For the City Times

STEVENS POINT — The Central Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra Program (CWYSOP) will perform in concert Sunday, Nov. 18, at 4 p.m. at the Stevens Point Area Senior High School auditorium.

 The program’s two age groups, the Youth Symphony and the Philharmonia, will both perform. Under the direction of conductor Stephan Wucherer, the Philharmonia will perform Movement II from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major Op. 92, Georg Philipp Telemann’s Sinfonia and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” waltz.

The Youth Symphony, under the direction of Kurt Van Tiem, will perform Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture” Op. 84, Movement I from Franz Josef Haydn’s Concerto No. 2 in G Major for Violin and Orchestra featuring student Jane Story, Movement I from Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor D. 759 “Unfinished,” Movement IV from Paul Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis” and Johan Strauss Sr.’s “Radetsky March” Op. 228.

Tickets will be available at the door beginning at 3 p.m. Admission is $3 per person or $10 for families of four or more. Cash or checks made out to UWSP Continuing Education/CWYSOP will be accepted.

The symphony also announced winners of its second biennial Concerto Competition:

• First place – Jane Story, to be featured in CWYSOP’s Nov. 18 concert, is a homeschooled student from Stevens Point and the daughter of David and Teresa Story. She has studied violin at the Aber Suzuki Center since age 4 and currently studies with Jennifer Burton. She has been a member of CWYSOP for three years and is concertmaster of the Philharmonia. She was a co-winner of the 2018 Madison Symphony Orchestra Fall Youth Concerto Competition and a member of the 2018 Suzuki Youth Orchestra of the Americas.
• First place – Havilah Vang, to be featured in a April 7, 2019, concert, is a homeschooled student from Custer and the daughter of Meas and Johanna Vang. She has studied violin and voice at the Aber Suzuki Center and plans to major in music education in college to become a violin professor. She also plays guitar, mandolin and piano and is assistant concertmaster of the Youth Symphony.
• Second place – Olivia Yang is a Stevens Point student and the daughter of Tom and Jenni Yang. She began her studies in cello at age 2 and has served as the principal cellist of the CWYSOP’s Philharmonia. She performed in the honors recital at the 2018 American Suzuki Institute; and provides music with her family at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s Birds and Art Exhibit. She currently studies with Lawrence Leviton.
• Honorable Mention – Uma Neal is a Marshfield student and the daughter of John Neal and Dara Luangpraseut. She has studied cello with Heidi Corcoran and Kai Kanda. She is principal cellist of the Youth Symphony and the Marshfield High School Honors Symphonic Strings and the principal second cellist of the Wisconsin Middle Level Honors Orchestra. She received the Exemplary Soloist Award from the Wisconsin School Music Association’s State Solo and Ensemble Festival in 2015, 2017 and 2018. She also attended the Chicago Suzuki Institute and performed a solo at the Interlochen Cello Institute in Michigan last summer.

CWYSOP is a nonprofit organization in partnership with UW-Stevens Point Continuing Education, Music Department, Aber Suzuki Center, Heid Music and music educators in central Wisconsin. It serves more than 100 young musicians from the central Wisconsin region as a part of their mission. They meet each week for 10 weeks per semester and receive additional mentoring from the UW-Stevens Point Music Department student section coaches. They also participate in Music Department faculty master classes and rehearse symphonic literature.

For more information about CWYSOP, needs-based scholarships and registration, visit UWSP Continuing Education at: www.uwsp.edu/cwysop or call 715-346-3838.