It is not every day that a high school musician gets the chance to work with a famous flute player, but Bethany Tsai, a sophomore at High School North, has been chosen to work with Eugenia Zukerman in a master class. Princeton Symphony Orchestra invites the public to the workshop featuring Zukerman and three student flute players on Saturday, March 17, at 2 p.m. Music enthusiasts will learn about the thought and attention that goes into the preparation of musical repertoire with a glimpse into the process of refining a performance.
Zukerman, a solo and chamber music performer, will offer three accomplished students new perspectives on the technical and artistic challenges of their selected pieces. She will appear as guest soloist in the PSO’s Classical Series concert “Shakespearean Drama” on Sunday, March 18, performing the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by contemporary American composer Lowell Liebermann.
Bethany Tsai, who has lived in West Windsor for 16 years, played piano before picking up the flute. She began playing flute during the end of the third grade and played both instruments until sixth grade, when she chose to concentrate on the flute.
Tsai has been a member of the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey for five years. She earned a High Honor Award at the New Jersey Music Teachers Association 2011 spring audition and placed third in the Young Artists Competition. At North she performs in the Wind Ensemble and the Philharmonic Orchestra.
She studies flute with Katherine McClure. Mary Schmidt, the school band director at Community Middle School, asked McClure if Tsai would be a part of the master class.
During a master class the student performs a prepared piece of music and the master gives them advice, points out technical errors, and may demonstrate certain passages. The student performs the piece again using the advice received to get closer to perfection. In a master class environment all of the students can benefit from the master.
Tsai will play a movement from the Mozart Flute Concerto in G Major. “I chose the piece that I am performing because it was the Region 2 audition piece this year,” she says.
“Master It,” Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Bristol Chapel, Westminster Choir College, Princeton. There is no charge for admission, but reservations are required. At least one person in each reservation group must hold a ticket to the March 18 concert. Master class attendees receive a special rate of $10 per ticket. E-mail info@princetonsymphony.org or call 609-497-0020.
