The Verde Valley Sinfonietta with conductor Russell Fox will commemorate the close of its 10th anniversary celebration season with their perennial favorite Emerging Artist and Celebration concert, showcasing the prodigiously talented 15-year-old pianist, Samuel Xu, performing Gershwin’s famous “Rhapsody in Blue.”

The concert will take place Sunday, May 17, at 2:30 p.m. at the Sedona Performing Arts Center.

In addition, the Sinfonietta will feature performances from two guest artists — violinist Moshe Bukshpan and Sedona’s Rosemary Chavez, soprano. Bukshpan will perform Beethoven’s “Romance No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50” for violin and orchestra. Chavez will sing the “Vocalise for Soprano and Orchestra, Op. 34, No. 14,” by Rachmaninoff.

Xu hails from Chandler and attends Arizona Virtual Academy. He started learning piano at age 6 from his mother, Hong Zhu, and currently studies piano with his father, Fei Xu.

Samuel Xu was Arizona’s first-prize winner of the 2013 MTNA Junior Piano Competition. His other piano achievements include winning top prizes in competitions such as the Arizona Young Artist Piano Competition, the Steinway Avanti Star Piano Competition and the Arizona MusicFest Competition. He also frequently performs in recitals and concerts. Recently, he was a featured pianist in the Young Artist Series sponsored by the MusicaNova Orchestra of Arizona. He is also one of the few young artists who played at the Music Instrument Museum concert sponsored by the Arizona Musicfest.

Fei Xu is an internationally recognized teacher of award-winning students in national and international competitions. Another of his students, Anna Han, has been featured soloist with the Sinfonietta in recent years and was a semifinalist this year in the International Chopin Competition.

Bukshpan began his violin studies at the age of 8 with llona Feher. During these early years, Bukshpan performed with Shlomo Mintz, and was a featured guest artist on Israeli TV at the age of 11. In 1973, he participated in a seminar under the guidance of Isaac Stern, Pablo Casals and Alexander Schnider.

In 1976, he came to the United States and studied with Shmuel Ashkenasi of the Vermeer Quartet. He received his master’s degree in Violin Performance from Northern Illinois University, and studied with Raphael Bronstein and Dorothy Delay. Bukshpan has performed in the Aspen and Colorado Music Festivals. He is the founder and executive director of the Red Rocks Music Festival. He performs throughout the Valley and Sedona with various ensembles.

Chavez’s captivating vocals have been delighting audiences for years. A recent article stated: “Whenever she is performing, Chavez likes to have a relationship with each person in her audience. She makes everyone feel special when listening to her warm, rich, supple voice and watch this lovely, joyful, commanding singer …. Whether she is singing swing, jazzy bossa nova, dreamy ballads, a taunting bolero, soft rock ’n’ roll or soulful R&B, Chavez does it all with sassy spirit, tender heart and consummate musicianship.”

The concert also offers exciting orchestral repertoire with the “Overture to Donna Diana” by Emil von Reznicek, and the “Symphony No. 5 in D major, Op. 107,” “Reformation,” by Felix Mendelssohn. The Mendelssohn, Gershwin and Resnicek make use of an expanded orchestra brought together especially for this celebratory concert.

The “Rhapsody in Blue” with Samuel Xu as soloist will close the concert. The style is a departure for the Sinfonietta as this music was written in 1924 and is a merging of jazz and symphonic melodies and techniques. “Rhapsody in Blue” remains a standard in symphonic repertoires and its melodies have graced stages around the world.

The Emerging Artist and Celebration concert will be performed at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, located at the Sedona Red Rock High School Campus, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road.
Reserved seats are $45 and must be purchased before Friday, May 15, by calling the Sinfonietta voice mail at 282-3066. General admission tickets for adults are $20 at the door and $18 if purchased in advance. Students with current student ID are just $10. Children aged 18 and under are free of charge when accompanied by a paying adult. General admission tickets can be purchased in advance at Bashas’ in West Sedona and Weber’s IGA in the Village of Oak Creek.

Visit the VV Sinfonietta website for more information.

To find more events throughout the week, pick up this week’s the Scene.