WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (JANUARY 16, 2019) – The Winston-Salem Symphony and Youth Symphony will present a Concert for Community on Saturday, February 2, 2019 at 3 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public and will take place at Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest University campus. Although the concert is free, please visit the Symphony website at WSsymphony.org to reserve your ticket.
“Concert for Community highlights the enormous talent here in our community, both seasoned performers and emerging talents,” said Jessica Morel, Assistant Conductor of the Winston-Salem Symphony. “Audiences will experience extraordinary music beautifully performed by our talented professional musicians and our youth orchestra, who represent tomorrow’s stars. I am in awe of these musicians and the Peter Perret Youth Talent Search winners, whose talent and poise are remarkable. It is a unique change to hear incredible music performed by masterful musicians for free!”
Under the baton of Morel, the program will feature the combined professional and youth symphonies, totaling approximately 135 musicians, performing multiple pieces.
The Winston-Salem Symphony will open the concert with a piece by the 2019 Peter Perret Youth Talent Search composition contest winner Scott Shea entitled The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls. The 2019 Peter Perret Youth Talent Search winners will then take the stage with the Winston-Salem Symphony. Anthara Vivek, a 13-year-old violinist and the junior division winner (ages eight to 12) will perform Zigeunerweisen, op. 20 “Gypsy Airs,” by Pablo de Sarasate (1844 – 1908). Fifteen-year-old Luke Henderson, a violinist and the winner of the senior division (ages 13 through senior year of high school), will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64 Mvt. 1.
The annual Youth Talent Search, named in honor of former Winston-Salem Symphony Music Director Peter Perret, was developed to identify the region’s most gifted and talented young musicians, to develop young talent, and to recognize and support the teachers and families of musically-gifted children. Participation in the competition also provides students with experience and motivation to continue their musical studies. Many have gone on to become professional musicians, including the winner of the very first Peter Perret Youth Talent Search, who is now a member of the New York Philharmonic.
“The two winners of this year’s Peter Perret Youth Talent Search are amazing musicians, and we are thrilled to share the stage with them,” said Maestra Morel. “Anthara Vivek plays Sarasate’s challenging Zigeunerweisen with a maturity beyond her years. The strong technique and profound artistry with which violinist Luke Henderson plays the Violin Concerto in E minor by Mendelssohn will amaze audiences. His command of the violin is masterful particularly for someone of his age. I am also thrilled to be conducting Scott Shea’s The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls. His composition abilities are astonishing for his young age.”
For the second half of the concert, the Winston-Salem Symphony and the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Symphony will combine to play Richard Strauss’s (1864 – 1949) Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare; Academic Festival Overture, op. 80 by Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897); and Hugo Alfvén’s (1872 – 1960) Midsommarvaka, op. 19 “Swedish Rhapsody No. 1.”
Scott Shea, winner of the 2019 Peter Perret Youth Talent Search for composition, is a budding composer with a performance background in French horn and guitar. He began composing his sophomore year of high school, and in Spring 2015, his first orchestral work, A Pilgrimage, was premiered and recorded by the Greensboro Youth Symphony Orchestra after winning the ensemble’s Young Composers Competition. His style of writing is influenced by the Romantic period, with borrowed elements of jazz and other contemporary styles. He attended the 2014 University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) Summer Session for composition and is now studying under Dr. Michael Rothkopf. Shea is currently a member of the UNCSA horn studio, where he participates in the wind ensemble and horn choir. As a jazz guitarist, he has performed in a variety of big band and chamber settings, as well as participating in the Summer Jazz Workshop at University of North Carolina-Wilmington. When he isn’t playing or writing music, Scott likes to read, watch movies and play ping-pong. Shea is a college senior, currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Composition at UNCSA.
Anthara Vivek, 13, is the 2019 Peter Perret Youth Talent Search Junior Division winner. She is from Raleigh, North Carolina and attends West Cary Middle School where she is an “A” Honor Roll student. She started her violin studies at five with Dr. Susan Wallace and currently studies with Ms. Shelley Livingston, conductor and violin instructor at Duke University String School (DUSS). Vivek is also a first violinist with the DUSS Youth Symphony Orchestra. She was selected as a winner of the 2018 DUSS Concerto Competition where she will perform as a soloist with the Duke University String School Youth Symphony on February 17, 2019 at Baldwin Auditorium on the Duke University campus. She also placed second in the Junior Strings division of the Raleigh Music Club competition in 2018 and was runner-up in the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs Royalty competition, Lords & Ladies division in 2018.
Luke Henderson, 15, is the winner of the Senior Division 2019 Peter Perret Youth Talent Search. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and began playing violin at the age of three. His teachers include Mr. Dovid Friedlander, Associate Concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony and Mr. Paul Biss at The New England Conservatory. He made his solo debut as Laurette of the Samuel Fordis Young Artist Competition with the Georgia Philharmonic in 2015 at age 12, performing Mozart’s Fourth Violin Concerto. Henderson was selected as concertmaster of the North Carolina Jr. All-State Orchestra at ten years old. He attends school at Phillips Academy where he is concertmaster of the Phillips Academy Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and is an active chamber musician. Henderson plays first violin in the world-famous Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO) conducted by Maestro Benjamin Zander and went on tour this summer with BPYO to stages in Berlin, Salzburg, Budapest, Pecs, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Jihlava. He is a member of the Chamber Music Intensive Performance Seminar at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School led by Ms. Merry Peckham. He was the North Carolina State Winner in the 2018 Music Teachers National Solo Performance Competition, Winner of the southern regional, and a national finalist in the MTNA Finals Competition in Lake Buena Vista Florida with just six other young musicians. He also won 1st place in North Carolina and 1st place in the Southeast Region in the Stillman-Kelley Competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs. He won the 2018 Chapel Hill Philharmonia Young Artist Concerto Competition with the invitation to perform with orchestra. He was the 1st place winner of the Great Composers Best Saint-Saëns Performance Competition and the winner of the Elfrida Halbig Memorial Award for most beautiful performance in the North Carolina Bach Festival. He was a winner in the 2015 and 2016 American Fine Arts Festival Golden Strings Competitions and has performed in recital at Carnegie Hall twice. In 2017, Luke performed in concert the entire Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto in B minor at the Meadowmount School of Music.
The Concert for Community is sponsored by The Montgomery/Tucker Charitable Fund; Season Presenting Sponsors Bell, Davis, & Pitt, P.A. and BB&T; as well as the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and the North Carolina Arts Council.
About the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras
The Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras is part of the Winston-Salem Symphony and includes about 130 student musicians. The Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras are currently comprised of two full orchestras and a string orchestra for aspiring musicians in the first through twelfth grades: the Premiere Strings, led by Dr. Ryane Dunnigan, is a strings ensemble for young musicians; the Youth Philharmonic, led by Margaret Rehder, is a full orchestra for intermediate level students; and the Youth Symphony, led by Dr. Jessica Morel, is a full orchestra for advanced students. Both full orchestras consist of 50 to 75 members and perform several public concerts annually as well as occasional concerts for special audiences. For more information, visit wssyo.org.
About the Winston-Salem Symphony
The Winston-Salem Symphony, one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, begins its 72nd season in October 2018. The season will include performances featuring the five finalists for the Music Director position. Each candidate will conduct a pair of Classics Series concerts, and attendees will have a chance to play a role in the selection process. In addition, the 2018–2019 season will include a Plugged-In Pops series, Discovery Concerts for Kids series, an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, the Concert for Community featuring Winston-Salem Symphony and Youth Symphony musicians, holiday concerts, three youth orchestra ensembles, and a multitude of educational and community engagement programs, including the newest offering, the P.L.A.Y. (Piedmont Learning Academy for Youth) Music program providing, primarily to under-served youth, instrumental music instruction and more. The Symphony is supported by Season Presenting Sponsors BB&T and Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A., as well as generous funding from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, the North Carolina Arts Council, and other dedicated sponsors. For more information, visit WSsymphony.org.
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