Spotlight Shines on Youth at Annual Ten Grands Concert

Talented Young Artists Will Join Award-Winning Professionals

at Benaroya Hall for April 4 Musical Variety “Concert for a Cause”

 Students will be an integral part of the annual Ten Grands Seattle concert on Friday, April 4 – as guest artists, as beneficiaries of concert proceeds, and as volunteers at a post-concert event to honor military veterans.

Ticketholders are invited to arrive early for the complimentary bonus concert. Performers include vocalists and instrumentalists who will perform as soloists and in various sized groups. (Roster follows.)

Nearly three dozen talented young musicians from 11 high schools will perform in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall during the evening’s showcase of talent that benefits music education. Selected musicians will appear both onstage with the featured “Ten Grands” professional pianists, as well as in the Samuel & Althea Stroum Grand Lobby starting at 6 p.m. (60 minutes before the Ten Grands concert begins).

The Youth Choir from Columbia Choirs of Metropolitan Seattle will also make a special appearance onstage with the Ten Grands artists.

Also performing as part of the evening’s entertainment will be talented teenager JJ Guo, 17, of Camas, Wash., one of the featured “Ten Grands” pianists. In addition to his solo, Guo will be part of the “16 Hands” piece, joining six other young piano students plus Ten Grands artist Barbara Roberts, who will lead the group of seven teenagers as they perform together on two pianos. The other performers in the “16 Hands” ensemble are:

Emily Brother, 16, of West Linn High School in West Linn, Ore.,

Caitlin Huang, 15, of Lincoln High School in Portland, Ore.,

Caitlyn Koester, 18, a freshman at Michigan School of Music,

Alexander Lu,  14, of Redmond and a student at Community School in Kirkland,

Christopher Lu, 17, of Redmond and a student at Interlake High School Bellevue (and brother of Alex), Trevor Natuik, 13, of Battle Ground, Wash., and a student at Meadowglade Adventist School.

Student musicians at the April 4 Ten Grands concert are from seven counties in Western Washington. They were among award winners at regional competitions at the Washington State Solo & Ensemble Contest, a program of WIAA/WMEA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association/Washington Music Educators Association).

On stage performers are from Bainbridge, Camas, Edmonds-Woodway, Ellensburg, Issaquah, Juanita, Kamiak, Shorewood, and Stadium high schools. Each musician be showcased during brief solos, and then be part of a group performance.

Lobby performers include a string sextet from Ellensburg High School, a flute quartet and trombone trio from Juanita High School, a flute quintet from Kamiak High School (Mukilteo), and three duets. The duets include instrumentalists from Sehome High School in Bellingham and vocalists from both Issaquah and Bremerton high schools.

In addition to the selected high school performers, college students will take part in a special remembrance ceremony the morning after the concert (on April 5). Volunteers from the University of Washington Navy ROTC program will place an estimated 1,500 flowers from the concert stage onto individual headstones at Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle.

The flower ceremony begins at 10 a.m. and is open to the public. This marks the third year when the long-stemmed roses – a signature part of the staging at the Ten Grands concerts – are donated to the Veterans cemetery.

A sellout crowd is expected for the 7^th annual Ten Grands musical variety show. Proceeds support the Seattle Symphony’s education programs and other select nonprofit music education organizations.

Limited Ticket Availability

Only limited tickets remain for the popular one-night-only concert. Tickets, starting at $42, may be purchased at seattlesymphony.org, through the Seattle Symphony’s iPhone and Android apps, by calling the Seattle Symphony Ticket Office at (206) 215-4747, or by visiting the Ticket Office in Benaroya Hall, located on the corner of Union Street and Third Avenue.  Ticket Office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday, 1-6 p.m.

About Ten Grands

Ten Grands Seattle features 10 concert pianists on 10 grand pianos in a stunning, dramatically-lit, setting onstage at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. Concertgoers will be treated to a musical variety show featuring classical, jazz, boogie-woogie, R&B, pop, original compositions and more. The pianists perform on a multi-tiered stage, playing as soloists as well as in various combinations, including all 10 playing simultaneously.

Ten Grands concerts, held in Seattle and Portland, are the creation of Northwest composer-pianist Michael Allen Harrison, whose vision is to “share the joy, the healing, the learning and the life-changing gifts music has to offer.” The concerts were conceived in response to budget cuts affecting K-12 and community-based music programs.

About the Seattle Symphony

The Seattle Symphony is recognized as a major symphonic orchestra in the United States and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony was founded in 1903 and is heard live from September through July by more than 315,000 people. Its innovative education and community engagement programs reach over 100,000 children and adults each year. The orchestra has completed more than 140 recordings, received 12 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. The Seattle Symphony performs in one of the world’s finest concert venues — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle.

RBC Wealth Management is the presenting sponsor of Ten Grands, continuing its support since 2008, the inaugural year of the fundraiser. Supporting sponsors of the event include: Classic Pianos and DreamBox Learning. In-Kind support comes from the Mayflower Park Hotel and Classic Pianos.                                                                                               

WMEA YOUNG MUSICIANS, 2014 TEN GRANDS SEATTLE CONCERT