Civic Orchestra of Tucson is putting the winners of its young artist competition in the spotlight on Saturday, Feb. 1, for its annual benefit concert.
“Bravo, Young Artists” will feature junior piano division winner Alexis Dyche performing the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and 18-year-old Bryan Zhang, winner of the 2024 senior piano division, performing two movements from Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Bryan Zhang will perform Liszt’s First Piano Concerto with Civic Orchestra of Tucson on Saturday.
Saturday’s concert at Pima Community College’s Center for the Arts, 2202 W. Anklam Road on the PCC West Campus, will feature the 70-piece orchestra, under Music Director Keun Oh, performing works by Respighi, Ravel and Brahms.
Proceeds benefit the orchestra’s annual young artist competition, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. When it was launched in 1984, it was the only youth competition open to high school-age musicians. The competition expanded to encompass third through 12th grades and now has five categories — strings, piano, winds, percussion and harp. Students compete in the junior and senior divisions and an ensemble category for two to 10 players.
In addition to her COT win, 13-year-old Alexis placed second in the 2022 Bay Area Piano Competition and took first in that competition the following year. Last summer, she won First Prize and the No. 1 Exceptional Performer Award in the Charleston International 20th Century Music 2024 Competition.
Pianist Alexis Dyche will perform the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Saturday with the Civic Orchestra of Tucson.
Zhang has first-place wins in a number of competitions including Arizona State Music Teachers Association State Honors Recitals and Tucson Music Teachers Association Merit Scholarship Auditions. He recently performed Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Arizona Symphonic Winds and Edward MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra.
Saturday’s concert, which will include a live art auction during intermission, begins at 3 p.m. Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for students 18 and younger at the door.
To learn more about the nonprofit orchestra, which performs seven free concerts this season in Tucson and Southern Arizona, visit cotmusic.org.
