What an amazing Gala concert last night at the Kaye Center at Hunter College at East 6th in NYC! It was difficult to tell that these performers were of high school age except when you stop to study all the faces that look so young! They could adequately compete with many a college or university orchestra!
Jeffrey Sun, CO’S 2016 Discovery Competition winner performed magnificently as guest soloist in Vieux Temps Violin Concerto. Cellist Hai-Ye Ni, celebrated for her expressive tone and technique seemed a perfect match for the Haydn Cello Concerto in D Major.
But the culminating performance was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Op. 67, performed by the entire orchestra along with six or seven previous COS Discovery alums returning for this performance that was truly remarkable in every way!
It is not often that musical prowess is easily trumped but tonight the only thing perhaps more remarkable was the intense feeling of family that pervaded the stage–a most fitting legacy for Dr. Yeou-Cheng, her husband and conductor Michael Dadap, carrying on the legacy begun a generation earlier by Dr. Ma.
