Niskayuna student to play with Schenectady orchestra
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — 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." The concert will be held on the MainStage at Proctors, at 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."
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.
Choi 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 will join Artistic Director and Conductor Glen Cortese for a pre-concert chat at 6 p.m. on March 11 in the Fenimore Gallery at Proctors to talk about the forthcoming performance. All are invited to attend.
Tickets are available in person at the Proctors box office, on the phone at (518) 346-6204, or online. The box office is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.