The concert features the 2014 Houston Youth Symphony Concerto Competition winners from the most advanced orchestra.
Violinist Melissa Du, 17, will perform the third movement of Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto with the HYS Symphony, conducted by Michael Webster. A senior at Cypress Falls High School, Du is a member of the school's orchestral music program led by John Ricarte. She has won numerous competitions, including the Clear Lake Symphony and Houston Civic Symphony concerto competitions. She is one of only four violinists in the state of Texas to achieve the highest level of the Texas All-State Orchestra for all four years of high school. Du studies privately with Eric Halen, associate concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. This season is her fourth year with the Houston Youth Symphony. She has been accepted to Yale University, where she plans to study either chemical or biomedical engineering.
Violist Jasper Snow, 17, will perform the first movement of Sir William Walton's Viola Concerto. An aspiring classical musician, this year Jasper has also achieved top honors in the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition; he will perform with the Houston Symphony in the 2014-15 season under the baton of Robert Franz. Jasper is a senior at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) and winner of the school's 2014 concerto competition. Jasper studies with James Dunham at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. This season marks his second year with the Houston Youth Symphony.
The HYS Spring Concert program also includes Capriccio Espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by the Symphony, HYS's most advanced orchestra. The Philharmonia, conducted by Michael Isadore, will perform Ron Nelson's Overture Savannah River Holiday and the first movement of Dvorak's Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88.
Rounding out the four ensembles of the Houston Youth Symphony are the String Orchestra, co-conducted by Carolyn Vandiver and Ann Victor, performing various works including an arrangement of songs from Harold Arlen's The Wizard of Oz, and the intermediate full orchestra, the Sinfonia, conducted by Héctor Agüero, performing an excerpt from Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel arranged by Adolf Schmid.