SEISO fall concert series scheduled Oct. 20-21

The Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra will kick off its 62nd season with a fall concert series Oct. 20-21 in Burlington, Mount Pleasant and Ottumwa.

Performances are: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at Indian Hills Community College St. John Auditorium in Ottumwa; 3 p.m. Oct. 21 at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington and again at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel Auditorium, Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant.

Under the baton of Robert McConnell, 11-year old William Yang will delight audiences with Grieg?s Concerto for Piano in a minor. William is a student of Dr. Paul Wirth of the highly acclaimed Wirth Center for the Performing Arts.

William Yang is 11 years old from Eden Prairie, Minn. With fast growing repertoires, he has been publicly giving piano performances and winning piano competition prizes since the age of 7. William was the featured soloist in NPR?s ?From the Top? show #219 in July 2010, a nationally syndicated program featuring the finest precollege aged musicians in the country. He played Saint-Saëns? The Carnival of The Animals with Minnesota Orchestra in March and July 2010. He Performed Chopin Variations ?La ci darem la mano? with the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra in February and March. He performed Mozart piano concerto No. 9, K271with Kenwood Symphony in March.

William has been awarded through various competitions: winner of MMTF Mozart Piano Concerto Competition in 2012, the second prize of Saint Paul Piano Teacher?s Association Concerto Competition in November 2011 and a finalist in 2009, 2010; the alternate winner in Minneapolis Piano Teacher?s Forum, Mozart Concerto Competition in 2010; the finalist of the Young Artist World Piano Festival Concerto Competition Junior Division in 2009, 2010, 2011.

The young pianist has been studying piano with Wirth since age 5. He also has attended various master classes by Professor Andre Watts, Dr. Ksenia Nosikova, and Professor Pavlina Dokovska. William is now a home-schooled fifth-grader student. He loves classical music, math, swimming and his iPad.

Wirth is a prominent figure in the national piano teaching community. His unique combination of masterful performing and teaching, along with a sense of humor and unassuming personality have made him a much sought-after featured artist in concerts, master classes, fundraisers, conventions, special events, and lecture series. With his bachelor of music in piano performance from Temple University, and his master and doctorate degrees in piano performance from Indiana University, he co-founded and is now the artistic director of the Wirth Center for the Performing Arts, formerly Central Minnesota Music School, in St. Cloud, Minn., a performing arts center with more than 300 students taught by a faculty of 20.

SEISO?s performance of Aaron Copland?s Fanfare for the Common Man and Bartok?s landmark piece, Concerto for Orchestra will complete the fall concert series. Program notes, written by Jim Priebe, can be downloaded from the orchestra?s website.

Admission to the fall concerts is by SEISO season ticket, or patrons may pay at the door. Cost is $15 for adults and $10 for students age 12 and older. Season tickets for the fall, winter and spring performances will be available for sale before each concert. Cost is $35 for adults, $20 for students and $70 for an entire family.

To enrich the concert experience, attend the ?Prelude.? McConnell will talk about the music to be performed so patrons will have a greater understanding of the performance. The ?Prelude? is 30 minutes long and begins 45 minutes before each concert. This service is supported by the Charles W. Rand Memorial Lecture Fund of Burlington and offered free of charge to the audience.

For information, go to the website: www.seiso.us, call 319-385-6352 or email seiso@iwc.edu.