Three West Windsor residents perform in Westminster Conservatory’s “Romantic Gems Extravaganza” benefit concert on Saturday, January 5, at 5 p.m at Bristol Chapel. Ryan Zhang, Jeffrey Yu, and Andrew Sun have been taught by Larissa Korkina. The concert will benefit Dr. H. Korkina Scholarship Fund for dedicated Westminster students. Admissions is free. Donations are invited. A reception in Thayer Lounge follows.
The highlights of the program include music by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Grieg, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven.
Andrew Sun, a 2009 graduate of High School North and a senior at New York University, is a soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber musician. Born and raised in West-Windsor, he has appeared multiple times at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Recent New York engagements have included solo performances at the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden, Greenwich House Music School, and the Provincetown Playhouse. Orchestral appearances include the Westfield Symphony Orchestra to the Bravura Philharmonic.
In 2011 he was a soloist in the seldom-heard Dvorak Piano Concerto with the NYU Symphony Orchestra. Sun also hosts radio shows on WPRB Princeton, where he has conducted live interviews with pianists including Ilya Itin, Edna Golandsky, and George-Emmanuel Lazaridis.
Jeffrey Yu, 12, is a seventh grade student at Community Middle School. He has been playing piano since age five and has been studying with Korkina since 2009. He performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill recital Hall as a winner of the Golden Key Festival. Yu was the winner of Westminster’s Conservatory scholarship competition in 2007 and 2012, received high honors from New Jersey Music Teachers Association, and distinction rating from Trinity College London in 2011 and 2012. Yu, also studies violin at Westminster and plays violin with Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra.
Ryan Zhang, an eighth grade student at Community Middle School, began playing piano at the age of five. After completing two years at Yamaha Music School, he began studying under Patricia Landy in Westminster Conservatory. Zhang has won numerous piano competitions at the conservatory, regional, and state levels where he has received acclaim for his solo and ensemble performances. Zhang, who has been enrolled in Westminster’s Honors Music Program since 2007, passed the ABRSM 8 Piano Practical Exam with the highest distinction mark in the tri-state area. Currently an active pianist, violinist, and chamber musician, Zhang frequently performs at music festivals and communities events.
Benefit Concert, Westminster Conservatory, Bristol Chapel, Princeton. Saturday, January 5, 5 p.m. Reception follows in Thayer Lounge. Free admission, donations invited. 609-921-2663. www.rider.edu.
