- On March 14th, four gifted young musicians
will take the stage here at Overture Hall in Madison.
- They're vying for top honors in
the Madison Symphony Orchestra's Bolz Young Artist Competition.
They are violinist Hannah White;
violinist Arianna Brusubardis;
pianist Jessica Jiang;
and violinist Isabelle Krier.
- You'll see them perform as part of our live broadcast,
Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte.
- But before they take the stage, we asked them to tell us
a little about themselves, their love of music...
- ...and what is it that drew them here, into the limelight.
- I'm Jessica Jiang.
I'm a 13-year old freshman at Madison Memorial High School.
My first instrument was the piano.
It all started when my mom played a CD
and I really liked the rich sound of the piano.
So I asked her like, "Hey, can I start playing the piano?"
♪ ♪
In 2015, I switched to learning with Mr. Bill Lutes.
Bill Lutes is one of the most knowledgeable people,
musically, that I know.
He knows a lot about
not only how to play the repertoire well
but also background knowledge on the composers or the music.
- Bill Lutes: You've got to do what he says and not make it sound unnatural.
That is a trick, isn't it? [laughing]
- And he's very, very funny.
Like, he always weaves humor into our lessons.
- That's it. - They're very enjoyable.
- That's it. Okay?
This past year, I discovered my passion for tennis
and I thought,
"Hey, this is actually something really, really fun."
So, I went to the tennis team and I got onto varsity.
I took a drawing class this year
because I wanted to improve my art skills.
I've improved so much
and it's been a really enjoyable class for me.
In sixth grade, I started with the saxophone.
Saxophone is a very different quality of sound.
It's a lot more jazzy.
Symphonic band is also, like, a really good experience
because these kids are very advanced.
It's really fun playing with them.
And they fool around sometimes
so it's really casual and just fun.
"Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto in G-Minor."
I really like this Concerto because
it has so many different colors in it
and so many different emotions.
Music is like a pathway to discovering yourself
because it really is about emotion and a story.
By playing with MSO in the Overture Center
I can introduce my peers
to the beauty of the world of classical music.
Just walking onto the stage,
or like, all the lights, just like,
"Wow, this is my moment.
I can finally share my piece."
[applause]