HOUSTON (April 23, 2007)—–On Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at the Stafford Performing Arts Centre, 10505 Cash Road, Stafford, Texas, two young musical virtuosos will be presented to the public in performance with the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra. These musical geniuses are the winners of the Eighth Annual Young Artist Concerto Competition sponsored by the orchestra.

Bill Atkerson, Chair of the 2007 Competition, said that the talent of those competing in this year's competition was "absolutely mind-boggling." "Never before has such talent been displayed by so many gifted young musicians. The two winners are truly outstanding examples of young people today in every respect," continued Mr. Atkerson.

Tickets for the performance are $12 regular price, $7 for seniors and students, and children under 5 are free. For more information or to purchase tickets ahead of time, please visit our website at http://www.fbso.org/ or contact the Fort Bend Symphony Hotline at 281-276-9642.

Two First Place Winners are, in alphabetical order: 
Benjamin Kwak, piano, Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1
Hyeok Kwon, cello, Lalo Cello Concerto, first movement
No Second Place Winner was selected.

Honorable Mentions, in alphabetical order:
Aidin Ashoori, piano, Gershwin Piano Concerto in F, first movement
Kelly Ding, violin, Sibelius Violin Concerto, first movement
Andrew Sheu, violin, Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 2, first movement
Kaede Uesugi, piano, Haydn Piano Concerto in D Major, third movement

Tickets for the performance are $12 regular price, $7 for seniors and students, and children under 5 are free. For more information or to purchase tickets ahead of time, please visit our website at www.fbso.org or contact the Fort Bend Symphony Hotline at 281-276-9642.

Two First Place Winners are, in alphabetical order:

Benjamin Kwak
Benjamin, age 16, is a junior at the Kinkaid School in Houston. He began studying piano at age 5 and, upon his family’s move to Houston, began studying with John Weems at age 13.

In 2005 Benjamin was one of seven junior national finalists in the Music Teacher’s National Association Competition (MTNA). This year he returns to the national finals in the senior division, which will be held in Toronto, Canada. In addition, Benjamin was the Grand Prize winner of the Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras Concerto Competition, a Grand Prize winner of the Wysong-Joplin Young Artist Competition, and took 1st place (2005) in solo and 2nd place (2006) in concerto divisions of the Texas Music Teacher’s Association Competitions. Benjamin has performed with the Clear Lake Symphony and will be performing with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Irving Symphony Orchestra later this year. He has participated in master classes with international pianists Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax, Nelita True, Olga Kern, and Antonio Pompa-Baldi. Benjamin has appeared multiple times in the Houston Young Artist Concert Series and has been featured on the classical radio station, KUHF.

Benjamin’s two passions in life are music and science, and he hopes to pursue a career in medical research. Besides piano, Benjamin has attained numerous successes as a varsity member of his school’s debate team and is active in karate.
Benjamin will be performing the first movement of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Hyeok Kwon
Hyeok Kwon is 15 years old and is a student at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts. He started playing cello when he was 11 and currently studies with Donna Rogers. He has been in the TMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra two years (including this one), the Houston Youth Symphony for four years, and is the cellist in the Rubin Quartet. He won the Houston Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, placed second in the Virtuosi of Houston Concerto Competition, and was a Houston Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition finalist.

Hyeok will be performing the first movement of Lalo’s Cello Concerto.
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Aidin Ashoori
Aidin Ashoori is 17 years old and studies piano with John Weems. He is a student at Pearland High School.

Kelly Ding
Kelly Ding is a 16-year old student at Clear Creek High School in League City, Texas. She moved to League City from Dallas in 2004. She has played the violin for 8 years and has been studying with Henry Rubin since 2004. She has been a member of the Region Orchestra every year since 2002, and a member of the TMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra since 2005. At school, Kelly is a straight A honor student. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, Link Crew, Creative Writing Club, Rotary/Interact Club, and the Clear Creek Orchestra.

Andrew Sheu
Andrew Sheu is 16 years old and a junior at Elkins High School. He has been playing the violin since the age of 6 with Ya-ning Hu. Andrew was a previous member of the Texas All-State orchestra, the Virtuosi of Houston, and the Houston Youth Symphony. He is currently a member of the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra.

Kaede Uesugi
Kaede Uesugi, 9 years old, is a 3rd grader at West University Elementary School. Kaede has studied piano with Ms. Yelena Brusilovskaya for 3 years. Kaede began to show great interest in music when she was very young. She took preschool children’s music classes where she enjoyed singing and dancing with friends. When she turned 6 years old, she started taking private piano lessons.

Kaede loves to perform. She has participated in various concerts and competitions where she has received several awards. Her interest in music continues to grow, and last year, she began a new instrument – the violin. Kaede also enjoys reading, writing, drawing and swimming.

Tickets for the performance are $12 regular price, $7 for seniors and students, and children under 5 are free. For more information or to purchase tickets ahead of time, please visit our website at www.fbso.org or contact the Fort Bend Symphony Hotline at 281-276-9642.

For additional information contact Coleman Locke at 979/533-0756.

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