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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Libby Huebner (562) 799-6055 nyjazz@aol.com

The American Youth Symphony (AYS), described by the New York Times as “superb,” embarks on its 42nd Season as one of the nation’s longest-running and most esteemed pre-professional training orchestras.  During the 2006-07 season, the orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Alexander Treger, presents six concerts – four of which are staged at Royce Hall and are open to the public free of charge –­ featuring a range of classical masterworks and contemporary pieces. 

Building upon its tradition of presenting young artists primed for major professional careers, the orchestra presents the Los Angeles debut of 15-year-old piano sensation Ji-Yong, who at age 10 became the youngest pianist ever to win the New York Philharmonic Young Artist Competition.  The Chicago Tribune calls him “a gifted, sensitive young pianist who is clearly going places.”  Other soloists featured this season include acclaimed Swiss violinist Sibylle Tschopp, and former AYS concertmaster Ilana Setapen, who at age 21 was recently appointed concertmaster of the Riverside Philharmonic. 

For the fourth consecutive year, the AYS appears at the Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s prestigious “Sounds About Town” series on April 22, 2007.  In addition, the orchestra presents its 42nd Annual Gala Benefit Concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on April 1, 2007.

"The American Youth Symphony enters into its best season yet with exciting concerts at L.A.'s finest concert halls by the best young musicians in the country," said Treger, who begins his 8th season as music director.

SEASON DETAILED

Ji-Yong Makes LA Debut at All-Beethoven AYS Season Opener October 22 at Royce Hall

The American Youth Symphony opens its 42nd Season with an all-Beethoven program featuring the Los Angeles debut of 15-year-old piano sensation Ji-Yong on Sunday, October 22, 2006, at Royce Hall.   The first of four FREE concerts at the venerable hall, Treger conducts three Beethoven favorites: the Egmont Overture, Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 5.  A Pre-Concert Talk precedes the concert at 5:30 p.m.

A truly extraordinary artist, pianist Ji-Yong has both an awe-inspiring technique and a musical depth well beyond his 15 years.  Following his subscription concerts with the Santa Rosa Symphony in March 2004, critics raved: "Like the young Chinese pianist Lang Lang, who performed here in 2000, Ji-Yong has greatness written all over him - a winning way that seems to extend well beyond his prodigious talent."

In 2001 at the age of ten, Ji-Yong became the youngest pianist ever to win the New York Philharmonic Young Artists Competition.  He subsequently made his debut with the New York Philharmonic performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D Minor, K. 466 under the baton of Kurt Masur.  In addition to his performance at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic, Ji-Yong has performed at such venues including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center with the New Jersey Symphony and in recital at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall and the Sheremetev Palace in Russia.

Ji-Yong has made numerous orchestral and recital appearances around the country.  Among other awards, he won the 2005 Piano Competition at the Aspen Music Festival, where he subsequently performed with Peter Oundjian and the Aspen Concert Orchestra. He also earned second prize at the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's 26th Young Artist's Audition (2001), first prize at the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra's Concerto Competition (2001), and first prize at the Longwood Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in Boston (2000).  In 2001, Korea Central Daily News awarded him a prize as one of "Korea's World Leaders of Tomorrow."  He has been featured on WQXR, the classical station of The New York Times, in the "McGraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase" hosted by Robert Sherman, and in a PBS documentary entitled "Prodigies and Masters of Tomorrow.”

At the age of four, prior to any formal training in his native Korea, Ji-Yong played melodies by ear on the family piano that he had heard his mother use while teaching voice lessons.  Shortly thereafter, he was enrolled at the preparatory division of the Korean National University of Arts and soon won first prize in both the Chopin and Eum-Yeon competitions.  He and his family moved to the United States in 2000, at which time he began studies in New York with Yuri Kim at the Music Preparatory Division of Mannes College.  He is currently a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky at the Juilliard School's pre-college division and is in the ninth grade at Ramapo High School in New Jersey.

Violinist Sibylle Tschopp Appears with Orchestra on November 26 at Royce Hall

Acclaimed Swiss violinist Sibylle Tschopp makes her American Youth Symphony debut in a free concert on Sunday, November 26, 2006, 7 p.m., at Royce Hall.  She performs the Violin Concerto “Anubis” by Swiss composer Caspar Diethelm.  Alexander Treger also conducts Mozart’s the Marriage of Figaro Overture and the Brahms-Schoenberg Piano Quartet, Op. 25.  A Pre-Concert Talk precedes the concert at 5:30 p.m.

Tschopp, born in Zurich in 1971, made her solo debut when she was 14.  At the age of 18 she performed the world premiere of Menhir, a composition written especially for her by Diethelm, at the International Music Festival in Lucerne.  She has since earned international acclaim as both a soloist and a chamber musician, performing the major violin concertos as well as rarely played works and world premieres.  Tschopp has performed in Europe, the United States, Central and South Americas and South Africa, earning praise for her virtuosity and fine musicality, as well as for her comprehensive repertoire and keen sense of style.  She is the winner of several international and national prizes, including the silver medal of the "Académie Arts-Sciences-Lettres" at Paris in 1999, the "15th International Rostrum of Young Performers" presented by UNESCO in 1995, the Prix Maurice Sandoz in 1988, and the first prize at the Swiss Youth Music Competition in 1986.

Former AYS Concertmaster Ilana Setapen Returns as Soloist on January 28 at Royce Hall

The American Youth Symphony welcomes former concertmaster Ilana Setapen back to its stage as the featured soloist for a free concert on Sunday, January 28, 2007, at 7 p.m., at Royce Hall.  The program, conducted by Alexander Treger, opens with Pilgrims by the prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Ned Rorem, called by Time Magazine “the world’s best composer of art songs.” Also featured is Brahm’s Violin Concerto, Op. 77, which was premiered in 1879 and has become one of the most frequently played of all violin concerti. Belá Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, a showcase for the orchestra that allows each section of the orchestra to demonstrate its virtuosity, concludes the concert.  Written in just three months while Bartok was in self-imposed exile in the United States, it was debuted by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1944.  A Pre-Concert Talk precedes the concert at 5:30 p.m.

Setapen, a noted violinist with a powerful and original voice, was recently appointed concertmaster of the Riverside Philharmonic at age 21.   In addition to her engagement with the AYS, with whom she also appeared at Carnegie Hall, her solo appearances next season include the Pasadena Pops, the Idaho Falls and Warren Symphonies.  She made her European debut in 2002, performing Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto in Venice. In 2005 she toured Brazil and France with the Armstrong Quartet, of which she is a founding member, and in 2006 Ilana participated in the Zeist International Music Days Festival in Holland, where she worked with the Vermeer and Jerusalem Quartets.  She previously served as concertmaster of the Colburn Orchestra, and as an undergraduate student at USC, Setapen was the concertmaster of both the Thornton Symphony Orchestra and the Thornton Chamber Orchestra.  The Texas native performed for three seasons with the Amarillo Symphony and was the concertmaster of the Texas All State Orchestra in 2001.  Setapen studies with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Conservatory as a professional studies student.  She also holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of Southern California, which she attended as a scholarship student of Robert Lipsett.  Setapen performs on a 1799 Johannes Gagliano violin, on loan from the Mandell Collection of Southern California.

AYS Presents Works by Haydn and Mozart on March 4 at Royce Hall

Spotlighting works by Mozart and Hayden, the American Youth Symphony returns to Royce Hall for a free concert on Sunday, March 4, 2007, at 7 p.m.  Members of the orchestra, led by Music Director Alexander Treger, will serve as soloists for Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 84.  Other works on the program include Mozart’s Wind Divertimento/Serenade and Symphony No. 40.  A Pre-Concert Talk precedes the concert at 5:30 p.m.

Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante, composed in 1792, is considered one of the finest works from the Classical era.  Vivid themes and intricate counterpoint weave through the different sections of the orchestra.

One of only two minor-key symphonies composed by Mozart, Symphony No. 40 was written in 1788 during the same period he completed his 39th and 41st symphonies.  Tragic in tone, it is deeply emotional and filled with passion and grief.

42nd Annual Gala Benefit Concert Set for April 1 at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Continuing a tradition established at the inception of the American Youth Symphony, the orchestra presents its 42nd Annual Gala Benefit Concert on Sunday, April 1, 2007, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  Details on the concert and the featured world-renowned soloist are to be announced.

Season Concludes April 22 with Walt Disney Concert Hall Appearance

For the fourth consecutive year, the American Youth Symphony performs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday, April 22, 2007, at 2 p.m., as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Sounds About Town Series.”  The concert concludes the orchestra’s 42nd season with Steven Stucky’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Second Concerto for Orchestra and Gustav Mahler’s transforming Symphony No. 5 in C# Minor.

Stucky’s Second Concert of Orchestra was commissioned and premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2004 and earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2005.  The New York Times calls it “an electrifying piece ... [that] stands apart from academic disputes about style and language, and strives for direct communication.”  This is only the second time the work has been performed.  Stucky has written commissioned works for many of the major American orchestras and ensembles.  Associated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for more than 15 years, he is currently Consulting Composer for New Music.  He has taught at Cornell University since 1980, where he serves as Given Foundation Professor of Composition.

Mahler wrote the Symphony No. 5, a vast work of tremendous emotional depth, in 1901 and 1902.  Mahler himself conducted the world premiere on October 18, 1904 in Cologne, Germany.  Arguably the most well known of Mahler’s symphonies, the adagietto section was used in Luchino Visconti’s film, Death in Venice. 

Venue, Ticket and Concert Information           

Royce Hall is located on the campus of UCLA at 10745 Dickson Plaza in Westwood.  The Walt Disney Concert Hall, located at 111 S. Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.  The 42nd Annual Benefit Gala Concert on April 1, 2006 will be held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, located at 135 N. Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. 

Tickets are not required for the orchestra’s four free concerts at Royce Hall on October 22, 2006, November 26, 2006, January 28, 2007 and March 4, 2007.  For tickets to the Disney Hall concert, please call (323) 850-2000.  For tickets to the 42nd Anniversary Benefit Concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, please call (310) 451-3400.

For a free brochure on the American Youth Symphony’s 2006-07 season, please call (310) 451-3400 or visit www.AYSymphony.org.

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Programs and Artists Subject to Change

8-21-06