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April 25, 2006
YOUNG ARTISTS FEATURED AT HIGH MOUNTAIN SYMPHONY FINALE ON APRIL 29
—Young Artists Competition Finalists Perform
The High Mountain Symphony at William Paterson University will present Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 at the orchestra’s season finale on Saturday, April 29 at 8 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the University campus in Wayne. Also featured at the concert will be the finalists of the Symphony’s Ninth Annual Mae and Fletcher Fish Young Artists Competition.
P. George Mathew will guest conduct the concert. He is the last of four guest conductors for the High Mountain Symphony’s 2005-2006 season selected from among hundreds of applicants. One will be chosen to become the music director of the Symphony beginning with the 2006-2007 season.
Three young New Jersey musicians—Dae Hee Ahn, a violinist from Rutherford; Stephanie Ko, a violinist from Tenafly; and Courtney Lin Kaita, a cellist from Manalapan—have been selected to perform as finalists in the Mae and Fletcher Fish Young Artists Competition. The competition is open to high school-aged musicians in grades 9, 10, 11 or 12 and reflects the Symphony’s commitment to promoting youth education and participation in the arts. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize and a four-year music scholarship to William Paterson University.
Mathew’s conducting activities have taken him to several orchestras and opera companies in the United States, India and Europe. A finalist for the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, he has served on the conducting staff at the Manhattan School of Music since September 2003. As a conductor and pianist, he has been active in promoting the works of contemporary composers. A graduate of Amherst College, he earned a post-graduate diploma in conducting from the Manhattan School of Music.
Tickets for the concert are $25, $20 for senior citizens, William Paterson faculty, staff and alumni, and $8 for William Paterson students and those ages 17 and younger. The concert will be preceded by a pre-concert conversation with the conductor beginning at 7 p.m. in Shea 101.
The High Mountain Symphony is the only professional orchestra in New Jersey in permanent residence at a university. It is supported in part by grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council through a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State. In addition, the orchestra is underwritten in part by William Paterson University and supported by gifts from private individuals, area businesses and corporations. The ensemble has gained national recognition both for its excellence of performance and imaginative programming.
For information or to purchase tickets, call the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371.
www.wpunj.edu
(Biographical information on finalists below)
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Finalists in the 2006 Mae and Fletcher Fish Young Artists Competition
Dae Hee Ahn (Rutherford, New Jersey)
Dae Hee Ahn, born in Yeosu, South Korea, began her violin studies at the age of five. After she arrived in the United States in 1998, she entered the Preparatory Division of the Manhattan School of Music and studied there for three years under a scholarship. She is currently attending the Pre-College Division of The Julliard School. Ahn has won numerous prizes in competitions including the Queens Music Competition in 1999 and the Stecher and Horowitz Scholarship Foundation Award in 2002. She has appeared as a soloist with the Academic Symphony Orchestra and performed in recitals at Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall and other venues. She is a freshman at the Bergen County Academies.
Stephanie Ko (Tenafly, New Jersey)
Stephanie Ko began her violin studies at age seven, and in less than two years won the first prize in the New York Music Competition where she received the YWCA President Grant. A student of Isaac Malkin at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division since 2003, she served as concertmistress of the Pre-College Symphony Orchestra during the 2004-2005 season and recently won first prize in the pre-college concerto competition. Ko has performed as a soloist with the Academic Symphony Orchestra and in recitals at Weill Recital Hall, John Harms Center and the Bryant Park Concert Series, among others. She is a sophomore at Tenafly High School.
Courtney Lin Kaita (Manalapan, New Jersey)
Courtney Kiata, a cellist, won the first prize in the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Artists Competition, and has twice represented New Jersey in the solo Junior Strings Performance competition for the Eastern Division of the Music Teachers National Association Competition. She made her solo debut with orchestra at age 13 with the Edison Symphony of New Jersey. She has also performed with the Manalapan Battleground Symphony and as a soloist in Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall. In 2004, she was featured as a Rising Star for the first Beijing Music Festival, performing in the Forbidden City Concert Hall and People’s Congress Hall in Tiananmen Square. Kiata is a sophomore at Freehold High School.
www.wpunj.edu
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