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Bay Area orchestra features local teen as concertmaster
Young People's Symphony Orchestra kicks off 76th season this weekend

by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

The 76th season of the Young People's Symphony Orchestra (YPSO) kicks off with its fall concert at the Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church tomorrow, and its 95 musicians will include three from Amador Valley High.

Violinist Beverly Fu, 17, a senior, is the orchestra's concertmaster for this season. In this role, Fu leads the first violin with the section's 22 violinists, plays all the solos in the orchestral works, and is in charge of leading the orchestra in tuning before concerts and rehearsals.

Daniel Gurevich, 14, a freshman, plays the English Horn and oboe. Cellist Irene Kim, 17, is also a senior. YPSO musicians range in age from 12 to 21 and live in 26 Bay Area cities.

Tomorrow's concert will feature Johannes Brahms' "A German Requiem" performed along with the 120 members of the Oakland Symphony Chorus.

"The first and last movements make it very clear that the focus is on the living and comforting those left behind. There's nothing like it before or after," said YPSO music director/conductor David Ramadanoff.

"We are looking at this masterwork through the lens of the youthful, passionate Brahms who wrote it," added Oakland Symphony Chorus Director Lynne Morrow.

She also noted that she and the Oakland chorus are looking forward to collaborating with YPSO in the performance.

"This joint project with a thriving youth music ensemble speaks directly to our mission," she said.

The other work on the program is American composer Christopher Theophanidis' Rainbow Body, a 13-minute orchestral work.

"The spiritual side of this piece goes well with the Brahms," Ramadanoff said. "It's good for the kids to become acquainted with new works and living composers."