PORT ANGELES — “Call me Jane,” she says, because it’s easier. And then she has to run, since her 10-month-old son needs her.
Have a conversation with Jane — born Jai-In Shin — and she doesn’t trumpet her accomplishments. But Shin, who holds a doctorate in musical arts, has won competitions and given performances in halls from Beijing, China, to Carmel, Calif., to Pamplona, Spain.
The violinist, born in Korea and educated at Yale and the University of Washington, is a kind of musical messenger. She’s here this week, preparing for two concerts with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra.
First comes the dress rehearsal, in fact a relatively informal run-through at 10 a.m. Saturday, and then the 7:30 concert that evening. The concerts, the last of the symphony’s 2013-2014 season, will be in the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave.; orchestra conductor Adam Stern will also give a pre-concert talk there at 6:40 p.m.
For the morning rehear-sal, tickets at the door will be $5 per person or $10 per family, as is traditional.
At the evening performance, the Port Angeles Symphony is extending a special invitation to young people: Those 16 and younger will get in free when accompanied by an adult. For those older than 17, reserved seats are priced at $20 and $30, while general seating is $15, or $12 for seniors and students.
As the symphony’s guest soloist, Shin has come to perform Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E for Violin and Orchestra — music that, some 30 years ago, helped determine her future.
“When my father was in college, he had a chance to listen to that piece,” Shin recalled.
“He doesn’t know much about the music,” but when he heard this Mendelssohn work — which has been called “the heart’s jewel” among German violin concertos — “he decided to introduce his kids to the violin.”
Shin began music lessons at age 4 in her home town outside Seoul. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music at Yonsei University, then received a full scholarship to the Yale School of Music, where she earned her master’s.
Shin went on to receive her doctor of musical arts degree at the University of Washington. She finished her dissertation last May; then her son was born
in June.
The violinist, her husband and their baby boy live in Seattle, where Shin performs and teaches violin to young children.
She’s filled with anticipation about coming to Port Angeles, for the performances and to see the town.
“I’m very excited,” she said, “and I’m going to spend the weekend.”
Saturday’s program also features Gail Kubik’s “Bachata,” a Cuban dance-like piece, and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” in an unusual version by Walter Goehr.
Stern sought what he called a different spin on “Pictures,” and found it.
This version “is so satisfying musically,” Stern said. “Listen to the marvelous colors contributed by the glockenspiel and xylophone throughout.”
Stern is good at “finding great pieces that haven’t been performed often,” said Shin.
Concert-goers “are going to love it.”
Tickets to Saturday night’s Port Angeles Symphony performance are on sale in Sequim at The Good Book/Joyful Noise Music Center, 108 W. Washington St., and Sequim Village Glass, 761 Carlsborg Road; in Port Angeles they’re available at Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., as well as at the Symphony office at 360-457-5579.
For more about the orchestra and its community activities, see PortAngelesSymphony.org.
