Winston-Salem Symphony
WSS Youth Symphony
Zijie Song Piano
Lara Mršnik Čemažar Violin
Michelle Merrill & Margaret Rehder Conductors

Jacob McKoy Kate
Mozart Piano Concerto in F Major, K 459 (1st Movement)
Ravel Tzigane
Arturo Márquez Danzón No. 2
Saint-Säens Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 “Organ” (Finale)

Our annual, admission-free showcase features a large orchestra led by Youth Symphony members paired with their professional counterparts in the Winston-Salem Symphony, plus exciting concerto performances by today’s rising stars. And as is tradition, the concert begins with the world-premiere performance of a new work by a young local composer. It is a wonderful late winter family experience not to be missed!

This concert is made possible through a generous contribution from the Montgomery/Tucker Charitable Fund.

Venue

Wait Chapel
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC

Zijie Song Piano

Born in China in 2013, Zijie Song is a 6th-grade student at Hanes Middle School and has been a piano student of UNCSA professor Dmitri Shteinberg for four years. He made his Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut at the age of five after winning a competition and has since earned numerous accolades. In 2024, at the age of 10, he held his own solo piano recital. His achievements include Honorable Mention at the 2024 MTNA Music Teachers National Association competition, 2nd Place in the 2024 Carmel Klavier Virtual Piano Competition, and 1st Prize at the 2023 Moxley Competition. He has also received multiple awards at the UNCSA Piano Weekend, including 1st Prize in the Chopin category.

In addition to piano, Zijie studies violin with Joshua Weesner, and currently serves as the concertmaster of the 2024 Winston-Salem Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and the 2025 All-County School Symphony. He also plays in the school orchestra under the direction of Ms. Marjorie Sharpe.

Beyond music, Zijie is an active participant in academic competitions and school clubs. In 2024, he represented Meadowlark Elementary alongside his teammates in Battle of the Books, winning the Regional Championship, and Odyssey of the Mind, where his team advanced to the World Finals. He also achieved a perfect score and won a gold medal in the ACSL competition. In 2025, he joined the MathCounts team at Hanes as its youngest member.

Lara Mršnik Čemažar Violin

Born in 2006 in Ljubljana, Lara Mršnik Čemažar began her violin studies at the age of 5 at the EDGAR WILLEMS MUSIC CENTRE (GCEW, institute) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and later continued her schooling at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana. In 2023, she was admitted to University of North Carolina School of the Arts in USA, where she is currently studying with prof. Ida Bieler.

Lara has participated in solo masterclasses in Slovenia, Italy, Germany, and the United States with prof. Ida Bieler, ŽigaBrank, Emilio Percan, Axel Strauss, Dmitri Berlinsky; in the summer of 2024, she attended the International Chamber Music Academy of Ochsenhausen, Germany. In addition to studying classical music, she often attended violin workshop with mentors Bojan Cvetrežnik, Barja Drnovšek and Wouter Vandenabeele, where she learned to play folk music from various parts of the world, musical improvisation, and took part in numerous public performances.

She received top prizes at many national and international music competitions, such as TEMSIG, Svirel, Oskar Rieding, and Concorso Musicale Palmanova. In 2019 and 2020, Lara placed first in the junior division of the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competitions in Vienna, Austria, and Bonn, Germany, and was invited to perform as a soloist at the Musikverein in Vienna, and Beethoven House in Bonn. In 2021, she gave a solo recital at the Slovenian Philharmonic in Ljubljana. In 2025, she placed first at the Peter Perret Young Talent Search and will be performing as a soloist with the Winston Salem Symphony in March 2025. She is the recipient of Second Prize at the American Virtuoso International Music Competition and will perform as a soloist at Carnegie Hall.

Among all, Lara is working on her independent scientific and artistic project, “Project Memory”, which focuses on helping people with dementia through music.

Jacob McCoy Composer

Having studied piano, voice, and viola throughout his education, Jacob McCoy leans heavily on his classical roots to find new sounds and tell heart wrenching stories with his music. His artistic voice is distinctly rooted in textures and colors influenced by his love of musical theater, film music, and classical music. 

But of all things he wants to pave a new way for film and concert music, writing pieces with polyrhythms, unique textures, and strong melodic throughlines that fall easy on the ears.
Today Jacob has written for numerous ensembles, genres, and mediums. His love for musical theater, film music, and classical music have lead to a diverse body of work ranging from solos to orchestral poems, classical to postmodern, acoustic to electronic. 

Jacob is currently a graduate student at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He received his Bachelors in Music Composition at Oklahoma City University.