In brief…
Student selected It was announced by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association that Tina Bandzuch from Laurel Highlands High School has been selected to perform in the Region I Festival, which will be held from March 17-19 at Norwin High School.
This year’s festival will include 168 or the best high school musicians from nine counties, including Westmoreland, Washington, Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer.
The conductor for the program will be Dr. Rick Waymuth, retired from Northwest Missouri State University. The festival host is Cheryl Walter, director of choirs at Norwin High School.
A public concert will be presented on March 19 beginning at 2 p.m. in the Norwin High School auditorium. Tickets will be on sale at the door.
WSO to present concert
The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra presents Classic Valentine, on Saturday Feb. 12 at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg, beginning at 8 p.m. Conducted by Music Director, Kypros Markou, this annual concert features sounds of romance along with slightly lighter fare in the way of programming.
A Pre-Concert Lecture will be presented in the Palace Theatre at 7 p.m., open to all ticket holders. Tickets can be reserved by calling the WSO Office at 724-837-1850.
Student rush is $5 at the door.
The concert opens Mozart’s delightful Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, followed by Tchaikovsky’ salute to Mozart, Suite No.4, nicknamed “Mozartiana.”
The featured guest artist is Vassilis Varvaresos, who will perform Tchaikovsky’s famous Piano Concerto No.1.
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1983, Mr. Varvaresos attended his first music class at the age of five, and he began to read notes and played so quickly that he was soon given a scholarship to the Conservatory of Northern Greece. He continued his studies at the Conservatory of Thessaliniki with Melena Mollava while attending a Greek-French high school. He won First Prizes in the 1995 Petar Konjovic International Competition in Belgrade and the 1996 PanHellenic Young Artist Competition in Athens, and was chosen as one of eleven young musicians trom all over the world to perform in Monte Carlo in a special “little Mozarts” concert organized by Italy’s RAI- TV. Mr. Varvaresos worked with Herbert Stessin at the Aspen Music Festival and The Julliard School, where he currently studies with Jerome Lowenthal.
Vassilis Varvaresos won First Prize at the 1998 Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of fourteen, the youngest pianist ever to win that Audition. As a soloist with orchestras in the USA, Mr. Varvaresos has performed the Haydn Concerto in D Major with the Hartford Symphony, the Grieg Concerto in A Minor with the Statesboro Georgia Southern Symphony, the Mozart Concerto No.5 with the Modesto Symphony, the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 with the Altoona Symphony and the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony and the Fort Smith (AR) Symphony.
A Pre-Concert Lecture will be presented in the Palace Theatre at 7 p.m., open to all ticket holders. The guest speaker is Edgar Highberger. Concert tickets prices range from $36 – $10 and can be purchased at the door or can be reserved by calling the WSO Office at 724-837-1850. Student rush is $5 at the door.