Who were those performers?

This past Sunday a handful of BYSO students performed at a recital to showcase the concertos they created for the annual Concerto Competition. Here are some fun facts about those students and their selections:

Midori Mori is a student from Bellevue and is excited to be performing in this year’s concerto recital. Midori shared the selected piece, “Poème de l'amour et de la mer, literally Poem of Love and the Sea, was originally written for voice and orchestra. The piece consists of two parts separated by an orchestral interlude based on poems written by Chausson’s friend, Maurice Bouchor who was a French poet and sculptor.”

Andrew Pang is a student from Woodinville and is excited to be performing in this year’s concerto recital playing the violin. Andrew will perform the Concerto in D for Viola by Karl Stamitz (1745-1801). In addition to playing music, Andrew also enjoys transcribing music.

Joseph Dougherty, from Woodinville, is a current freshman at the University of Washington and shares, “Although I took up trombone in order to be part of BYSO, piano is my main instrument. I have just begun my freshman year at the University of Washington as a piano performance major studying with Craig Sheppard. This movement contains several challenging passages, which have forced me to learn to relax in order to play them. This and other pieces have helped me to see that the best playing technique requires much relaxation.”

Sam Dougherty is a student from Woodinville and is excited to be performing in this year’s concerto recital. Sam learned of the concerto competition after watching a winner play. Sam’s favorite part of participating was learning to prepare a piece for this level of performance. “I also enjoyed the challenge of standing in front of the judges and performing for them,” shared Sam.

Concerto Competition Performance & Recital

Congratulations are due to all of the students who competed in this year's BYSO Concerto Competition! The judges deliberated and found it difficult to select just two winners, but they knew they had to make a decision.

Drum roll please....

We are pleased to announce Audrey Chen and Calvin Chan as the winning students of this year's Concerto Competition! You can hear these students perform at the March 8th concerts with the Sinfonia and Youth orchestras.

As mentioned, the judging process was tough. The students came in well-prepared and performed well. It seemed a shame not to show off the talent of each of these amazing BYSO students...and so we decided to add a recital to the BYSO performance calendar.

On February 22nd at the St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Bellevue you can join us to hear many of the student's concertos performed.

For tickets and more information log on to www.byso.org or call (425) 467-5604.

Music at the Mutual

Each year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, all of the musical groups in BYSO spend the evening practicing for upcoming concerts. Below are some photos from this year over at the Mutual Bank building:

What are you doing for Valentine's Day?

Instead of chocolate this year, how about a family night filled with music? Sometimes it feels difficult to find time to relax as a family. A fun tip I've heard is setting aside a night that is just focused on hanging out as a family.

The true meaning of valentine's day is to show your appreciation towards the ones you love. Here are a few tips to musically enjoy Valentine's Day:

* Find your favorite classical piece online and send it to your friends and family. A music valentine is a perfect excuse to take a break and relax! There are many sites such as www.classical.com.

* Bake together! Put on your favorite cd and breaking out the baking pans. What's more fun than baking with a friend and your favorite tunes in the background?

* Give the gift of music. If you want to give something a little more original than chocolates, what about some sheet music, an itunes gift card, or compose your own piece and perform it for your friends and family. Getting musically creative is half the fun!

* Watch a movie. Grab the fam, order in a pizza, and rent a movie based on the soundtrack. Maybe a favorite musical? Or a film whose soundtrack is emphasized by the time period or certain musicians (The I Am Sam soundtrack exclusively includes cover versions of Beatles songs)?

Whatever you do this Valentine's Day think about ways you can make it a musical holiday! If you have a good tip send it our way to share with the BYSO community!