By E. von Autenried
For its sixth season finale, the award-winning Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra will present “A Concerto Extravaganza!” on Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 7 pm, at the Princeton Alliance Church on 20 Schalks Crossing Road, Plainsboro, NJ, 08536, at the intersection with Scudders Mill Road in Plainsboro.
The concert will be conducted by its director, Chiu-Tze Lin. It will feature the winners of the 2013 Young Artists Competition sponsored by the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra. They are violinists Charles Yoonsuh Lee and Soyeong Park, cellist Sydney Lee, and pianists Angela Zhao. These young soloists were selected from among forty contestants who came from the tri-state area (New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania) to participate in the competition in February.
A Canadian of Korean heritage, Charles Yoonsuh Lee, age 14, is a sophomore at the Professional Children’s School in New York City. His musical career was nurtured at an early age with awards in the Kiwanis Music Festivals and the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in 2009. Charles moved to New York City from Vancouver in pursuit of his dreams in music. He received the Silver Award in the International Virtuoso Competition in May, 2012, and performed in the Winner’s Concert in September at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. Charles has attended the Meadowmount School of Music and Rocky Ridge Music Center in Colorado, where he received the Norman Paulu Violin Scholarship and won the Concerto Competition, performing as a soloist with the orchestra on July 28, 2012. He has joined Talented Youth Series in Concerts in Motion to perform for the elderly at area nursing homes and senior centers since May, 2012. Charles is a member of the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony conducted by George Stelluto. Charles Lee will perform the first movement of the Mozart Concerto No. 5 in A Major.
Sixteen-year-old cellist Sydney Lee is a 10th grader at Ramapo High School in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Sydney has performed on “From the Top” in a National Public Radio broadcast as a soloist. She was featured as a soloist with the New Jersey Symphony as a winner of their Young Artists Competition in 2007. She was also chosen to be a soloist with the Thurnauer Chamber Orchestra. Sydney was a winner performing in the National Young Musicians Showcase Concert, and she won first place in the 2007 New Jersey ASTA Solo Competition. She also won first prize in the New York Music Competition, LISMA Foundation 6th International Music Competition, and Duquesne University Young Artist National Competition. Sydney was a semi-finalist at the Sixth and Seventh International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 2010 and 2012. Sydney appeared as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Hong in Heinz Hall. As the first-place winner in the Juilliard Pre College Cello Concerto Competition, she was featured as a soloist with the Juilliard Pre College Symphony in May of 2011. Sydney Lee has performed in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, at the United Nations, and in Paul & Morse Halls at The Juilliard School. Ms. Lee has performed in France at the Music Alp Festival at the Academie Internationale de Courchevel. Sydney Lee will perform the first movement of the Dvorak Cello Concerto.
Soyeong Park, 16-years old violinist, is a sophomore at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North in New Jersey. She debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Charles Dutoit as a winner of the Albert M. Greenfield Competition children’s division. Soyeong has performed as a soloist with various orchestras, including the New Jersey Inter-generational Orchestra, Monmouth Symphony, Sinfonietta Nova, Old York Road Symphony, and Kennett Symphony. She has won first prize in the New Jersey American Strings Teachers Association Solo Strings Competition, the Goldblatt Scholarship Competition, and the Woodmere Friday Music Club Competition. Soyeong has been accepted into the 2013 US National Youth Orchestra, and will participate in an international tour of Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, and Washington DC with maestro Valery Gergieve and Violinist Joshua Bell this summer. She has served as Concertmistress for the New Jersey All-State Intermediate Orchestra for three consecutive years, the CJMEA Region II High School Orchestra, and the New Jersey All-State Orchestra in 2013. Soyeong Park will perform the first movement of the Sibelius Violin Concert in D minor.
Fourteen-year-old pianist Angela Zhao made her orchestral solo piano debut with the Ambler Symphony at the age of twelve. She was a four-time first prize winner of New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Musicians Competition. Angela was also the 2011 New Jersey Junior Piano Performance winner of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Competition, which enabled her to represent New Jersey in the MTNA Eastern Conference Competition. She has performed in Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center as a result of winning competitions of the National League of Performing Arts, Cecilian Music Club, and Crescendo International Competition. She received first prize in the 2013 Steinway Society Scholarship Competition and the highest distinction score in her grade and the tri-state area in the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music Examinations. Angela is an eighth grader at Marlboro Memorial Middle School. She has appeared in an episode of the TV series “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” Angela Zhao will perform the first movement of the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor.
The orchestra will also perform the Overture to the “The Abduction from the Seraglio Overture,” a popular opera composed by W. A. Mozart.
General admission prices are $15, $12 for seniors and students. Premium seating is available at $25 each. Advance tickets are $12, and can be obtained online via www.bravuraphil.org, emailing [email protected], or calling (609) 790-9559,(732)792-2070. Further information regarding the orchestra can be found at www.bravuraphil.org.
