12-Year-Old Violinist Ilana Zaks Wins the 2012 N.E. Philharmonic Young Artists Competition

Nov. 9, 2012 - PRLog -- Boston, MA--New England Philharmonic has just announced that 12-year-old violinist Ilana Zaks is the winner of this year's New England Philharmonic Young Artists Competition.  The annual competition has been held since 1994 and is judged by Music Director Richard Pittman and musicians from the New England Philharmonic.  Entrants must be under 18, must be residents of New England and must not have yet graduated from high school.

Ilana Zaks will perform Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy at the orchestra's Family Concert:  Beats and Beasts on Sunday, December 9 at 3 P.M. at Boston University's Tsai Performance Center, located at 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.  

The Sunday afternoon program, in which young listeners will be able to learn Latin rhythms, dance with buckaroos at a hoedown and help make barnyard sounds in a traditional American song, will also feature Silvestre Revueltas' Sensemayá, Wallingford Riegger's New Dance and Aaron Copland's Buckaroo Holiday, Hoedown and Old American Songs.  

Sensemayá is a poem by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén, adapted as an orchestral work by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas and it is one of Revueltas's most famous compositions.  The poem evokes a ritual Afro-Caribbean chant performed while killing a snake!  This work is part of his three-part set of songs Canciones por las Americas.  

Buckaroo Holiday and Hoedown are two sections from the ballet Rodeo scored by Aaron Copland and originally choreographed by Agnes de Mille for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which premiered in 1942 at the Metropolitan Opera House.  

Wallingford Riegger's New Dance was written in 1935 for dancer Doris Humphrey.  While Riegger was the first American twelve-tone composer, his  New Dance uses the jazzy rhythmic language of the 1930s.

Old American Songs are two sets of songs arranged by Aaron Copland in 1950 and 1952 respectively.  Originally scored for voice and piano, they will be performed by the highly-regarded PALS Children's Chorus and the orchestra at this concert.  Part 1 includes "The Boatmen's Dance"--a minstrel song from 1843, "The Dodger," "Long Time Ago," "Simple Gifts"--a Shaker song and "I Bought Me A Cat."

General admission tickets for this concert at $25.00 and $5.00 for students with ID at the door are on sale now.  To purchase individual concert tickets or a full season subscription, go here:  http://www.nephilharmonic.org/tickets/.  The Tsai Performance Center is wheelchair accessible:  http://www.bu.edu/tsai/directions/accessibility/

About Ilana Zaks:

At the tender age of twelve, violinist Ilana Zaks has already performed as a soloist with the Boston Civic Symphony, Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Wellesley Symphony, Brockton Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Symphony, Arlington Philharmonic and Cape Cod Symphony.

Ilana began studying violin at the age of three-and-a-half with her mother, Anna Korsunsky and currently is a student of the Professor Donald Weilerstein.

Sunday, December 9, 2012, 3:00 P.M.

Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Family Concert: Beats and Beasts
Richard Pittman, conductor
PALS Children’s Chorus, Andy Icochea Icochea, Director
Silvestre Revueltas: Sensemaya
Wallingford Riegger:  New Dance
Aaron Copland: Buckaroo Holiday and Hoedown from Rodeo
Aaron Copland: Old American Songs, Part 1
Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy, Featuring Ilana Zaks, Winner of the NEP Young Artist Competition

OTHER CONCERTS THIS SEASON:

Saturday, March 2, 2013, 8:00 P.M.

Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Ancient Sources, New Sounds
Richard Pittman, conductor
Danielle Maddon, violin
Peter Child: Jubal
Bernard Hoffer: Violin Concerto (World Premiere)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6
Michael Gilbertson: Vigil (first Boston performance)

Saturday, April 27, 2013, 8:00 P.M.

Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Form and Variations
Richard Pittman, conductor
Randall Hodgkinson, piano
Gunther Schuller: Five Bagatelles
Benjamin Britten: Piano Concerto
Steven Stucky: Rhapsodies (First Boston Performance)
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 7