Oakland Symphony Orchestra to Perform Concert, 2/8/15

By: Dec. 09, 2014
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Oakland, CA, December 9, 2014 - The Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, under the baton of new Principal Conductor Omid Zoufonoun, continues its 2014-2015 season with a performance Sunday, February 8, 2015, at 2 pm at the San Leandro High School Performing Arts Center, 2250 Bancroft Ave., San Leandro. Highlighting the program will be Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition winner Jonathan Chen performing Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.22. The Youth Orchestra will also perform Bernstein's Candide Overture, Marquez' DanzónNo. 2, Schubert's Symphony No.8 in B minor "Unfinished" and Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture, Op.36. Admission is free; for more information visit www.oebs.org.

Jonathan Chen, a senior at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, commenced his journey at age seven under the guidance of violin teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Peterson and he now studies with Debbra Wood Schwartz. In the summer of 2012, Chen took a three-week series of master classes for string soloists and performed at the Ameropa Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic. He has since been an active chamber music player, leading his school ensembles annually to the CMEA Solo and Ensemble Festival. As a violin soloist, Chen has won at regional young artist competitions. In his four years at the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, Jonathan has been enjoying the opportunity to play with other wonderful young musicians.

About Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra

Founded in 1964 as the educational arm of the Oakland Symphony, at 50 years old, the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra is recognized as an outstanding musical organization in Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Youth Orchestra features eighty-five talented music students aged 12 to 22 from throughout the region. Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra maintains a commitment to cultural exchange and has toured extensively in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean Islands, Costa Rica, Mexico and Cuba, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, Greece and, most recently in 2013, Argentina and Uruguay. In addition the organization has a history of commissioning, premiering and recording the works of American composers. Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra is a member of the League of American Orchestras, Arts First Oakland, ASCAP, Association of California Symphony Orchestras, BMI and Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Together with the Oakland East Bay Symphony and Oakland Symphony Chorus, it operates as a unified organizational entity providing performances and music education to youth and adults.

About New Principal Conductor Omid Zoufonoun

Omid Zoufonoun is a conductor, guitarist, educator and award-winning composer. His compositions blend his Persian musical heritage, learned under the guidance of his father Ostad Mahmoud Zoufonoun, with western practices of counterpoint, harmony and orchestration. Recent commissions include a Cello Sonata for the duet Martha & Monica, a guitar octet for the Guitar Foundation of America, a choral setting of four Rumi poems for the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and a four-movement orchestral work for the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra. Maestro Zoufonoun conducted the premiere of this latter work at the Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland, and a professional premiere followed by the Oakland East Bay Symphony under the direction of Maestro Michael Morgan in 2012 on the Symphony's acclaimed Notes from Persia program. As a conductor, his recent recording of Bill Horvitz' suite, A Long Walk, was featured as an Editor's Pick in Downbeat magazine. A passionate educator and advocate for public arts education, he has taught orchestral studies, chamber music, guitar, composition and AP music theory at Oakland School for the Arts.



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