2010 Concerto Competition Winner

We are excited to announce this year's BYSO Concerto Winner! Check out the press release on Dong Hee Lee below:

THE BELLEVUE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANNOUNCES LOCAL STUDENT WINNER IN CONCERTO COMPOSITION CONTEST.

The Concerto Composition Contest is an annual composition contest the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra (BYSO) hosts. Each year a young composer is selected to perform their solo piece at a Showcase Concert held in March. This year Dong Hee Lee, a freshman in the Bellevue School District, won the honor to perform her work at the BYSO Showcase concert on March 7, 2010 at the Eastlake Performing Arts Center.

Dong Hee started the violin at age 8. As an elementary school student, she was awarded a top prize in the junior high division of the 2007 Michigan State Concerto Competition. She won a scholarship to the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy. The University of Michigan invited her to perform two solo recitals at the Lloyd Hall. She was invited through an audition by the American Fine Arts Festival to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In 2009, she was awarded the alternate prize at the MTNA State Competition. She was the concertmistress of the Bellevue School District Honors Middle School Orchestra. Currently, she is a first-violin player of the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Interlake High Chamber Orchestra. Dong Hee has studied with Simon James and Jan Coleman. Prior to moving the Bellevue area in 2008, she had studied with Professor Dmitri Berlinsky of the Michigan State University. In addition to playing the violin, Lee is interested in nanotechnology. She will soon start to work as an intern for a company specializing in the field. Lee shares, “I chose to play the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saint-Saens because this piece really fit me. I take French at school, and this piece, also French, really swept me away.” Lee continues, “Although this piece is like a war horse in terms of technique and level of emotion, it captures the delicate and ‘elevated’ essence that defines most French music.” Although it is challenging and requires a lot of thought and work, she is very happy that she can serve the piece with the type of dynamism that comes from collaborating with an orchestra.

Lee enjoys being a member of the BYSO because it helps her realize that she is not the only one playing music in the world! “The violin is a very lonely instrument, and sometimes, I wish that I could make music together with other people. There is so much energy in the BYSO that the weekly rehearsals charge me up with the motivation to produce more and more music,” shares Lee. “I am lucky to live so close to an institution that provides me both motivation and a sense of belonging.”

The Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra is a non-profit organization established to provide a positive and stimulating musical environment for students. BYSO uniquely complements and builds upon both school music programs and private instruction. BYSO encourages the development of musical skills and self-confidence, as participants in all ensembles rehearse orchestral literature which appropriately challenges their skills. For over 45 years our program has provided instrumental music experience to match the ability levels of talented youth from early elementary grades through their college years.

Please go to http://www.byso.org/ for ticket information and additional details.
###

Announcing Ten Grands Concert

For the third year, students are invited to compete for a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to perform at the Ten Grands Concert on May 21, 2010 at Benaroya Hall. The competition is presented by Ten Grands Seattle and The Snowman Foundation. It's open to musicians between the ages of 6 and 18. Entry submission closes on Jan 31, 2010.



For all of the details and an entry form visit http://www.king.org/.



Good luck!

A Chat with a 2009 Composition Winner

This week we wanted to share a little bit about one of our Composition Contest winners. In May these winner's works will be performed at the final Showcase Concert of the season.

Today we chat with Jason Wang, winner of the Debut composition:

BYSO: Jason, please share with us a little about your composition and your hobbies and interests?

Jason: The string quartet “Rondo in G” was originally composed in summer 2007. Although I have composed piano, piano trio, and cello works before, this is my first string quartet. I wanted to try something new. The BYSO project gave me the opportunity to explore new music perspectives. I used Rondo A-B-A-C-A-B-A form for this string quartet. This Rondo inspiration came from a Tarantella on piano I had played before. The principle theme “A” has a rather light and cute tune. It is contrasted with theme “B” which has minor inner-voiced tone and theme “C” with uncertain yet delightful melody. While working in preparation for the performance, I was very lucky to have a judge who helped me to improve continuity and expand my creative mind using music techniques. I like to compose music because it is a way to get away from the world, a way to express myself, and a way to explore new ideas of thought.

I am fourteen years old and a freshman at Roosevelt High school. I started to compose when I was in 3rd grade just for fun, but since last summer, I have been seriously learning the composition with Dr. Peter Mack. I have been study piano playing since 1st grade and I also take cello lessons. Currently I’m playing in Roosevelt High School Orchestra. In addition to music, I like watching nature and being outdoors, and I also enjoy playing tennis. In ten years I hope to be in a music school finishing my PH.D. and in twenty years I would like to be in New York doing music composition of some sort.

An Interview with Robert, Flute Composition Winner

This year's winner of the flute composition took a moment to share with us a little about his composition and what inspires Robert. Check out the interview below:

BYSO: Tell us a little about your piece and what inspired you?

Robert: I wrote a very simple piece based off of the sounds of cicadas in northern New Zealand. After I came back from my trip I was inspired to incorporate the constant sounds of their chirp into a piece. I had already been experimenting a little with minimalism and this seemed like a perfect chance. The original version of this piece is for piano. Comparatively to my other pieces it took very little time to compose, less than a week. It is very simple harmonically, staying in only one key the whole time, although it does use cluster chords often. The biggest challenge in writing this piece was orchestrating it for flute choir. I am not a flautist myself and had to get lots of advice on flute writing. The original version used the whole range of the piano from the lowest C to the highest E and writing the piece for an ensemble with a much more limited range was challenging. Ultimately though, I think the flutes give the impression of cicadas much better and they also give it a much different sound. The flute choir version is much less harsh and much more relaxed. I took away a lot from writing for this ensemble which I did not know much about. I learned a lot about writing for flutes and it also helped me with my problem of writing things that are difficult to play because I knew I would be writing for a much younger group of performers.

BYSO: How long have you been composing and performing?

Robert: I am fifteen and have been studying composition for 3 years although I've played piano for 9. I study piano and composition with Dr. Peter Mack and also take classes at the Seattle Conservatory at SPU. I go to the Northwest School.

BYSO: What else would you like to share with us? What else do you do for fun?

Robert: Most of my time is devoted to music, but I'm also really into other arts like photography and also playing ultimate frisbee. In my future I would like to be a musician. I would love to compose music for movies, but just as a way to bring in money. I would really like to do something that allows me to try new things often. I love composing, playing modern classical music and doing jazz and classical improv and if I could do all of these things for a living then I would be happy. It might also be cool to incorporate other art forms like visual art, dance or poetry. It might be overly ambitious, but I can't imagine myself doing anything else.

See Robert's composition performed at the May BYSO Showcase concerts! Get all of the details at http://www.byso.org/

LAST MINUTE OPPORTUNITY!

From www.theparamount.com/education/mm.asp

MORE MUSIC @ THE MOORE is a training and performance program for selected young artists representing diverse music genres. The program provides young artists training and rehearsal time with professional musicians; production and promotional support; recording experience; and the opportunity to perform live in concert at a professional venue, The Moore Theatre.

Mentors for the program have included: STG Artist-in-Residence, New York based violinist, conductor and composer Daniel Bernard Roumain; Ernestine Anderson, jazz singer; Dave Dederer from The Presidents of the United States of America; R&B singer Felicia Loud; Sheldon Reynolds of Earth, Wind and Fire; Michael Shrieve, original drummer of Santana; and Alan White, drummer for Yes. “Honestly. Highlight of my lifetime, right here.”- More Music @ The Moore participant, age 19

LAST MINUTE OPPORTUNITY - SEEKING TEEN MUSICIANS- SUBMISSIONS DUE JANUARY 15, 2009!Seeking teen musicians to perform in More Music @ The Moore on May 8, 2009 at The Moore Theatre. To apply, send a brief bio and a CD sample or electronic such as mp3, MySpace or Youtube by email to Education or mail to: Seattle Theatre Group Attn: More Music @ The Moore911 Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101.
For questions, call 206-467-5510,ext 1171 or email Education.

BYSO students, this is a unique opportunity! We hope you consider applying, and if you do, please let us know!