Thursdays at Noon | Laureates - Innovators - Justin Ko, trumpet
80 Queens Park
80 Queens Park
PROGRAM
Three Browning Songs, Op. 44 (1899)
Amy Beach (1867–1944)
- The Year’s at the Spring
- Ah, Love, but a Day!
- I send my heart up to thee!
Silent Ocean (2005)
Karen Tanaka (b. 1961)
- Far away, gently
- Love Song
- Far away, very lightly
Trumpet Concerto (1963)
Grace Williams (1906–1977)
- Andante con moto
- Poco lento
- Allegro con brio
Night (1946)
Florence Price (1887–1953)
Justin Ko, trumpet; Sonya Sim, piano
TEXTS
Three Browning Songs
Adapted from poems by Robert Browning (1812–1889)
- The Year’s at the Spring
The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hill-side’s dew-pearl’d;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven–
All’s right with the world!
- Ah, Love, but a Day!
Ah, Love, but a day,
And the world has changed!
The sun’s away
And the bird estranged;
The wind has dropped,
And the sky’s deranged;
Summer has stopped.
Look in my eyes!
Wilt thou change too?
Should I fear surprise?
Shall I find aught new
In the old and dear,
In the good and true,
With the changing year?
Ah, Love, look in my eyes!
Wilt thou change too?
- I send my heart up to thee!
I send my heart up to thee, all my heart
In this my singing,
For the stars help me, and the sea bears part;
The very night is clinging
Closer to Venice’s streets to leave one space
Above me, whence thy face
May light my joyous heart to thee, to thee its dwelling place.
I send my heart up to thee, all my heart
In this my singing.
Night
Louise C. Wallace (1902–1973)
Night comes, a Madonna clad in scented blue
Rose red her mouth, and deep her eyes,
She lights her stars, and turns to where,
Beneath her silver lamp the moon,
Upon a couch of shadow lies
A dreamy child,
The wearied Day.
BIOGRAPHY
Justin Ko is a Canadian trumpet player pursuing a Master of Music Degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music under the tutelage of Barbara Butler. A versatile musician, Justin has appeared with groups such as the Hannaford Street Silver Band, the Brott Music Festival, the Scarborough Philharmonic, and the ONES Beatles Show, as well as on baroque trumpet with the Guelph Chamber Choir and the Shepherd School Opera. Since 2022, he has also performed in the annual charity concert “Messiah for the City” alongside members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Justin received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from the University of Toronto, where he studied with Steven Woomert. He is also an alumnus of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra Mentorship Program, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the National Academy Orchestra. Internationally, Justin holds a position on the 2025/26 New World Symphony substitute list and won third place in the Orchestral Excerpts Division of the ITG 2025 Ryan Anthony Memorial Trumpet Competition.
The Thursdays at Noon series is made possible in part by the Jay Telfer Forum Endowment Fund.
Livestream available on the Faculty of Music YouTube channel.