Musical Siblings: Lucy Cao, 14, harp and John Cao, 17, voice

January 6, 2018, 11:00 am

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On Saturday’s broadcast, we feature a pair of musical siblings: 14-year-old harpist Lucy Cao and 17-year-old pianist John Cao, both of Arlington Heights.

Lucy Cao studies harp with Marguerite Lynn Williams at Roosevelt University. She placed second in the Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA) competition and first in the Greater Chicago Chapter of the American Harp Society competition. Lucy is also co-principal harpist of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and she is active in her school and district honors orchestra. Lucy also studies piano with Dr. Sylvia Wang at Northwestern University. Recently, she won first prize in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) state division for junior piano, and she will represent Illinois at the MTNA division competition. She won prizes at the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition, Austin Piano Festival, Blinn College Piano Competition, Texas State Piano Competition, and more.

John Cao studies voice with Evan Boyer and Hector Vasquez of the University of Houston. He will represent Illinois at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) East Central Division Voice Competition in January as the winner of the Illinois MTNA Voice Competition. He was also a finalist at the Schmidt National Voice Competition and placed second at the Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA) 9-10th grade Voice Competition. He was selected to participate in the 2015 Texas All-State Men’s Chorus, the 2016 Texas All-State Mixed Chorus, and the 2017 Illinois Honors Chorus as a soloist. John also plays piano and studies with Dr. Sylvia Wang of Northwestern University. John has represented the USA at the Yamaha Piano-E-Competition and won the Contemporary Prize at the Arthur Fraser International Competition. He also placed first at the Walgreens Open Senior Piano Concerto competition, first at the International Valery Kuleshov Piano Competition, first at the TMTA 10th Grade Piano Solo Competition, 1st in the Austin Piano Festival, and he was the Grand Prize winner at the McKinney Young Artists Competition.

Playlist

Petite Valse, by Alphonse Hasselmans
Lucy Cao, harp

Sonata for Harp in C minor, by Sophia Dussek
Lucy Cao, harp

Danza, danza fanciulla gentileby Francesco Durante
John Cao, voice

Ständchen, by Franz Schubert
John Cao, voice

Three Shakespeare Songs, by Roger Quilter
Op. 23, No. 1: “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun”
Op. 23, No. 4: “Take, O take those lips away”
Op. 6, No. 1: “Come away death”
John Cao, voice

Lydia, by Gabriel Fauré
John Cao, voice