Today we hear from four graduating seniors from Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, representing four different instruments of the orchestra.
Other CYSO 2024 seniors have recently been featured soloists on Introductions: flutists Anna Huelke and Destina Sarussi on March 16; and bassoonist Fabrizio Milcent and horn player Hayden Joyce on May 18. Pianist Zachary Guo is featured next week, on June 29; and trumpeter Natalia Noriega appears on July 13.
Ethan Weingust is a 17-year-old bassoonist who lives in Downers Grove and recently graduated from Downers Grove North High School. He has studied bassoon privately for 4 years with Dan D’Andrea and Dianne Remillard, and also studies saxophone with Alex Beltran. He has participated in masterclasses with Keith Buncke, Ben Kamins, Conrad Cornelison, and others.
Until recently, Ethan served as Assistant Principal Bassoon and Contrabassoon of Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras’ flagship ensemble, and played Second Bassoon with CYSO’s chamber orchestra. He also has subbed with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra on multiple in-season membership concerts and public summer community concerts. Ethan has been selected for ILMEA All-District and AllState ensembles each year he has been eligible, and has been selected for other local honor bands as well. Ethan was also selected to attend Interlochen Art Camp’s Advanced Bassoon Intensive last summer.
In the fall, he will begin a dual-degree program at Northwestern University, combining Chemical Engineering and Bassoon Performance.
Photo: Eileen Molony
Maxine Gimbel, from Oak Park, Illinois, attended Oak Park and River Forest High School. She began studying the double bass at age 12 with Mohannad Al Zahabi, and now studies with Ian Hallas of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She was a member of Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, where she served as Principal Double Bass in both the Symphony Orchestra and Classical Orchestral Repertory Ensemble. She won an honorable mention at the Walgreens National Concerto Competition in 2022, served as principal bassist in the Illinois Music Education Association’s 2023 Honors state orchestra, and attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in 2023.
She is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA (NYO) for its upcoming international tour in 2024 and was awarded the International Society of Bassists’ 2024 Jane Little Scholarship for outstanding female bass players. She has been accepted to study classical bass performance with Harold Robinson at The Juilliard School in the fall, and hopes to one day be a member of a professional orchestra.
Ayden Hunt began playing lever harp near the end of fourth grade, and took up pedal harp with teacher Faye Seeman after attending the Birch Creek Music Festival in Door County in the summer of 2022. For the past two years, Ayden was a harpist in the Illinois All-State Orchestra, and this year he was Principal Harp of Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras.
Ayden is also an accomplished horn player, beginning in fifth grade in the band at Peterson Elementary School in Chicago, and continuing with the Lincoln Park High School Wind Symphony and Jazz Band. He also played in CYSO’s horn section.
In the fall, he will begin Harp Performance studies with Yolanda Kondonassis at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Ophir Dahari is an 18-year-old violinist and a recent graduate of Highland Park High School. She has been studying the violin with Jennifer Cappelli since age four. Over the past 12 years, Ophir has been a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, performing with many of the organization’s ensembles and finishing as a Concertmaster of the flagship Symphony Orchestra.
In the summer of 2023, Ophir participated in the National Youth Orchestra of the USA on their North America Tour. In 2022, she won the Paul Vermel Young Artist Award, and performed with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra. Ophir has performed in masterclasses led by Andrés Cárdenes and Mathias Tacke. Along with Ophir’s achievements, she volunteered in multiple community events; at the Israeli Consulate of Chicago’s Holocaust Memorial Day service where she played on a Violin of Hope, and senior living homes.
Ophir will soon begin Violin Performance studies with Grigory Kalinovsky at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
