February 16, 2005

Young players make TSO debuts

Contest winners perform solo works with full symphony

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       Three winners of the 2004 Young Artists Competition will make their symphonic debut Sunday during an evening concert by the Traverse Symphony Orchestra.
      Featured will be pianist Adam Begley, a tenth-grade student at Central High School, playing the Allegro from Dmitri Kabalevsky's Piano Concerto No. 3, opus 30. Cellist Ashley Jelinek, a senior at West High School, will perform the Elegie of Gabriel Faur‚. Cellist Eva Lymenstull, a senior at Interlochen Arts Academy, will present the 4th movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor.
      Ascending the stage at the Milliken Auditorium and playing with the TSO is a heady experience for these young musicians.
      "I'm just really excited, I've never played with a full orchestra before and especially being able to play with one of such a high caliber is really a great opportunity for me," Jelinek said.
      Jelinek has been studying the cello for seven years. She plays in her school orchestra, where she is principal cellist, and also plays in a string quartet there. She studies privately with Elizabeth Bert and will play this weekend with the Encore Winds ensemble.
      Area young musicians auditioned for the Young Artists Competition last spring. After passing a recorded audition, the semifinalists played for Traverse Symphony Orchestra Conductor and Music Director Kevin Rhodes and a panel of judges. Eager to play with a full symphony, they presented their best piece.
      "I was pretty nervous, it is a competition but it was fun, too," noted Lymenstull, who is applying to six conservatories. "I really like performing and the piece is great."
      Lymenstull, who studies with Crispin Campbell at Interlochen started playing the cello in the third grade. Her parents are pianists - her dad teaches at Interlochen - she decided after briefly trying the violin that she liked the cello.
      "It has a beautiful sound and it's really flexible so you have really rich low notes and can also play up really high like a violin," she noted.
      Although the competition winners could choose a different piece, the three winners each chose to play the music they auditioned with during Sunday's concert.
      For Adam Begley, who began playing the piano ten years ago, this initiated a second round of hurry-up-and-learn. He first learned his high-energy number quickly for the audition, then put it down for months. His private teacher, Dorothy Vogel, suggested the seven-minute work to him, feeling that it fit his personality and style.
      Begley, who also plays trumpet and guitar and sings in Central's choral program, relished his brief time with Rhodes.
      "He's got a lot of energy but I haven't really worked with him much, just met with him on a Thursday night," he said of the coaching session each winner had with Rhodes. "He made some suggestions on my playing and they were really good suggestions, he really knows what he's doing."
      The Traverse Symphony Orchestra began the Young Artists Competition five years ago to give young musicians an opportunity to solo with an adult symphony orchestra.
      "We try with our youth education programs as much as possible to address all of the development needs of young musicians," said Andy Beulow, executive director of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra.
      Last year, three musicians were selected as Young Artist winners despite a history of choosing only one or two per year.
      "I arrived late at the audition and he [Rhodes] took me aside and said there were three soloists here that we really should give an opportunity to, could I schedule a special concert?" Beulow recalled.
      Beulow created a special Family Concerto Concert, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Milliken Auditorium. This concert is part of the Saturday Family Series, which presents orchestral music to children elementary age and younger. For ticket information, contact the Symphony office at 947-7120.
      High school instrumental musicians interested in the 2005 Young Artists Competition should send a CD or tape of a piece ten minutes or fewer to the TSO office, 121 E. Front Street, Suite 301, Traverse City, 49684, by Friday, March 11. Results will be announced within one week. Semifinalists will perform before a jury and a live audience at the Young Artists Recital, held on Tuesday, April 19, at 7 p.m. in Central High School Auditorium.