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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, April 21, 2002

Orchestra showcase puts youngsters in spotlight

By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer

 •  Hawaii Youth Talent Showcase

7:30 p.m. Saturday

Blaisdell Concert Hall

$13 for adults, $5 for students

792-2000

Laura Keller was barely out of diapers when she learned how to play the violin. The 13-year-old musician recalls how she was just 3 when she began violin lessons in preschool.

The early start evidently paid off. Keller is one of eight winners of the Hawaii Concerto Competition, which recognizes the most talented school-age orchestral musicians in the state. They will perform with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra at the Hawaii Youth Talent Showcase Saturday at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

All the winners share a similar interest and passion for music that goes back to early childhood.

"Music is a way of expressing yourself," Keller said, "and I just like being able to captivate an audience with my music."

Landing a slot in the concert is "really an honor," said 15-year-old pianist Clint Okayama, who added that he thinks the experience will be "fantastic."

The other winners are cellist Matthew Bow, 18; percussionist Marcus Kunishima, 17; violinist Thomas Lee, 15; and pianists Chase Kurokawa, 12, Yohsuke Miyamoto, 15, and Eric Wu, 11. All are students of Punahou School, except Kunishima, who attends Castle High School.

For Wu, who started playing at age 6, years of lessons, hours of practice every week and even "sacrificing" one of his favorite sports, baseball, have been worthwhile, he said.

"I learned that hard work really pays off," Wu said. "It really does."

Kurokawa finds that playing music is a way to escape from his preteen worries.

"I enjoy playing piano because it's like, I can just get away and not think of anything else," he said.

The Honolulu Symphony Associates holds the annual youth competition for local music students in elementary school through high school. These students study and perform a classical concerto for the chance to play with the orchestra. The competition in March 2001 attracted more than 60 students statewide.

Although Kunishima evidently impressed the judges, he said he initially had some doubts about how he might do in the competition. "I only started preparing my concerto three weeks prior to the event," he said.

Stuart Chafetz, the guest conductor for the Saturday concert, has never met the young winners, but he is familiar with the tough competition because he has judged at past contests.

"If they passed through this rigorous process, then they're extremely talented," said Chafetz, also music director and conductor for the Maui Symphony Orchestra. "They're all going to be excellent."

The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra will accompany each student in his or her concerto recital, each about 10 minutes long. The concert is the only performance during the orchestra's season that showcases Hawai'i's up-and-coming musicians.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Lee said. "I just want to give (the audience) an experience that they won't forget."