This Saturday, we feature three chamber groups: one each of strings, winds, and brass. We also talk to one member of each group: pianist Colin Song, about to major in Neuroscience at Emory University; bassoonist Abigail Lopez, about to study Music at DePaul; and freshman trombonist Owen Riordan, about being the newest member of an established quartet.
Aurora Piano Quartet
The Aurora Piano Quartet consists of Sidney Lee, 16, violin/viola; Elinor Detmer, 15, violin/viola; Amelia Zitoun, 14, cello; and Colin Song, 17, piano. All four students are Scholarship Fellows at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, and the group is coached by Sang Mee Lee and Elaine Felder. They won First Place at the 2020 Rembrandt Chamber Musicians Competition, and were quarterfinalists in the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Aurora has enjoyed multiple performance opportunities.
Sidney, a student of Almita Vamos, was the 1st prize winner of the 6th Enkor International Violin Competition, and has won numerous other awards. From Arlington Heights, she is a 10th grader at Buffalo Grove High School. Elinor studies with Almita Vamos and Davis King, was a co-concertmaster of the Chicago Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and is a homeschool 10th grader in Chicago.
Amelia, a student of Horacio Contreras, is a winner of the 2020 DePaul Concerto Competition. Hailing from the North Shore suburbs of Milwaukee, she is an 8th grader at Shorewood Intermediate School. Colin, a student of Ralph Neiweem, was a member of Duo Appassionato, where he won first prize in the 2017 Chicago National Youth Competition for Piano Duos and was featured on Introductions. He is a 12th grader at Glenbrook South High School.
Video: “The Road to the Fischoff”, produced by the Aurora Piano Quartet.
Lakeshore Winds
The Lakeshore Winds was formed in the fall of 2019 as part of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras chamber music program. The members are flutist Emma Krause, 18, of Downers Grove; oboist Oliver Talukder, 18, of Glenview; clarinettist Ethan Montgomery, 16, of Elgin; horn player Danica Tuohy, 15, of Yorkville; and bassoonist Abigail Lopez, 17, of Aurora. They are coached by Don DeRoche.
In addition to playing regular CYSO recitals, the group was scheduled to perform on a Chamber Showcase recital at the PianoForte Studio, and appear with the Orion Ensemble as part of that group’s spring series. The pandemic caused the cancellation of those performances, so the quintet is extremely pleased to be able to have a chance to appear as part of the Introductions season.
Emma, Oliver, and Abigail have all appeared previously on Introductions. The three of them were members of CYSO’s Parquarious Winds in 2018-19; Abigail and Oliver gave live solo performances as inaugural fellows of the Chicago Musical Pathways Initative; and Emma’s flute quartet The Purple Hippopotami won the Bronze Medal in the recent 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
The Bone Rangers
The Bone Rangers is the senior trombone quartet of the Merit School of Music in Chicago. Its current members are Owen Riordan, 14; Cleo Blake, 18; Christopher Tam, 17; and Rafael Noriega, 17, on bass trombone. Coached by Tim Riordan, they won the American Brass Quintet Brass Ensemble Prize at the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
The quartet has appeared previously on WFMT with some of the same membership: on Introductions, in advance of the Merit School of Music’s 2018 Performathon; and on our incredibly rainy 2019 Memorial Day Beach Party.
Video: The Bone Rangers at WFMT’s 2019 Memorial Day Beach Party.
WFMT Beach Party LIVE | The Bone Rangers from the Merit School of Music perform live from Theater on the Lake! Where you are watching from?
Posted by WFMT on Monday, 27 May 2019
