March 5, 2003

Youth play solo works with TSO

Marielle Smith and Austin Lo perform at Saturday symphony

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

Giving a boost to their musical dreams and professional development, some area youth will be playing solos this weekend with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra.
Harpist Marielle Smith and pianist Austin Lo will make their debut with a professional orchestra during the finale of the Saturday Family Symphony Series at the Milliken Auditorium. Cellist Morgen Johnson will play during the TSO's Pops Concert held Sunday afternoon at the Lars Hockstad Auditorium.
The three won the 2003 Young Artists Competition sponsored by TSO and held January 18. Smith and Lo tied for first in the Junior Division, culled from four finalists under the age of 15. Johnson won first place in the Senior Division over two other musicians in the age range 16-20. The second-place winner of the Senior Division, pianist Stephanie McCrimmon, will perform with the Traverse Youth Orchestra in May.
Judges for the competition included Kevin Rhodes, music director and conductor of the TSO, Elizabeth Bert, the Traverse Youth Orchestra principal conductor and visiting musicians from the Bergonzi String Quartet.
"The young artists competition originally was to have youth compete to play with the Traverse Youth Orchestra," said Susan Schnerer, general manager of the TSO. "This year we decided to expand it to include playing with the TSO."
Since their selection, Smith and Lo have worked with Rhodes and they have participated in a full orchestra rehearsal Tuesday evening with another scheduled for Thursday.
"It is an honor to play with the adult orchestra, I didn't really expect it," said Lo, who has been playing the piano for seven years. "I am both nervous and excited about it."
Lo, who will perform the first movement of Haydn's Piano Concerto in D, was also thrilled at a one-on-one coaching session he had with Rhodes since his selection.
"I've worked with him once, he is pretty fun and knows what he is doing," said Lo, a sixth-grade student at Petoskey Middle School. "He gave me some really good pointers, like playing louder, fingering and projecting to the audience."
Smith is a tenth-grade student at West High School and will be performing the first concerto she has ever played: Handel's Concerto for the Harp. She has been playing the harp for eight years and also plays the piano.
"This is probably one of the most difficult pieces I've played," said Smith, who is also a member of the West High School Symphony Orchestra and has played with the Traverse Symphony Youth Orchestra. "It is an honor to play with the TSO and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
The Saturday Family Symphony Series concludes with a full orchestra performance, bringing together all the musical sections of an orchestra that have been featured during previous sessions. Having the full orchestra play at the finale is another new idea this year, Schnerer noted.
"The past few years we existed to have the four concerts featuring the woodwinds, brass, string and percussion sections," she said.
The full orchestra will also play two songs that each section played: the William Tell Overture and Prayer for Hansel and Gretal.
"The thought, educationally speaking, is to pull this all together so they can hear what each of these pieces can sound like," Schnerer said.
Saturday Family Symphony performances plus an instrument petting zoo will be held at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 8, at the Milliken Auditorium. Tickets are $5 for children and $7 for adults. The TSO Pops Concert will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, at the Lars Hockstad Auditorium. For more information, call TSO at 947-7120.