22-23 MAY CONCERT-SENIOR

Season Finale-Symphony Orchestra

CYS concludes its 71st season with a “mini-concerto festival” that demonstrates the amazing talents of four of our graduating seniors. Concertmaster Erica Liu will perform Henri Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto no. 5, a tour-de-force of technical and musical virtuosity composed in 1859. Our Co-Principal Cellist Jennifer Mori will be featured in the first movement of Samuel Barber’s rarely-performed Cello Concerto, and our Co-Principal Horn, Paul Yoon, will perform the lovely Morceau de Concert by Saint-Säens. A very special treat will be the stunning Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra by French composer Emmanuel Séjourné, performed by CYS percussionist Christina Cheng. “Book-ending” these four amazing works, the orchestra will lead off with Richard Wagner’s sublime and majestic Overture to Die Meistersinger, completed in 1867 and received with instant acclaim: within a year of its premiere, Die Meistersinger was performed across Europe. The composer himself considered the opera his greatest work.

We conclude our concert and season with one of the most remarkable works of the 20th Century: Symphony no. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich. This deeply moving and brilliant symphony was composed by Shostakovich at the age of 19! It is difficult to conceive of a  better example of a true musical prodigy at work. Deftly orchestrated, highly innovative in terms of form/structure, and infused with great depth of feeling and passion, the Symphony catapulted Shostakovich to instant international acclaim-within a year, it was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and numerous other orchestras. Author Michael Steinberg hit the nail on the head when he wrote: “for a teenage composer he has much to say, and much of astonishing depth.” A truly thrilling finish to our season!

Leo Eylar, conductor
Erica Liu, violin
Jennifer Mori, cello
Paul Yoon, horn
Christina Cheng, marimba

Wagner: Overture to Die Meistersinger
Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto no. 5 (Erica Liu, soloist)
Barber: Cello Concerto, movement 1 (Jennifer Mori, soloist)
Saint-Saëns: Morceau de Concert (Paul Yoon, soloist)
Séjourné: Concerto for Marimba and Strings 
                     (Christina Cheng, soloist)
Shostakovich: Symphony no. 1

Graduating Senior Concerto Competition Winners


Christina Cheng began playing percussion at age 10 and has studied with Kumiko Ito for the past 8 years...

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Violinist Erica Liu, 17, is a senior at Monta Vista High School. She began violin studies at age six and currently studies with Zhao Wei...

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Cellist Jennifer Mori, 17, is a senior at Palo Alto High School. She currently studies with Jonathan Koh of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music...

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Paul Yoon is a senior at Menlo-Atherton High School currently studying under Daniel Hawkins...

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Graduating Senior Concerto Competition


The CYS Senior Orchestra holds an annual Concerto Competition in December, offering its current graduating seniors an exciting opportunity to showcase their talent on our season finale concerts in May. All three winners will debut in this concert.

Concert Information


May 7, 2023

San Mateo Performing
Arts Center

San Mateo High School
2:30pm 

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SOLOIST PROFILES

Christina Cheng
Marimba
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Erica Liu
Violin
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Jennifer Mori
Cello
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Paul Yoon
Horn
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CONDUCTOR PROFILE

Leo Eylar
Music Director
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