2007 Press Release Children's Orchestra Society

Manhasset, NY (April 19, 2007) -- The Young Symphonic Ensemble (YSE) of the Children's Orchestra Society (COS) will be making its Carnegie Hall debut on Friday, June 1, 2007 at 7:30 PM. In addition to the YSE making its Carnegie Hall debut, COS celebrates its 38th Anniversary and the 13th Discovery Concert Series on this evening with performances by renowned guest artists Jamie Laredo and Sharon Robinson, 2007 Senior Discovery Winner flutist Sara Aomori, and the YSE conducted by Maestro Michael Dadap. Program includes Chen Yi's Celebration (New York Premiere), Brahms' Concerto for Violin & Cello, Fantasie by George Hffrac14;e, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 1.

About the artists:

Sara Aomori began studying the flute at age five. Born into a musical family, her parents are professional pianist and double bassist. Sara is the youngest of four children, and all her older siblings attend music conservatories.

A resident of Albertson, NY, Sara is currently the principal flutist of the COS YSE and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. She is the first prize winner of the 2007 Long Island Philharmonic Young Artist Competition as well as the recipient of its Christopher Keene Memorial Scholarship. Sara is a candidate of the COS Instrumental Majors Program and was awarded the Dr. H. T. Ma Scholarship in 2006 for Overall Excellence, Achievement and Citizenship. Sara placed 5th in the Long Island Flute Competition in 2005, and was a finalist for the COS Discovery competition in 2006. She was featured last spring as a soloist with the YSE performing Cimarosa's Concerto for Two Flutes and Orchestra. Currently a senior at Herricks High School, Sara participates in its Honor Wind Ensemble as principal flutist and has been an active member in Tri-M Honor Society. Sara works at COS as a Production Intern. A fluent Japanese speaker and writer, Sara enjoys reading Japanese novels and comic books, as well as drawing and playing video games.

In more than forty years before the public, Jaime Laredo has excelled in the multiple roles of soloist, conductor, recitalist and chamber musician.

As a conductor and soloist, Mr. Laredo has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, New York String Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, the London Symphony, BBC Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Royal Philharmonic and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Laredo has been Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra since 1999.

Jaime Laredo is currently the Linda and Jack Gill Chair Professor in Violin at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Other affiliations include Artistic Director of New York's Chamber Music at the Y series, the annual New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall, the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and the Brandenberg Ensemble.

As one of the most outstanding musicians of our time, Sharon Robinson is a winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award, and a Grammy nominee. Her guest appearances with orchestras include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Francisco Symphonies, and in Europe, the London Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, the English, Scottish and Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestras. Ms. Robinson has recorded more than 50 discs, collaborating with Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, and her husband, violinist Jaime Laredo, among others.

While Ms. Robinson continues to champion numerous works by the contemporary composers, Richard Danielpour, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Arvo Pärt, Leon Kirchner, and Robert Starer, she is also currently on the esteemed cello faculty of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Michael Dadap has been the artistic/music director and conductor of The Children's Orchestra Society since 1984. In collaboration with the COS faculty, Mr. Dadap has developed teaching and orchestral training programs with an emphasis on reading music. As a conductor, Mr. Dadap has conducted and collaborated with some of the world's most renowned concert artists. As a classical guitarist, he made his Carnegie Recital Hall debut in 1974 and has since performed in numerous concerts internationally. As part of the Dadap-Ma duo, he has toured in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Dadap's solo guitar recordings include Lambingan, (Tenderness) Songs of the Visayans for Voice and Guitar, Himig Ng Puso (Songs from the Heart), Harana (Serenades for Solo Guitar), and Intimate Guitar Classics, which was featured as "album of the month" on WQXR in February 1990.

As a composer and advocate of Filipino music, his composition Handurawan Dance Suite won the Asian-American Alliance for the Arts Award and was premiered by the Brooklyn Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble in 1988. In 1999, a collection of his works including his Four Visayan Serenades for Guitar and Song Cycle for Tenor, Cello, and Piano were presented by the Felipe De Leon Foundation at Weill Recital Hall.

In 2002, he opened the first International Guitar Festival in the province of Bohol and appeared as the guest conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. He is active in giving workshops on the Bandurria (a 14-string folk instrument), and continues to serve as a music arranger and consultant with the Iskwelahang Pilipino Rondalla (Philippine School Rondalla) of Boston, MA and an artistic consultant for the Asia Society. In February of 2004, he was invited to speak on his new book, Method for the Virtuoso Bandurria at the First International Rondalla Festival in Naga City, Philippines. He serves as a visiting Professor of Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Philippines.

Mr. Dadap was named the 2000 Artist of the Year by Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts. Recently he was awarded by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines the 2006 Award for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas.

The COS Young Symphonic Ensemble was formed in 1990 by Music Director Michael Dadap and consists of talented young musicians ranging from 12 to 18 years old selected by rigorous audition. Since its first concert in 1991 at the 92nd Street Y with pianists Jeffrey Biegel and Rowena Arrieta, the YSE has performed in New Yorkᾦtrade;s major concert halls including Lincoln Centerᾦtrade;s Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, Tilles Center, the 92nd St. Y, LeFrak Hall and Colden Center at Queens College and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The ensemble has also toured extensively to major U.S. cities such as Boston, Denver, St. Louis, Washington D.C. as well abroad to Canada, Taiwan and the Philippines. In August of 2005, the YSE performed in London and Edinburgh, Scotland as part of Edinburgh's Festival Fringe.

Keeping faithful to its goals to provide a bridge to the professional performing community, the YSE has collaborated with some of the worldᾦtrade;s most distinguished artists including cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Hai-Ye Ni, clarinetists David Shifrin, Richard Stoltzman, flutist Paula Robison, pianists Emanuel Ax, Helen Huang, Li-Jian, Cecile Licad, violinists Sarah Chang, Chee-Yun, Soovin Kim, Cho-Liang Lin, and violist Michael Tree. In the 2001 season, the YSE premiered two new works by American composers Tison Street and Michael Valenti.

The YSE has released several recordings, including the successful Fire in the Belly, a collection of orchestral masterworks by Grieg, Rossini, and Respighi. It has also released The Best of COS, Vol. 1, featuring the works of Bruch, Tchaikovsky, and the premiere of Tison Streetᾦtrade;s Labyrinth for Violin and Orchestra with Soovin Kim as soloist.

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About The Childrenᾦtrade;s Orchestra Society: Now in its 38th season, the Childrenᾦtrade;s Orchestra Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to "teaching children the language of music" from early childhood to high school graduates. COS members perform in orchestral and chamber music concerts with well-known musicians, as well as with their peers. COS strives to involve members with their communities through performances for civic and cultural groups. From a fledgling group of 35 string players in 1984, the organization today has grown to more than 200 students. The Young Symphonic Ensemble (YSE) has toured in Scotland, the Philippines, Taiwan, Toronto, as well as many major North American cities. The ensemble has given 12 annual performances at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.