Review: Impressive young artists shine in Vancouver Symphony concert

Mio Imai, Hannah Cho, and Alexander Liu | Photo by Paul Quackenbush

The three gold medalists of the Vancouver Symphony’s Young Artist Competition delivered superb performances for the Young Artist Showcase (January 26) at Skyview Concert Hall. Pianist Alexander Liu, oboist Hannah Cho, and violinist Mio Imai – all teenagers – demonstrated terrific artistic expression and technical wizardry during their time in the spotlight with the orchestra. Their dedication to music surely gave a very appreciate audience a glimmer of hope that classical music is alive and well in the younger generation.

Since going nationwide in 2021, VSO’s Young Artist Competition has upped the ante, offering $1,000 to the bronze medalists, $3,000 to the silver medalists, and $5,000 to the gold medalists plus the opportunity to solo with the orchestra under the direction of Music Director Salvador Brotons. These enticements attracted about a hundred participants from across the U. S., and the winners were determined by a top-tier panel of professional musicians: Zuill Bailey, Dr. Julia Hwakyu Lee, Dr. Igor Shakhman, Dr. Stephen Shepherd, and Dr. Igal Kesselman.

This year’s edition of the concert, got underway with Alexander Liu, a 13-year-old pianist from New Jersey who studies at Julliard under pianist Orli Shaham. Liu dazzled concertgoers with an immaculate performance of the first movement of Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 21.” He excelled with impeccable technique, well-placed dynamics, and made the keyboard sing.

Oboist Hannah Cho, a 17-year-old is in her senior year the Colburn Music Academy in Los Angeles where she takes lessons from Eugene Izotov. Cho delivered the lyrical, florid passages of Wenzel Kalliwoda’s “Oboe Concertino” with outstanding expressivity, scaling to the highest notes with ease, and conveying the playfulness of the final movement with elan.

Violinist Mio Imai, a 14-year-old whose teacher is Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violinist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, brought the house down with a scintillating rendition of Camille Saint-Saëns “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.” She commanded the piece with superb fingerwork, dancing through the many treacherously fast passages with precision and very expressive artistry.

Each soloist was reward with loud ovations from the audience after their performances. Listener gave them another round of applause when they reappeared at center stage and bowed as a group. It will be interesting to watch how their careers develop.

Brotons gave a humorous anecdote about how to pronounce words and names in French, which elicited chuckles from all corners of the hall. He then led the orchestra, from memory, in an expressive interpretation of the Suite No. 2 from “Bacchus et Ariane,” a ballet by Albert Rousell, which told a love story from the myths of ancient Greece. The suite offered a wide range of sound, starting with hushed lower strings before blossoming into the entire orchestra. Lovely melodic lines gave way to swirling and stormy passages. The sweeping dynamic range of the suite evoked all sort of imagery and made me want to see a performance with dancers someday.

The concert concluded with Three Dances (Suite No. 2) from “The Three-Cornered Hat,” a ballet by Manuel de Falla. With animated and pinpoint gestures, Brotons and his forces created evocative dances that transitioned from an elegant and relaxing style to a vigorous and propulsive one that ended the suite with a sense of wildness and joy.