YOEC Student Soloist Competition Winners to Perform at SOPAC

The Youth Orchestras of Essex County will be holding their spring concert at SOPAC on Sunday May 17 at 2 pm. Performing solos during the show will be three winners from a concerto contest held this winter.

This second annual soloist contest rewarded violinists Mia Hildebrandt and Maggie Faulkner, and harpist Kyra Guenther with solo spots in the concert. Hildebrant, a senior from Glen Ridge, will perform Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor, by Johann Sebastian Bach. She will play with the Essex County Symphony Orchestra, led Karen Conrad, conductor. This group features the oldest musicians of the four groups comprising YOEC, mainly high school students.

Sixth Grader Guenther of Summit and Seventh Grader Faulkner of Belleville will be performing Canon in D major by Pachelbel with the Junior Symphony Orchestra. This group, led by conductor and Music Director Lou Kosma, features middle school students.

Also onstage at the May 17 concert will be the Overture Ensemble, the youngest group under the YOEC umbrella, led by conductor Kimberly McCrann and made of students grade 2-7.

The final group rounding out the concert is the ABC (“Anything But Classical”) Ensemble. Started last year, ABC focuses on music from cultures all over the globe, jazz, and improvisation.

The May 17 concert will be the spring finale for the Youth Orchestras of Essex County season, with tickets available at SOPACnow.org. The Winter Concert in December 2014 was a sell out show.

The Youth Orchestras of Essex County provide musicians ages 7-18 the opportunity to participate in a diverse, high-level orchestra experience while developing a lifelong love of music. Rehearsals are held at South Orange Middle School during the school year, and auditions will take place in June for the 2015-2016 season. For more information, please see yoec.org, call 404-500-YOEC (9632) or email admin@yoec.org.