Every child has limitless possibilities and the ability to strive for excellence. "Trust the young" informs every aspect of the work.

Learning organizations never arrive but are always becoming – striving to include: more students, deeper impact, greater musical excellence, better teaching, improved tools, more joy. Thus, flexibility, experimentation, risk-taking, and collegial exchange are inherent aspects of every program.

About Swil Kanim, violin

http://www.swilkanim.com/

About Sunny Xuecong Xia, conductor

Recognized for her innate musicality, compelling presence, and technical precision, conductor Sunny Xuecong Xia’s ability to forge an immediate and captivating connection with orchestras and audiences alike has led to engagements around the country. Sunny currently serves as Assistant Conductor of the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestra and Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra while pursuing a doctorate in Orchestral Conducting under Dr. Jeffery Meyer. In the 2020-21 season, she appeared as guest conductor with the MusicaNova Orchestra and was invited to serve as Assistant Conductor at the National Music Festival and Pierre Monteux Music Festival. In January 2020, she made her successful debut with the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra.