(1888PressRelease)
January 28, 2008 - New England String Ensemble is pleased to announce the winners of the 12th Annual NESE String Competition. The finals were held at New England Conservatory on January 15th judged by three of the orchestra’s Principal Players Colin Davis (Violin), Jenny Stirling (Viola), and Joshua Gordon (Cello).
The First Place winner in the Open Division, 16-year old Lydia Ding of Lexington, won a $500 scholarship and will perform as a soloist in Haydn’s “Concerto in G Major” with Conductor Federico Cortese and the New England String Ensemble in the “Winter Contrast” concerts Friday, February 8th, 7:30 pm at the Rogers Center for the Arts in North Andover and Saturday, February 9th, 8:00 pm at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall.
Upon learning she was the competition winner Lydia remarked, "It will be such an exciting experience working with the New England String Ensemble! I know I'll learn so much and I can't wait to start rehearsing with them."
Lydia Ding, has studied the violin since the age of four and with her current teacher, Mr. Samuil Kreynes, since 2000. In addition to winning this year’s NESE String Competition she also won the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra concerto competition. Ms. Ding has been a member of BYSO for seven years and will travel with the orchestra this summer to perform in Germany.
Other winners included, Second Place winner, Malinda McPherson, of Belmont, MA who performed “Concertino for Viola and Strings “ by Lars-Erik Larsson to win a $300 scholarship, and Sasha Scolnik-Brower, of Andover, MA who won Third Place and a $200 scholarship for his performance of Boccherini’s “Cello Concerto in Bb”. Honorable mentions in the Open Division went to Yehna Chang of Lexington, MA and Shreyas Ravi of Bedford, MA for their rendition of JS Bach’s “Concerto for Two Violins in D minor”. The 12-and-under winner, Joseph Wu, of Weston, MA won a $200 savings bond for his interpretation of Haydn’s “Concerto No.1 in C major.” Honorable mention in the 12-and-under category went to cellist Yuriko Amy Fukumura of Newton, for her performance of Haydn’s “Concerto in C major”.
The NESE String Competition, sponsored in part by the George and Alice Rich Charitable Foundation, is available each year to students throughout the New England region and is designed to inspire more advanced string students to prepare, audition and compete for a solo appearance with a professional orchestra. In addition to annual string and flute competitions, the orchestra supports music in the schools with “String Fever” an interactive program at the elementary level, “Kids to Concerts” an inspirational concert experience for middle-schoolers, the “New England Musical Heritage Initiative” weaving together history and music at the high school level, and the newly created “Genius of Youth” program, a collaboration among music, drama and art for middle students.
For more information regarding the New England String Ensemble’s educational programs, or concert series please call 781-224-1117 or visit http://www.newenglandstringensemble.org.
