Westminster Conservatory of Music will present area musicians in its annual showcase on Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall on the campus of Princeton University.
Performers will be the Westminster Conservatory Community Orchestra, Ruth Ochs, conductor; the Westminster Conservatory Community Chorus, Devin Mariman, conductor and the Westminster Conservatory Children’s Choirs, Yvonne Macdonald and Patricia Thel, conductors. They will be joined by the Princeton High School Freshman Women’s Choir, Vincent Metallo, conductor; and the winners of the Westminster Conservatory Concerto Competition: pianists Albert Lee, Aditya Raguram and Farshad Tahvildar-Zadeh.
The program will feature Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes and “Laudamus te” and “Esurientes” from Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat. A highlight will be the world premiere of Sunset by Westminster Choir College student Karol Nowicki. Each Concerto Competition winner will perform a movement from a piano concerto. Albert Lee will perform the third movement from Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Aditya Raguram will perform the first movement from Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Major, and Farshad Tahvildar-Zadeh will perform the first movement from Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor.
Founded in 1985, the Westminster Community Orchestra is composed of professional and gifted amateur musicians from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Founded in 1996, the Westminster Conservatory Community Chorus is composed of singers from all walks of life who share a love of choral music. The Westminster Conservatory Concino Choir, conducted by Yvonne Macdonald, is composed of fourth and fifth-grade students. The Westminster Conservatory Cantus Choir, conducted by Patricia Thel, is an honors choir composed of students in grades six through eight.
Albert Lee is a freshman at West Windsor’s High School South. After studying piano for seven years, he has earned merit and distinction ratings from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. He has also won a five year award in the New Jersey Music Teachers Association (NJMTA) Piano Festival and received high honors in the NJMTA Recital Auditions. He is also a member of the school track team and plays the violin in the High School South Orchestra.
Aditya Raguram is a seventh-grade student at Hillsborough Middle School. For the past three years he has participated in the Young Artist Program, an honors music program at the Conservatory. In addition to being a Concerto Competition winner, he has received an honorable mention on the Conservatory’s scholarship competition and high honors at the NJMTA competition. He was also winner of the Hillsborough Star Search. He plays the alto saxophone in his school’s honors band and the jazz band. Since fifth grade he has played the lead keyboard for all of his school’s musicals.
Farshad Tahvildar-Zadeh is a sophomore at Princeton High School. Playing the piano since he was five, he has won a number of competitions including the 2004 Westminster Conservatory Concerto Competition, the best duet performance award at the 2004 American Fine Arts Festival competition, the 2004 Steinway Society scholarship award, the 2004 Golden Key Music and Art Festival, the 2003 and 2005 Cecilian Music Club’s Annual Young Artist Competition. He also earned high honors for seven years at the New Jersey Music Teachers Association’s Piano Competition and won the Westminster Conservatory Piano Scholarship Competition in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. He also has played the violin since he was four.
Richard Auditorium in Alexander Hall is located on the Princeton University campus in Princeton, N.J. Admission to the concert is $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. For tickets call 609-258-9220 or order online at www.princeton.edu/utickets.
For updates go to www.rider.edu/arts.Westminster Conservatory is the community music school of Rider University’s Westminster College of the Arts.