Niskayuna High School Student to Join Schenectady Symphony Orchestra for Upcoming Performance

Proctors will host special guest Eujeong Choi, winner of the Empire State Youth Orchestra 2022 Concerto Competition, for the upcoming Schenectady Symphony Orchestra performance "The Age of Nationalism (1918-1959)" on the MainStage 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Choi will be the featured soloist in Shostakovich's "Concerto for Violoncello in Eb Major". The orchestra will also perform Copland's "John Henry" and Sibelius' "Symphony No. 5 in Eb Major."

Eujeong Choi, 16, is a junior at Niskayuna High School and a cello major at Juilliard pre-college. She currently studies under Amy Barston and Dr. David Bebe. Eujeong was the principal cellist in the El Camino Youth Symphony Camerata Orchestra and the San Jose Youth Orchestra Chamber Orchestra until sixth grade and played in the pit for the Los Gatos Ballet Company's production of "The Nutcracker." After her family moved from California to New York, she became the principal of the Empire State Youth Repertory Orchestra (ESYO) during seventh grade and has been the principal/assistant principal for the ESYO Symphony Orchestra since the eighth grade.

"Since 2018, the year I moved to Upstate New York from California, performing the Shostakovich Cello Concerto has been one of my biggest goals," Choi says. "After hearing a cellist perform it with ESYO that year, it became my dream to do the same one day. When I received this opportunity, I was overjoyed and the dream that I had talked about non-stop since 2018 finally came true. With SSO being the first professional orchestra I will be working with, I am extremely excited to perform my favorite piece with them."

Choi's notable achievements include winning first place in the New York Laureate International Music Competition (2021), Prima Volta Music Competition (2021), American Protégé International Music Talent Competition (2021) and Empire State Youth Orchestra Lois Lyman Concerto Competition (2022). She was also a finalist in the New York Classical Music Competition (2021) and a two-time finalist in the Uel Wade Scholarship Competition. Eujeong has performed solos at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

She will join Artistic Director and Conductor Glen Cortese for a pre-concert chat 6 p.m. March 11 in the Fenimore Gallery at Proctors to talk about the forthcoming performance. All are invited to attend.

Tickets are available through the Box Office at Proctors, in person or via phone at (518) 346-6204 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or online at schenectadysymphony.com.

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