Thursday, July 15th
5:00pm Pacific | 8:00pm Eastern
FREE! Watch on the AYS YouTube Channel
AYS’ Annual Recital is back for the second year on Thursday, July 15th at 5:00pm Pacific! Our annual recital shares the amazing talent of AYS’ newest alumni in celebration of their time playing for AYS. This year, 15 musicians are leaving AYS and joining our over 2,800 Alumni community.
Help us celebrate the newest AYS alumni class by watching four of them take their final note as AYS musicians. The 2nd Annual Recital features solo performances by violinist Hannah Chou, harpist Alyssa Katahara, violinist Justus Ross, and bassoonist Miles Mateus.
The recital is streaming on YouTube for Thursday, July 15th only. The stream link will be available one week prior to the performance. Free! No reservations required.
Program:
Hannah Chou, violin
William BOLCOM: Graceful Ghost (5 mins)
Alyssa Katahara, harp
André CAPLET: Divertissements: à l’espagnole (6 mins)
Justus Ross, violin
J.S. BACH: Partita No. 1; Allemande (7 mins)
Miles Mateus, bassoon
John STEINMETZ: Four Signs; 4th movement (4 mins)
Soloists
Hannah Chou
Violinist Hannah Chou began her musical studies at the age of five in Fremont, California. Chou is currently a graduate student at UCLA, pursuing a master’s degree in Violin Performance with Varty Manouelian on a full scholarship. Other primary teachers include Yuan-Qing Yu, Mikhail Kopelman, and John Chisholm. Previously, she received a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Music Cognition from Northwestern University. In her orchestral career, Chou has served principal positions and performed in various ensembles including the Sarasota Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and New World Symphony. Her extensive experience in the industry sparked an interest in music management and led her to become the current Orchestra Management Fellow of the American Youth Symphony in addition to playing in the violin section. As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Chou is currently the first violinist of the VEM Quartet, UCLA’s graduate string quartet in residence. Along with performing, she shares a passion for teaching students of all ages coming from diverse backgrounds.
Alyssa Katahara
Alyssa Katahara is an active orchestral musician and has performed alongside the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Venice Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and New World Symphony. As the grand prize winner of the Hennings-Fischer Young Artists competition, Ms. Katahara appeared as the featured artist with the Burbank Philharmonic. Additionally, she has performed as a soloist with the Colburn Conservatory Orchestra, Pasadena Community Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic among others. Her past summers have been spent at the Aspen Music Festival and School and as a fellow at the Orchestra of the Americas, Music Academy of the West, and National Repertory Orchestra. Ms. Katahara is passionate about creating avenues to make the harp a more accessible instrument and enjoyed teaching in the inaugural year of the harp studio for the Colburn School’s Jumpstart Program where students are provided tuition free music instruction and instruments. She graduated with high honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy where she studied with Joan Holland. Ms. Katahara received her Bachelor and Master of Music degree in harp performance with an emphasis in pedagogy from the Colburn Conservatory where she studied with JoAnn Turovsky.
Justus Ross
Justus Ross completed his Bachelor of Music degree at Texas Tech University under Annie Chalex Boyle. During his studies at Texas Tech University, Justus became the first prize winner of the Texas Tech University String Concerto Competition in 2016, a national finalist in the MTNA Chamber Music Competition in 2017 and received second prize in the ENKOR International Chamber Music Competition in 2017. In the season of 2018-2019, Justus was the assistant concert master of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. He also performed in the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, The Myrska Trio, and various other small ensembles in the West Texas area. Currently, Justus resides in Los Angeles, California where he finished his Master of Music degree at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music under Dr. Lina Bahn. Justus will continue his studies at New England Conservatory under Ayano Ninomiya.
Miles Mateus
Originally from Simi Valley, California, Miles Mateus is a freelance bassoonist and educator in Southern California. He currently holds the position of 3rd Bassoon/Contrabassoon with the American Youth Symphony. Miles has a wide range of musical expertise, having a background in orchestral, chamber, contemporary, early music, jazz, and the marching arts. He frequently performs with groups such as, Los Angeles based contemporary ensemble, Synchromy and has performed in venues such as Royce Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Miles also marched euphonium with the 2017 Oregon Crusaders.
Besides performing, Miles is also skillful as an audio engineer. He has learned from industry professionals that teach at UCLA, and is certified as a recording engineer at UCLA’s Melnitz Hall. His experience in this field also includes working as an AV technician and editor at the Herb Alpert School of Music, where he maintained the UCLA Music Library recording studio and audio equipment.
Miles will be attending the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory in Fall 2021, to pursue an Artist Diploma and recently received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA, Miles was a recipient of the Herb Alpert School of Music Scholarship and Max H. Gluck Fellowship, where he performed in community outreach events as part of the program’s woodwind quintet.
Miles currently studies bassoon with Glenn Einschlag and has studied with John Stienmetz, Carolyn Beck, and Eric Johnson-Tamai. https://www.milesmateusmusic.com/
