The Waterbury Symphony Orchestra Presents Two 16 Year Old Artists in Tchaikovsky Concert October 2

Sept. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- The Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (WSO) will present a stunning opening to their 2010-2011 season with one of the most beloved composers of all time, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a “giant of all Russian composers”.  Two of Connecticut’s most inspiring young artists, both 16 years of age, will make their WSO debut during the Saturday, October 2nd concert at the Naugatuck Valley Community College at 8:00 PM.

Pianist Alex Beyer of Fairfield will perform Piano Concerto #1 in Bb minor, and violinist Sirena Huang of South Windsor will display her bowing prowess during Violin Concerto in D Major. “Their youth belies the depth of their artistic souls and command of the stage,” stated WSO Conductor and Music Director Leif Bjaland. In addition to the concertos, the program for the October 2nd performance will also feature “The Battle of Poltava and Cossack Dance from Mazeppa, and the iconic “1812 Overture” for a rare, impactful indoor appearance.

Alex Beyer has acquired acclaim through prestigious national and international concert appearances. The Connecticut Post heralded his recent orchestral debut with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony as “one of the most spectacular debuts with the symphony”. Beyer began studying piano at age five, and he has been a student of Yoshie Akimoto for the past six years.

At age 11, Alex Beyer was the featured guest soloist with the Stamford Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and he performed with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra after winning their 2008 concerto competition. In 2009, he was a guest soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra after winning their Young Artist Competition. In the spring of 2011, Alex will perform Rachmaninoff’s 3rd concerto in a return engagement with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.

Sirena Huang was the First Prize Gold Medalist of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in June 2009. Since 2003, she has been selected three times as the youngest of ten "Exceptional Young Artists" worldwide at the “Starling-DeLay Symposium for Violin Study” at Juilliard School.
In the spring of 2009, the Hartford Courant wrote the following of Huang’s remarkable performance with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra: "Seldom have Hartford Symphony Orchestra concert-goers been so transfixed by a soloist as they were by 14-year-old Sirena Huang. Her musicality is solid, professional and mature. Huang played with effortless technical command and projected fresh ideas in concentrated but flowing gracefulness."

Huang began her violin lessons at 4 years old with Mrs. Linda Fiore at the Hartt School. Currently a scholarship student at the internationally renowned Juilliard School Pre-College division, she studies with Mr. Stephen Clapp and Ms. Sylvia Rosenberg.

Founded in May 1938 under the direction of Maestro Mario DiCecco, the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (WSO) has spent the past several decades promoting the understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of symphonic and orchestral music. Originally incorporated as the Waterbury Civic Orchestra (1940), the Symphony and its mission have grown in both vision and artistic merit, expanding from a community orchestra to the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (1956). By the early 1970s, it became the only fully-professional symphony in Connecticut. The WSO is now led by Leif Bjaland, Musical Director and Conductor since 1994.

The Saturday, October 2 Tchaikovsky concert will be held at 8:00 PM at the Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) Fine Arts Center. Single tickets are $50 for premium seating, $30 for reserved, and $20 for value seating. Tickets can be obtained by calling the WSO office at 203-574-4283, 9:00 AM to 5 PM; by visiting the WSO offices at 110 Bank Street in Waterbury 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, or via www.waterburysymphony.org’s E-Box Office. All tickets purchased online will be U.S. Mailed up until three business days prior to the concert.

“Hallelujah!” featuring “Messiah” by George Frederic Handel will be the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra’s next performance on Saturday, December 11 at 8:00 PM at the Litchfield’s St. Michael’s Church, and Sunday, December 12 at 3:00 PM at the Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) Fine Arts Center in Waterbury. Both performances will feature WSO Conductor and Music Director Leif Bjaland, soloists from Yale Opera, and the NVCC College Choir directed by Richard Gard. Handel’s “Messiah” is the longest continuously-performed work in the history of music and will be the WSO’s first complete performance of “the greatest story ever told” in many years.

On the evening of the October 2 performance, tickets can be purchased at The Box office at NVCC Fine Arts Center Box Office located at 750 Chase Parkway in Waterbury) on the third floor in the Ruth Ann Leever Atrium.  The NVCC Box office opens one hour prior to the concert. Tickets cannot be purchased on the WSO website the day of the performance. Discounted ‘student rush’ $5 tickets will be available at the box office beginning at 7:00 PM.

To learn more about the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, visit www.waterburysymphony.org. Tickets can also be obtained by calling the WSO office at 203-574-4283, 9:00 AM to 5 PM, or by visiting the WSO offices at 110 Bank Street in Waterbury 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.