A night of music magic
<p>The winners of the 2011 Coeur d'Alene Symphony Young Artists Concert Competition are, from left, Y-Han Chen, college strings, Tzuying Huang, college winds; Kirsten Kamna, college vocals, Amelia Sie, high school instrumental, Sabrina Laney Warren, professional vocals, and Frank Leung, college piano.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - They are the best of the best.
And they are here in Coeur d'Alene.
"It's fabulous to bring this kind of talent to town," said Julie Crandall, Coeur d'Alene Symphony board member.
The Coeur d'Alene Symphony is hosting six outstanding young musicians and vocalists tonight at their National Young Artist Competition Winners Concert.
These young artists will be performing with the Symphony on stage at Lake City Community Church beginning at 7:30.
"David Demand and the Coeur d'Alene Symphony Orchestra staff
have built this annual event into one that attracts some extraordinary talent from across the country and presents the best in a community concert," according to a press release.
Initially, more than 200 young musicians applied to be in the concert. The six winners were selected from 134 applicants from all over the United States and Canada. Judging was in January.
"You don't have to like classical music. You just won't believe how good they are," said Robert Bittick, Symphony supporter.
Tonight's performers are:
* Amelia Sie, 14, is a ninth-grader in Newport High School and is also home-schooled in Bellevue. Amelia began violin at the age of 4. Amelia is studying with Simon James and Jan Mark Sloman in Dallas, and also works with pianist Hiro David.
* Franky Leung Jr., showed interest in piano at an early age and was admitted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he received his Diploma and Advanced Diploma. In 2007, Mr. Leung received a fellowship from Trinity College London of Music and continued his studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
* Kirsten Kamna is a senior Vocal Performance Major at Pacific Lutheran University and studies lyric coloratura repertoire with Janeanne Houston, a member of the voice faculty.
* Sabrina Laney Warren, a native of Nashville, received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Belmont University where she studied on a performance scholarship.
* Yu-Han Chen was born in Taiwan and graduated from the National Taiwan Normal University.
* Tzuying Huang, born in Taipei, Taiwan, received her bachelor's degree from the National Taiwan University of Education in 2007 and her master's degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 2010.
National Young Artist Competition Winners Concert in the Lake City continues to grow in popularity. The program "discovers and encourages exceptional young musical talent."
Bullard said such concerts are usually in larger cities such as Seattle and Boston. This puts Coeur d'Alene on their level, he said.
He noted the first-place prize is $750, which doesn't even cover travel expenses.
"They come from all of these places to get Coeur d'Alene on their resume," said Mike Bullard, who was escorting the young musicians around town Friday.
The orchestra has the task of learning whatever the winners select to play, and the music can be challenging.
"Every piece is a show stopper," Crandall said.
Bittick said the concert will be unforgettable.
"This is an opportunity for Coeur d'Alene people to hear world-class soloists in Coeur d'Alene," he said. "People don't know what they have here."