The Centenary Youth Orchestra (CYO) will present the first of two spring concerts on Monday, February 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium located at Centenary’s Hurley School of Music. Featured performers include Noah Yang, winner of the 2023 CYO Concerto Competition, and guest artists Brett Andrews (cello), and Justin Kujawski (double bass). The concert is free and open to the public.
The program features string instrument soloists not regularly heard with orchestra in concerto settings. The winner of the 2023 CYO Concerto Competition, violist Noah Yang, will perform the opening movement of Johann Christian Bach-Henri Casadesus’ Concerto in C-minor. Noah is an 8th grader attending Southfield School and is a product of the Centenary Suzuki School where he has studied under Charles Regauer.
“Noah is the youngest winner, of the CYO Concerto Competition, said CYO Music Director, Dan Santelices. “He also only just switched from violin to the viola in the Fall of 2022. I am so impressed by his talent, hard work, and the remarkable progression he’s made thus far.”
Brett Andrews, instructor of cello for the Hurley School of Music, and double bassist, Justin Kujawski, will perform Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in G-Minor, RV 533 for Two Cellos and Strings. The soloists are both members of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, with Kujawski currently serving as Principal Bass and Andrews also as Principal Cello for the Texarkana Symphony.
“This staple of Baroque music is the only concerto, out of the hundreds written by Vivaldi, that is written for two cellos,” explained Santelices. “Justin will be performing one of the cello parts on his double bass. The difficulty and facility needed to even attempt this is monumental, but both performers are simply exceptional.”
The CYO will also perform Academy Award winning composer James Horner’s “The Ludlows” from the 1994 film Legends of the Fall. Horner’s Oscars were for Titanic, the best-selling orchestral soundtrack of all time, and Avatar, the highest-grossing film of all time.
“The piece opens with beautiful, introspective playing from pianist Zane Harper ’24, becoming an invitation for the rest of the orchestra to slowly join in,” said Santelices. “The piece quietly ends with Zane accompanying a lovely violin duo from concertmaster Dominick Benedetto ’25 and principal 2nd violin Noel Strange.”
The full orchestra will also perform “Morning” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1.
“The latter piece was on a LP record which I owned and wore out playing from listening and conducting to as a young child,” shared Santelices. “You hear and feel the calm of a new day dawning as well as the thrill and terror of fleeing from the slumbering troll chasing you out of his cave.”
Morton Gould’s American Salute will conclude the program. Written in 1942 for a government radio program, this piece was completed by Gould in eight hours and is based on the tune “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.” The melody is presented in many guises throughout the sections of the orchestra. American Salute is a popular choice performed by orchestras around the country for Fourth of July celebrations.
The CYO provides college-level playing experiences for advanced instrumentalists ages 13 and above. CYO members perform repertoire for strings, woodwinds, and brass in both chamber and large-scale orchestral settings. For more information, visit centenary.edu/hurley.
The concert will be live-streamed on the Centenary Youth Orchestra Facebook page at facebook.com/centenaryyouthorchestra.
