World Premiere by Omid Zoufonoun *
The Oakland Youth Orchestra is proud to announce the production of an orchestral piece with traditional Persian instrumentation, to be debuted at our free concert on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 3:00 pm at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland. The piece is being composed by award-winning composer, conductor and educator Omid Zoufonoun, whose brother, Amin Zoufonoun will be performing the Persian instrumentation. Both are sons of the renowned Persian musician Mahmoud Zoufonoun.
The epic Persian poem, *Manteq at-Tayr* (*Language of the Birds*), by the great 12th century poet Farid al-din Attar, serves as Omid’s main source of inspiration for a composition project that combines a traditional Persian instrumentalist with a symphony orchestra. (read more>)
* Made possible by generous donations from the James Irvine Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation and PARSA Community Foundation
Cello Concerto with Clark Pang
“When I play, I feel like I’m on fire.”
Clark Pang, Cellist, age 14 and a Maestro Foundation cello recipient, made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 10 as the youngest performer for From the Top’s premiere episode, “LIVE from Carnegie Hall”. He recently gave a solo recital at Napa’s renowned Festival del Sole. Clark's performances have been featured on PBS, The Martha Stewart Show, and CNBC World TV. He performed for Yo Yo Ma’s Masterclass at Mondavi Center as their Young Artist Competition winner. He is a conservatory student of Jonathan Koh for the past six years, having started privately with Ariel Witbeck and Irene Sharp. Internationally, Clark won First Place in Ukraine’s 2007 Individualis International Competition (the only American to win the Strings categories that year), Second Prize in New York’s Alexander & Buono International Strings Competition, and third prize overall in the nation’s prestigious MTNA competition. (read more>)
Photo Credit: Jennifer R. Klein, Photos in a Flash