Kids Around the Bay

Zuill Bailey Brings Cello Magic to El Camino Youth

By Jeff Kaliss

Camilla Kolchinsky’s account of her collaboration with cellist Zuill Bailey is inflected with both her Russian origins and her enthusiasm at discovering a young virtuoso. “I just knew that he’s rising star,” says Maestra Kolchinsky about hearing Bailey on her car radio. “I listened how he played the Tchaikovsky Rococo, and it was fantastic! Very different from Rostropovich. But he opens new things in the piece, wonderful lines which have never been opened by another musician.”

Kolchinsky got to work with Rostropovich first-hand, while conducting as a young woman in Yaroslavl in her native land. And now she’s bringing Bailey to perform the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the teenaged members of her El Camino Youth Symphony, at the Flint Center in Cupertino this Friday.

“I decided that Glinka [the Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila] and Mussorgsky [a selection from Pictures From an Exhibition] would be good combination with Dvořák,” says Kolchinsky. Bailey will also offer a masterclass for cellists, among them ECYS’s 15-year-old Michael Chung, who hopes the virtuoso will show him how to weild the cello more substantially, because “I like to try to make it a little more bouncy and fluffy.”

Chung is particularly looking forward to partnering Bailey in the Dvořák Concerto. “It’s one of my top three concertos,” he says, because “there’s a lot of contrast, and it’s really deep and emotional. Every time I listen to it, I love it more.”

Becoming Young Snow White

By Trista Bernstein

Spring is a time for new beginnings — when the air is filled with excitement and anticipation for all the possibilities. For two local children, the sense of excitement could not be anymore present than it is right now.

Camilla Pedrosa and McKenna Lincoln are both students at Pamela Trokanski Dance Workshop in Davis.

This weekend they will share another title: Young Snow White.

Camilla and McKenna were selected to be young Snow White in the U.S. Premiere of Blanche Neige. The girls will share the stage with the French dance troupe Ballet Preljocaj.

This thought-provoking contemporary ballet is described as a grown-up retelling of Grimm’s fairy tale, with the dynamic story set to music by Gustav Mahler.

When asked what she was most excited about for the upcoming performance, McKenna said it was dancing in front of people. Is she nervous about anything? Her answer remained the same: dancing in front of people.

But she maintained that her nerves will not hamper her excitement or her love of dance. “I like that you get to express your feelings in dance. And show people how you feel.” Camilla seconded McKenna’s excitement.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity of dancing onstage with a famous company … I just love all the energy!”

Future Greats to Compete in Free Concerts

By Janos Gereben

Pacific Musical Society, which in its 102 years has supported youngsters such as Yehudi Menuhin, Ruggiero Ricci, and Leon Fleisher, will have the 2012 finals open to the public in a series of free concerts.

The venue is the San Francisco Conservatory’s Osher Salon, the date is March 25. Instrumentalists will perform from 9 a.m. to noon, pianists from noon to 3 p.m., and vocalists from 3 to 5 p.m. At stake: awards totaling more than $20,000 — all from private contributions.

Among the finalists is 10-year-old violinist Sean Takada, a student of Bettina Mussumeli in the San Francisco Conservatory Preparatory Division. He won first place in the Yehudi Menuhin–Helen Dowling Competition.

Takuda and his friends presented a benefit recital for Japan Earthquake Relief in Palo Alto last year and raised over $7,500. Sean plays in a competitive soccer club, and he is trilingual, in English, Japanese, and Spanish.

Instrumental judges on Sunday are Don Ehrlich, Ian Robertson, and Emil Miland; for pianists: Hang Li, Chia-Lin Yang, and Randall Benway; for singers: Karen Anderson, Roz Barak, and Robertson. These are the finalists:

INSTRUMENTAL (ages 18–21)
Yu Gong, 19, violin

INSTRUMENTAL (ages 14–17)
Sean Keegan, 14, guitar
Minku Lee, 15, cello
Michael Chung, 15, cello
Inga Liu, 16, violin
Yujin Ariza, 17, violin