Lima, OH (September 20, 2023) – The Lima Symphony Orchestra will present its annual Young People’s Concert for area school groups on Friday, October 13 at 9:30 AM and 11:00 AM at the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center (7 Town Square, Lima, OH 45801).
This year, the Young People’s Concert will be led collaboratively by Maestro Andrew Crust as well as GRAMMY-award winning violinist Charles Yang. This program will explore Hollywood classics from Howl’s Moving Castle, The Godfather, Psycho, and The Wizard of Oz, introducing students to the role of music in movies. Guest artist, Charles Yang will present students with his own arrangements of popular favorites. For many students, this will be their first time hearing a solo violin performance. Charles Yang will present on the violin and its wide variety of timbres.
World-renowned violinist and composer, Charles Yang, will close the program with Korngold’s Violin Concerto. Yang has established himself as a true crossover artist; a virtuoso in both the classical world and the popular world. The Boston Globe described Yang as someone who “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star.” Yang is not only an accomplished soloist, but an esteemed composer and songwriter. In 2023, Yang won the GRAMMY award for “Best Classical Instrumental Solo” recognizing the score to Robin Wright’s Land (2021) co-written alongside Yang’s trio members from Time For Three and Ben Sollee.
Each year, more than 3,500 school children enjoy learning about and listening to symphonic music at live performances by our full orchestra designed especially for young people. The Young People’s Concerts are a free educational service provided by the Lima Symphony Orchestra, the Benevolent Order of Elks, H & B Family Foundation, The Lima Rotary Foundation, Midwest Electric Foundation, Nutrien, The Ohio State University at Lima, Paulding/Putnam Electric Trust, Proctor and Gamble, The Union Bank, and Citizens National Bank. These concerts are appropriate for students in grades four through eight.
Companion educational materials designed specifically for this concert are available through the Lima Symphony Orchestra’s website and include information designed to introduce students to the orchestra, tips on how to listen, and helpful information about the composers and repertoire. https://www.limasymphony.com/young-peoples-concerts
Repertoire:
Joe Hisaishi | Symphonic Variation “Merry-Go-Round” from “Howl’s Moving Castle” |
Vittorio Monti | Czardas |
Arr. Leonardo Dugan & Charles Yang The Beatles | Blackbird |
Arr. Armand Ranjbaran & Charles Yang Nino Rota | Godfather Suite |
Bernard Hermann | Psycho Suite Prelude The Murder |
Harold Arlen Arr. Leonardo Dugan & Charles Yang | Somewhere Over the Rainbow |
Erich Wolfgang Korngold | Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 35 |
Underwriters:
Benevolent Order of Elks
H&B Foundation
The Lima Rotary Foundation
Midwest Electric Foundation
Nutrien
The Ohio State University at Lima
Paulding/Putnam Electric Trust
Proctor and Gamble
The Union Bank
Citizens National Bank
The Lima Symphony Orchestra is dedicated to preserving musical excellence as a living part of our community. Serving communities throughout West Central Ohio, the Lima Symphony annually presents five subscription concerts, a family concert, Mozart by Candlelight concerts and an annual New Year’s Eve Pops concert.
For more information about the Lima Symphony Orchestra or for tickets, please contact the Lima Symphony at 419-222-5701 or www.limasymphony.com.
Charles Yang
GRAMMY Award-winning artist and recipient of the 2018 Leonard Bernstein Award, Charles Yang has been described by The Boston Globe as one who "plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star.” The Juilliard graduate began his violin studies with his mother, Sha Zhu, in Austin, Texas, and has since studied with world-renowned pedagogues Kurt Sassmanshaus, Paul Kantor, Brian Lewis, and Glenn Dicterow. He has performed as soloist with orchestras and in concert throughout the United States, Europe, Brazil, Russia, China, and Taiwan. On June 9th of 2005, the Mayor of Austin presented Yang with his own "Charles Yang Day.” In 2016, Yang joined the multi-genre string-band Time for Three as violinist and lead singer.
Not only confined to classical styles, Yang's improvisational crossover abilities as a violinist, electric violinist, and vocalist have led him to featured performances at festivals including The Aspen Music Festival, The Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, The Ravinia Festival, Caramoor, Interlochen, The YouTube Music Awards, TED, and Google Zeitgeist. He has performed at some of the world’s most celebrated venues such as Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Lincoln Center, Konzerthaus Berlin, Rudolfinum, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Royal Danish Theatre, Joe’s Pub, ACL Live, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Forbidden City in Beijing, among many others. He has performed in the presence of two former US Presidents and the Queen of Denmark and has shared the stage in collaborations with artists including Peter Dugan, Michael Thurber and CDZA, Steve Miller, Jesse Colin Young, Joshua Bell, Jake Shimabukuro, Ray Benson, Savion Glover, Twyla Tharp, Misty Copeland, and Jon Batiste.
An adventurous composer, arranger, songwriter, and collaborator, Yang’s works have been featured in projects for Glamour and Pentagram. In 2021 he co-wrote the original score to Robin Wright’s 2021 feature film, Land. Time for Three’s album, “Letters for the Future” with Xian Zhang and The Philadelphia Orchestra featuring concertos written by Kevin Puts and Jennifer Higdon, won the 2023 GRAMMY award for “Best Classical Instrumental Solo.”
Yang’s career has been followed by various news media including The New York Times, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Austin Chronicle, and The Strad. He is also featured in Nick Romeo's book, Driven as well as Discovery Channel's Curiosity.
Of note, The Texas Observer stated, “Yang is a true crossover artist, a pioneer who can hop between classical and popular music and bring fresh ideas to fans of both genres. Rather than maintaining an insular focus and simply assuming that an audience for classical music will always exist, he wants to actively create that audience, to persuade and seduce others into enjoying a type of music as passionately as he does.”
Charles Yang performs on the 1854 “ex-Soil” J.B. Vuillaume, as well as a 2017 Jeff Phillips.