Opus 4

Opus 4
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CWOTO Opus 4

Saturday, July 13, 2002

7:30 pm

Thousand Oaks High School Performing Arts Center

2323 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 [map]

Tickets: $12 adult / $6 senior/child/student (available at the door)

Performers and Their Pieces

Piano Concerto #2, Opus 102 Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Allegro

Mr. Joey Shuberg is sixteen years old and is home educated. He took piano lessons from his uncle, Stephen Schuberg, for eight years, starting when he was seven years of age. Currently, he studies with Mona Wu DeCesare. He was a gold medallist in the 2001 Contemporary Music Festival sponsored by the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) and played in the Honors Festival at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. He received Honorable Mention status in the California Assn. of Professional Music Teachers Romantic Music Festival in Los Angeles. He earned the highest rating in the Certificate of Merit syllabus examinations, and was recommended to perform at the state convention, recently held in Riverside, California. Invited to perform at the Ventura Chamber Music Festival, he performed in a program titled: Young Artists Playing Mozart. He received a music scholarship from the Fe Bland Foundation after performing in an audition at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. The oldest in a family of seven siblings, he has four brothers and two sisters. He loves to play basketball, enjoys surfing and bowling, and his favorite subjects of study are history, literature, and, of course, music.

Piano Concerto #3, Opus 37 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Allegro con brio

Mr. Vlad Vizireanu was born in Romania in 1985, but has been a long-time resident of the United States. This is where he started school and first took an interest in classical music. At first, he wanted to be a percussionist and then he thought he would study violin. When he was eight, karate became a discipline he worked on. He reached black belt status and his interests changed to drama and acting. Eventually, when he was eleven, learning the piano was a possibility he wanted to explore, so he began lessons. At first, the instrument proved to be challenging in all aspects. Gradually, his desire to excel and learn more about the instrument took hold, and by the time he was fourteen, it became his major interest. Various repertoire by the master composers led to this realization, and after learning Beethoven’s “Für Elise” there was no turning back. Currently his favorite composers are Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, and Shostakovich. Vlad just completed his junior year at Westlake High School, where he is a member of the French and Role-Playing Clubs. He has interest in dance as well as music. He would like to attend either Pepperdine University or UCLA when he graduates next year. He was a Gold Medal winner in the Conejo Valley Music Teachers’ Association Contemporary Music Festival, and played in the Honors Recital at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. He was a winner in the Southern California Junior Bach Festival at the branch and regional levels, and eventually played in the Showcase Recital in Santa Barbara. He was a winner in the state MTAC Panel Honors program, and was invited to perform at the state teachers’ convention recently held in Riverside, California. This is his second appearance with the CCO, as he was a soloist in Opus 2.

Zigunerweisen, Opus 20 (Gypsy Airs) Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908)

Ms. Carol Yan, age 16, is entering her senior year at Thousand Oaks High School. She began studying the violin at age 9 with Diana Goodman and has been the student of Joyce Osborn for the past five years. During this period, she has won many honors through the Certificate of Merit Program. She completed the Panel level, the highest level in the program. Carol has also participated in the Baroque and 20th Century Music Festivals. She was selected as principal second chair at the Marrowstone Music Festival. Last year, she won 2nd place in the Southern California Bach Festival. She has been a member of the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra for five years and is its current concert master. Also part of the Chamber Orchestra, she was invited to perform for the Thousand Oaks Arts Council.

Aside from playing the violin, Carol is an honors and AP student. She is currently ranked first in her senior class. She also enjoys participating in sports and is a Varsity member of the high school swim team and enjoys playing on the tennis team. During the weekends, Carol volunteers at Los Robles Hospital.

Cello Concerto, Opus 104 Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

Allegro

Mr. Andrew Janss, 18, began his cello studies at age ten with Andrew Cook, who continues to be his teacher and mentor. At Encore School for Strings, he studied with Christopher Von Baeyer and Richard Aaron during the summers of 2000 and 2001, and with Cassel Grubb at Interlochen Arts Camp in 1999. Joyce Osborn and Andrew Cook have coached the ensembles in which Andrew has participated.

Andrew has won numerous competitions and awards. In spring 2002, he received first place honors at the competition of the Santa Barbara American String Teachers Association (ASTA) chapter, and first place in ASTA Regional competition for the Greater Los Angeles Area. He will compete at the state level in the fall. He also received first place in the Memorial Awards Competition in the West San Fernando Valley in May.

In June 2001, Andrew was invited to present two solo performances at the state convention of the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) in San Francisco. As the state winner in the Senior Strings Division of the MTAC VOCE Competition, he performed in the VOCE Concert, and as a newly selected member of the Young Artist Guild (YAG), he was invited to perform in the Young Artists Guild Concert as well. Since that time, he has given YAG recitals in Palos Verdes and Tarzana, Santa Clarita, and Thousand Oaks.

Named a Discovery Artist of Ventura County’s New West Symphony in 2000, Andrew received the honor of a solo performance of the Haydn Cello Concerto in C Major with the orchestra in January 2001.Since then, he has been invited to perform in numerous recitals and community performances for young artists sponsored by that orchestra. He performed at the Young Artists Peninsula Music Festival as the invited accompanist for a ballet production of Saint Saens’ Swan in June of this year. Two years ago, he was a soloist in the Young Artists Peninsula Music Festival as winner of the Junior Strings Division. Other solo appearances with orchestras have included performances with the San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra, the California State University at Northridge (CSUN) Youth Philharmonic and CSUN Symphony Orchestras, and the New England Youth Ensemble.

Andrew’s experience as an orchestra member began in the CSUN Youth Orchestra’s Camerata Strings. In subsequent years, he successfully auditioned for the CSUN Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, sitting principal in the Camarata Strings and Symphony Orchestras. He joined the American Youth Symphony in Los Angeles in 2000, and was the youngest cellist and one of few high school students in the orchestra during that time. During the summer of 2000, he toured Africa as orchestra member and soloist with the New England Youth Ensemble, the resident college orchestra of Columbia Union College in Maryland. In Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa, Andrew performed the cello solo from John Rutter’s Requiem before an audience of over 2000 under the baton of John Rutter himself. He joined the orchestra for the Southern California portion of its west coast tour the following December.

Andrew performed in the O.C. Piano trio with Raymond Tong, violin and Sean Chen, piano. Their trio won the 2000 VOCE State Competition in the Intermediate Ensemble category, resulting in a concert appearance at the 2000 MTAC State Convention in San Diego.

As his Independent Senior Project at Viewpoint School, Andrew presented a solo Tchaikovsky recital at the school’s Student Scholars Night. He is principal cellist of the Viewpoint Upper School String Ensemble and has mentored younger cellists at school. He was invited to perform for the Alumni and Faculty Awards, and to solo with the Upper School Strings at his high school graduation in June 2002.

An honor student and Presidential Scholar, Andrew has been president of Viewpoint’s chapter of Junior Statesman of America, a nationwide debate society, and was elected to the Latin and French Honor Societies. He was named a National Merit Commended Scholar in fall 2001. Andrew performed as both actor and musician in Viewpoint’s fall drama production of The Geography of Home, an original play by Dr. Julianne De Sal. When time permitted, he also enjoyed formation ballroom dancing, soccer and cross-country, activities that had to make way for orchestra rehearsals. Andrew is very excited about attending Manhattan School of Music in the fall, and he will study there with David Geber. He looks forward to a career as a cellist.

Piano Concerto #1, Opus 11 Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Allegro maestoso

Mr. Sean Chen, 13, just completed eighth grade at Medea Creek School in Oak Park. He has studied the piano for eight years, first with Angela Hsu and then with Edward Francis. He has earned many awards for his performances. He has been a soloist with the New West Symphony in Beethoven's Concerto #2, and with the Conejo Youth Symphony, in a Mozart Concerto as winner of their Young Pianist Award. He has been the winner of numerous Southern California Bach Festivals, and has played at Branch, Regional, and Showcase recitals in Thousand Oaks, Ventura, and Santa Barbara for four consecutive years. He has enjoyed participating in Chamber Music ensembles, and completed a weeklong intensive study of the genre at a special festival recently held in the San Fernando Valley. His trio, comprising violinist Raymond Tong and Cellist Andrew Janss, won first place in the state VOCE (Vocal, Orchestra, & Chamber Ensembles) competition sponsored by the Music Teachers' Assn. of California. As a result, they were featured in recital at the state teachers' convention in San Diego.

He has played in numerous solo recitals, and has participated twice in the master class of famed international pianist Arnaldo Cohen at the Civic Arts Plaza, in Thousand Oaks, California. He has been a gold medal winner in the Conejo Valley MTAC sponsored Twentieth-Century Festival, Romantic Festival and Minor-Masters Festival, each time earning a performance at the Gold Medal Honors Festival at the Scherr Forum Theatre at the Civic Arts Plaza. In the California Assn. of Professional Music Teachers Sonata Competition, he was first place in his category last April. He was also the Los Angeles representative in the CAPMT annual Conference Honors Auditions in San Diego last February. He is a New West Symphony Discovery Artist for 2001, and was featured soloist with the orchestra in two performances of the Ravel Concerto in G Major, in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks. His performance this evening is being sponsored by the Music Teachers’ Association of California, Conejo Valley Branch, which hosted auditions for the opportunity to play with the CCO. He has been invited regularly to be heard in the Leni Fe Bland Foundation auditions at the Santa Barbara Music Academy of the West, and had been a scholarship recipient for many years. He was invited by the city of Thousand Oaks to perform at the 2002 “Encore Award for Excellence in the Arts” Gala, which was televised on local cable television in June of 2002. He will attend Oak Park High School in the fall.

Piano Concerto #2, Opus 102 Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Allegro

Ms. Angie Borkar started playing the piano when she was less than five years old, showing a passion for fast-paced, playful, contemporary music. Since her early years, she has performed many times, winning awards from the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, as well as the Contemporary Festival and Bach Festival held by the Music Teachers’ Association of California. In addition, Angie has completed all levels of theory in the Certificate of Merit program and passed the Advanced Placement Music Theory test late last year. Her dedication during her tough high school years was recently rewarded when she received the prestigious senior pin from the Music Teachers’ Association. Angie thanks her family and her music teacher, Mona DeCesare, for their continuous support. She will attend the University of California, Berkeley in the fall, majoring in psychology, and she hopes to continue her music study through her college years.

Piano Concerto #2, S. 125 Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Mr. Alex Wasserman, a native of Oak Park, began piano lessons at age fourteen with Suzanne Julian. After graduating from Oak Park High School, he went on to pursue musical studies at Moorpark College, where he was active in performance of solo and chamber music repertoire. He has since participated in the Aspen and Idyllwild music festivals, and has been a recipient of many scholarships, awards and honors including the Moorpark College Outstanding Pianist Award, numerous scholarships from the Leni Fe Bland Foundation, and the USC "Friends of Armenia" scholarship. Alex was recently accepted to participate in master classes this summer at the Aria International Summer Academy in Toronto, Canada with teachers Bernadene Blaha, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Ursula Oppens, and Ronald Turini, and at the Orford Arts Centre in Quebec, Canada with teachers Richard Raymond and Henri Brassard. Currently, Alex is a Senior in Piano Performance at the University of Southern California under the instruction of Professor Antoinette Perry.

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