Program: Saint Saens' Piano Trio No. 2 Piazzolla's Le Grand Tango Beginning his violin studies at the age of 3, Jason Shu made his debut as orchestral soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at the age of 8. Jason’s awards and commendations include winner of the Allegro! Orchestra Camp Concerto Competition, the Minnesota Sinfonia Concerto Competition, and the MNSOTA Mary West Solo Competition’s Givens Prize and Coda Bow Prize. Besides being a national finalist in Music Teachers National Association competitions twice, he also received awards in the Schubert Club competition and won first prize in the Thursday Musical scholarship competitions in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pianist Serina Chang has performed in such venues as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Symphony Space, Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center, Rose Studio at Lincoln Center, DiMenna Center, Chicago Nichols Concert Hall, Portland Newmark Theatre, Studzinski Recital Hall at Bowdoin College, Enlow Hall at Kean University, and Tanglewood West Street Theatre. She was featured on NPR's prestigious show, “From the Top,” and in Hunter College Campus School’s TEDx events, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s (CMS) Meet the Music series and Young Musicians Concerts. In addition, Serina has won top prizes in competitions organized by the National YoungArts Foundation, Associated Music Teachers League, New York International Artists Piano Competition, American Protégé, National League of Performing Arts, American Fine Arts Festival, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Duo Piano Festival, YWCA, and Manhattan School of Music Precollege (MSM). Eighteen-year-old Elena Ariza is a cellist from Cupertino, California and currently attends Columbia University as part of its exchange program with the Juilliard School. In 2015, Elena performed as a soloist at Davies Symphony Hall with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and in the same year, was featured on NPR’s From the Top. She is an alumna of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College as well as the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, for which she served as Principal Cellist for two years.
New York City, NY; NYC