Symphony Orchestra's Young Artist Celebration

On Saturday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m.

Left to right: Andrew Pak, Safari Dushime, Shania Watts, Grant Steinweg, Betania Cañas (Photo by Keith Bullard)

On Saturday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m., the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Chris Wild, will feature the winners of the Department of Music’s Young Artist Competition.

Many talented and deserving students auditioned, and it was a difficult process to select only five students to perform their solos with the Symphony Orchestra. In alphabetical order, the 2022 Young Artist Concert will feature student soloists Betania Cañas (flute), Benie Safari Dushime (soprano), Andrew Pak (piano), Grant Steinweg (cellist and composer) and Shania Watts (viola).

This year, the winning selections are quite varied, encompassing music composed by American, French, German, and Puerto Rican composers between 1845 and the present day. The more recent compositions include Roberto Sierra’s “Concerto for Viola” (2006), an aria from Leonard Bernstein’s “Porgy and Bess” (1935) and the world premiere of student composer Grant Steinweg’s “Invitation,” with Grant also featuring as cello soloist. Three Romantic works from the 19th Century include the “Pie Jesu” selection from Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem,” Francois Borne’s “Fantaisie brillante on Themes from Carmen” and the first movement from Robert Schumann’s iconic “Piano Concerto.”

Following our six soloists, all members of the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra will join together to perform Jules Massenet’s delightful ballet suite taken from his opera “Le Cid.” The seven short selections from Massenet’s suite amount to a musical tour of Spain, exploring dances and cultural traditions taken from different regions of the country.

The concert is free, and tickets are not required to attend. For a livestream of the event, visit facebook.com/AndrewsUniversityMusic. The full season schedule of events at the Howard Performing Arts Center is available at howard.andrews.edu.

Audience members in attendance will be required to wear a mask. Seating distance between attendees may be increased based on the evolving COVID situation in Berrien County.