The Anick 11th Young People’s Performing Arts Festival Concert

The Friends of the Marlborough Public Library will present the Third Concert of the 2007-2008 Yacyshyn Concert Series featuring “THE ANICK 11th YOUNG PEOPLE’S PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL CONCERT” with the four finalists of the Auditions held on March 15th to be showcased.

The concert will be presented in the Bigelow Auditorium of the Marlborough Public Library, 35 West Main St., Marlborough. Performing will be EMILY CHEN, playing the Chinese guzheng, of Bedford; STERLING CHU, piano, of Northboro; RICHARD TING, playing the Chinese erhu, of Wayland and THE LINCOLN-SUDBURY SELECT JAZZ COMBO—JONATHAN WAUHKONEN, bass; PAUL ANTION, alto sax; PRESCOTT BLACKLER, trombone; ADAM QUINT, piano; ZACH BERNSTEIN, guitar; PATRICK HEBBLE, tenor sax and MIKE RIZZO, drums.

They will receive a cash Award plus the “Anick Award for Musical Excellence” named in Honor of Connie Anick for her ten years of serving as Friends Music Chair and the founder of the Young People’s Performing Arts Festival Concerts established last year.

EMILY CHEN, of Bedford, is currently a junior attending Bedford High School. She started learning the guzheng at age 10 under the instruction of Shinyi Yang. Before this, she had little musical background: she tried the piano and chinese Dizi for short periods of time. Emily is a member of the the Boston Guzheng Ensemble as well as the GBCCA Music Ensemble and performs with them regularly around the Boston area. Among her accomplishments she has had a joint recital with her teacher; performed with the GBCCA ensemble at Regis College, MIT, Malden Library, and the Peabody Essex Museum; performed with CFAW in Maine; performed in the Rhode Island State House and performed in the Massachusetts State House.

STERLING CHU, 17, is a junior at Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough. He started playing the piano before age five and has been playing for over twelve years. He studied with Mrs. Dorothy Yang Shi in Newton and Ms. Tien-Yin Chen in Westborough. Currently, Sterling studies with Ms. Olga Rogach in Worcester. In 2006, Sterling won the Sylvia Stubblebine Award in Music Worcester’s Young Artists Competition. He also won Second Prize in the high school division of the 2007 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition.

At school, Sterling is a member of the Varsity Math Team where he was the top scorer in the Worcester County League with a perfect score for the year. Sterling also captains a regional math team comprised of top-scoring students from central and western Massachusetts that competes nationally. He is also among the top 500 high school students in the nation, qualifying for the USA Mathematical Olympiad three times. This year, Sterling qualified for the US National Chemistry

Olympiad by winning first place at the regional competition. Each year, Sterling has run on the school cross country team and hurdled on the track team.

RICHARD TING is currently a freshman at Wayland High School. He has learned the er-hu since age 7 and is taking lessons from Mr. Lin Zhan-Tao. Mr. Lin Zhan-Tao has a tremendous reputation in the Boston area for expertise with this instrument. Richard also plays the violin and piano since 2nd grade and has recently begun to learn the drums and dulcimer. At school, Richard plays violin for the High School Orchestra as well as the Honors String Orchestra. In addition, he has been selected to sing with the all-male Acapella group in school, the Testostertones.
Outside of school, Richard is the er-hu concertmaster for the Chinese Music Ensemble, a group of Chinese musicians who perform in the Greater Boston area. The group has received praise from the press and the public. In addition to music, Richard engages in many other extracurricular activities, such as Kung Fu, Chinese Yo-yo, and Crew.

THE LINCOLN-SUDBURY SELECT JAZZ COMBO consists of the following Members: Alto Sax--Paul Antion '08, Tenor Sax--Patrick Hebble '07, Trombone--Prescott Blackler '08, Piano--Adam Quint '07, Guitar--Zach Bernstein '08, Bass--Jonathan Wauhkonen '08 and Drum set--Mike Rizzo '08.

The L-S Select Jazz Combo is one of four auditioned jazz combos at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. During the last four years the group has performed at numerous school and community events including several fundraising events for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In 2007 the group was selected to perform a Casual Concert at the Massachusetts Music Educators State Conference and were the 3rd Place Award Winners in Combo Division SA- Berklee College High School Jazz Festival 2006. All of the members participate fully in the L-S Concert Band and Large Jazz Ensemble

At the 2008 Berklee High School Jazz Festival Paul Antion was awarded two Judges Choice Awards in the Combo and Ensemble Category and an Outstanding Musicianship Award for the Level 1 Ensemble Class. Paul will attend Washington University next fall. Zach Bernstein has recently joined the Sonny Watson Quartet which performs regularly in the Boston Area and will study music at Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, or the New School in New York. Prescott Blackler performs in the L-S Civic Orchestra and will study music at Berklee College of Music. Jonathan Wauhkonen performs in the L-S Civic Orchestra and will major in English at Oberlin College. Adam Quint and Mike Rizzo recently performed with their group, Wooj, at the Bring the Peace Red Cross Talent Show of Boston 2008. Mike will major in business at Villanova University. Patrick Hebble balances his music and academic schedule with his membership on the varsity hockey team.

This concert is sponsored by and funded and sponsored in part, by the Ezra Cutting Trust Fund as administered by the U. S. Trust Company, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, Marilyn E. Wales, Senior Vice President and in part by a grant from the Marlborough Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. This concert as all the programs of The Friends are presented in the Marlborough Public Library’s Bigelow Auditorium, 35 West Main St., Marlborough. The programs are open to the public and admission is FREE.

Leslie Havens, Music Chair of The Friends, states that the caliber and talent of this year’s finalists once again points out the pool of talent in this area as the Young People’s Performing Arts Festival Competition held March 15th was once again outstanding. The finalists were selected by a panel of three judges—Dr. Robert Eaton, Peter Anick and Bob Holfelder.

This concert marks the Third concert of the 2007-2008 Yacyshyn Concert Series named in memory of The Friends First Music Chair Martha Yacyshyn in this the Friends Thirty-Eighth Anniversary Season of presenting a music series.

Date And Time: Wednesday evening, May 28, 2008 at 7:00 PM

Location: They will be performing in the Bigelow Auditorium of the Marlborough Public Library, 35 West Main St., Marlborough, Mass.

Admission:
The Concert is open to the public and no admission is charged. For further info, call (508) 485-0290/ (413) 648-9663 or Email: rajohnson36@verizon.net.