Westminster Conservatory of Music presents its seventh annual winter concert to benefit the Dr. H. Korkina Memorial Scholarship on Saturday, January 4, at Bristol Chapel in Princeton. “Celebrating Holidays with World Musical Gems” features Plainsboro musicians Charlie Liu, Jeffery Yu, and Molly Zhu.
The concert features solo piano performances of music by Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, and Schubert; as well as violin and piano duos performed by award-winning musicians. These young musicians have already showcased their talents at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kimmel Center, and other venues. Admission is free. Donations are welcome.
Charlie Liu, 13, an eighth grader at Grover Middle School, has been playing piano since age four and has been a winner in more than 20 solo competitions. He has studied with Ingrid Clarfield of Westminster Choir College since 2007.
He received first place in the New Jersey Music Teacher Association, Massachusetts Music Teacher Association, Steinway Society Scholarship Competitions; and the gold prize at the American Fine Arts Festival. When he was eight he set a “Grand Slam” record by performing in all three concert halls at Carnegie Hall.
Liu has performed on the Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey shows, performed for Queen Rania of Jordan and Bono of U2. He also performed at Lincoln Center and Merkin Hall in New York and the Segerstrom Concert Hall in California, and in the Youtube Symphony Orchestra debut in the Carnegie Hall.
Committed to helping society and the community, Liu has organized benefit events such as “Young Artists for Haiti” and a benefit solo recital for UI Children’s Hospital with help from family and friends. He often helps out at other charity events, fundraisers, and community events with his music, and has featured classical music through public solo recitals.
Liu, a travel hockey player since he was five, has also received awards in chess and math competitions. (The News, May 11, 2012).
Jeffrey Yu, 14, is an eighth grade student at Community Middle School, where he plays violin in the chamber orchestra. A team member of CMS MathCounts competition since he was in sixth grade, he also had sucecss as an individual in national math competitions. Yu is also a member of CMS Science Olympiad.
He started playing piano at age five at Westminster Conservatory and has been studying with Korkina since 2009. Yu, who studies violin at the conservatory with Ileana Ciumac, has played with Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra.
The winner of the conservatory’s scholarship competition in 2007 and 2012, Yu placed first in the 2013 Westminster Concerto competition and received high honors in NJMTA recital auditions. He also received distinction advanced performance certificates from Trinity London in 2012 and 2013.
Molly Zhu was four years old when she was first introduced to the piano. She began taking lessons at Westminster’s Suzuki piano program with Emi Tokunaga. “However, even when I was very young, I remember pretending to play on tables and chairs,” she says. “Eventually, my parents sent me to Kindermusic, a musical group for toddlers, for about a year when I was two or three.” (The News, December 18, 2009).
She was a winner in International Concert Alliance’s Young People’s Piano competition in 2002, 2003, and 2004. In 2003 Zhu was awarded second place in New Jersey Music Teachers Association’s Young Artist competition. She began her piano study with Korkina in 2004.
Zhu has been a finalist in the piano competition sponsored by the Piano Teacher’s Society of America and winner of the Westminster Conservatory Concerto Competition, the American Fine Arts Festival Piano Competition, the Cecilian Music Club Competition, and the Golden Key Music Festival.
She performed in both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in 2005, as well as the Hurricane Katrina Relief concerts at Drew University.
From 2006 to 2008 she continued to perform and received many awards including first place at Westminster’s piano concert competition. She became the third recipient of the Dr. H. Korkina Memorial Scholarship in 2009, and performed in Weill Recital Hall for the American Fine Arts Festival.
A 2013 graduate of High School North, Zhu is majoring in pre-law at Emory University.
Donations may be sent to Dr. H. Korkina Scholarship Fund, Westminster Conservatory, 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton 08540.
Benefit Concert, Westminster Conservatory, Bristol Chapel, 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton. Saturday, January 4, 5 p.m. “Celebrating Holidays with World Music Gems,” a benefit concert for the Dr. H. Korkina Scholarship Fund for dedicated Westminster students. The program features work by Schumann, Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff. Donations invited. 609-921-2663. www.rider.edu.
