Getting a sneak preview of classical music’s future stars is always incredibly satisfying. Just such a preview comes to Knoxville audiences this time of the year with a concert featuring the UT School of Music Concerto Competition winners in four categories of performance. That always entertaining concert is this Sunday afternoon, 4 PM, in the James R. Cox Auditorium on the UT Campus. It is FREE.
After the orchestra—conducted by James Fellenbaum—opens with “Danse Bacchanale” from Camille Saint-Saens’ opera, Samson et Dalila, the four winners will perform their winning entry. Those winners are:
Vocal — Elena Stabile, soprano
Joseph Canteloube: Chants D’Auvergne, 1st series
Stabile is a 1st-year graduate student pursuing a Master’s Degree in Performance at UT. During her undergraduate studies at Lawrence University, she sang Polly Peachum (The Beggar’s Opera), Rose Maurrant (Street Scene), and Nancy (Albert Herring). At UT, she has performed Amore and Giunone (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse) and will sing the role of Mary Warren in UTOT’s upcoming production of The Crucible.
Winds — Sydney Warren, saxophone
Paul Creston: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, Op. 26
Warren is a junior performance major at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is a member of the University of Tennessee Wind Ensemble, and is also a member of the eessenneT saxophone quartet, which performed in the college quartet series at the 39th International Saxophone Symposium, hosted by the U.S. Navy band in Fairfax, Virginia this past January. Sid was also a member of the Pride of the Southland Marching Band during the 2014 and 2015 football seasons.
Strings — Ashlee Booth, cello
Dimitri Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat, Op. 107
Booth began playing at age 15 and since then has developed a passion for performing and teaching. Ashlee is a recent graduate of the Florida State University where she studied with Greg Sauer and
graduated with Honors in the Major. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Music here at the University of Tennessee and works as a Teaching Assistant.
Piano — Zhaoyi Li, piano
Rachmaninoff: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 (First mvmt)
Zhaoyi Li is an undergraduate piano major at the University of Tennessee. Born in Hunan, China, she began to play the piano when she was five years old. She was accepted to Wuhan Conservatory of Music in 2005. She entered East Tennessee State University in 2014 and transferred to UT this past fall semester.
