Houston Youth Symphony Spring Concert (featuring the 2014 HYS Concerto Competition winners)

The award-winning Houston Youth Symphony (HYS) presents its Spring Concert on Sunday, May 4 at 4:00 p.m. at Rice University’s Stude Concert Hall.

The concert features the 2014 HYS Concerto Competition winners from the most advanced orchestra, violinist Melissa Du (pictured) and violist Jasper Snow. (They join Philharmonia Concerto Competition winner Jason Ma, cello, who was featured in performance on the HYS Winter Concert.)

Melissa Du, violin, 17, performs the third movement of Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with the HYS Symphony conducted by Dr. Michael Webster. A senior at Cypress Falls High School, Melissa is a member of the school’s orchestral music program led by Dr. John Ricarte. Melissa has won numerous competitions, including the Clear Lake Symphony and Houston Civic Symphony concerto competitions and 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.

Melissa studies privately with Eric Halen, associate concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. This season is her fourth year with the Houston Youth Symphony. Melissa has been accepted to Yale University, where she plans to study either chemical or biomedical engineering.

Jasper Snow, viola, 17, performs the first movement of Sir William Walton’s Viola Concerto with the HYS Symphony and Conductor Dr. Michael Webster. An aspiring classical musician, this year Jasper has also achieved top honors in the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition and performs with the Houston Symphony in the 2014-2015 season under the baton of Conductor 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.

He is a valued member of the HSPVA orchestra program, under the director of Dr. Héctor Agüero. Jasper studies with the celebrated pedagogue 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, Op. 34 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by the Symphony, HYS’s most advanced orchestra. The Philharmonia, conducted by Michael Isadore, performs 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 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 Dr. Héctor Agüero, performing an excerpt from Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel, arranged by Adolf Schmid.

Tickets for the Houston Youth Symphony Spring Concert are $15 and available online at www.HoustonYouthSymphony.com or on the afternoon of the concert at the Shepherd School box office. For additional information, phone 713-785-2422.

About Houston Youth Symphony: Established in 1946, the Houston Youth Symphony works with approximately 350 young musicians in four orchestras each season. Selected through auditions, the young musicians come from throughout the region and range in age from seven to 19. An artistic staff of the region’s leading music educators and professional instrumental coaches conducts weekly rehearsals during the academic year.

Three public concerts are held each season at the Shepherd School of Music’s Stude Concert Hall at Rice University.

In addition to the orchestral program, Houston Youth Symphony has a Chamber Music Program and the Houston Youth Symphony Melody Program, a community outreach initiative that provides free private music lessons to economically underserved musicians in collaboration with Project GRAD’s Fine Arts Program in the Davis High School feeder pattern and KIPP Sharpstown College Prep and KIPP Sharp Lower School.