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Livermore-Amador Symphony’s 54th regular season continues Feb. 18 with “Inspirational Journeys” conducted by Music Director Lara Webber at the Bankhead Theater. The performance will feature the winners of the symphony’s 2016-17 Competition for Young Musicians, including Dougherty Valley High pianist Sehyun (Eunice) Lee.
The concert will open with Jennifer Higdon’s “Blue Cathedral.”
“Higdon’s music is full of color and texture, expressive lyricism and exciting momentum,” explained Webber. “The work begins and ends quietly, with a soaring buildup of energy. She uses a wide variety of percussion instruments in unique ways to create a beautiful transformational sound at the end of work.”
Next, competition winner violinist Felix Yu-Shuan Shen, 14 and a freshman at Dublin High, will perform the first movement of Jean Sibelius’ technically difficult Violin Concerto in D minor. Felix grew up in Taiwan, moving to Dublin in 2014, and has won numerous music competitions, including top prize in the 2015 U.S. Open Music Competition.
His first concert solo was performed just months after he began studying violin at age 5. He was concert soloist in government events in Taiwan (2007-10) and for the Zhubei Philharmonic Institute (2012-14). Since 2014, Felix has participated in recitals for the Music Teachers’ Association of California. Concertmaster of the Orchestra Gradus ad Parnassum, he describes music as “a spiritual friend who accompanies me through happiness, joy, anger, loneliness and disappointment.”
The son of Yu-Min Shen and Chen-Yu Wang, Felix has a great interest in math and computer science, is active in Dublin High’s Gavel and Gael Force Robotics Clubs, and is fluent in Mandarin, Taiwanese and English. He looks forward to a career as both a violinist and an engineer.
After intermission, competition winner pianist Sehyun (Eunice) Lee, 17 and a senior at Dougherty Valley High, will perform the first movement of Beethoven’s bold Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major. Eunice has studied piano for more than eight years and was selected as a winner of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra’s 2015 concerto competition. She won awards multiple times at the U.S. Open Music Competition in both solo and duet categories. In 2016 she completed the music program for piano performance at CalArts.
In addition to piano, Eunice enjoys playing the violin. She began playing in orchestras at age 7, and served as co-concertmaster of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra. She was invited to play in the Menuhin Chamber Music Seminar at San Francisco State in 2015.
The daughter of Ho-Jeong Kim and Jong-Pil Lee, Eunice is an ardent animal-lover, outspoken supporter of minority rights, and avid food enthusiast. In college she plans to pursue her passions in music, writing and political science. Eunice says she hopes to experience life in the most fulfilling way she can.
The concert will conclude with Edvard Grieg’s “Symphonic Dances.”
“Grieg’s ‘Symphonic Dances’ are exciting, tuneful and expressive,” noted music director Webber. “Grieg uses just a handful of thematic ideas in remarkably inventive ways to create a richly rewarding musical journey. You’ll be humming his music on your way out the door.”
The 8 p.m. concert will be preceded by a prelude talk from 7-7:30 p.m. At intermission, the teen jazz band “Element 116” will perform, directed by Matt Finders. The Symphony Guild will host a post-concert reception.
Tickets are $12-$35. Go to www.bankheadtheater.org, call 373-6800, or visit the box office at 2400 First St., Livermore.
Editor’s note: Patricia Boyle has been writing about the Livermore-Amador Symphony for three years.
Congratulations Eunice! What an exciting opportunity and a fantastic accomplishment! It takes a lot of time and devotion of music to get to this point at such a young age. Fantastic!