For Immediate Release

Contact : Patsy Fang Chen, Artistic Director

T. 718-834-8904, CP 917-912-8288

E-mail: patsychen@aol.com

YOUTH ORCHESTRA, CYCNY will present its 10^th Annual Christmas Concert, which is admission free and open to the public.

THE HOLIDAY EXPRESS Concert on

Saturday, December 8^th - 7:30pm at

Cardozo High School Auditorium

(57-00 223rd Street, Bayside, NY 11364)

Free Admission, Open to the Public, No ticket required

And

Christmas Concert at Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation,

Sunday, December 9, 10:30AM

(144-45 87th Avenue, Briarwood, NY 11435)

This concert is for patients and their families.

Dr. Jeffrey Liang, the Music Director & Conductor will lead more than 60 young musicians performing orchestral works of:

Bizet/ L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2,

Tchaikovsky/ Sleeping Beauty,

Rachmaninoff/ Vocalise for Cello & Orchestra, Christopher Chung, cello soloist

Wagner/ Cole Porter Suite,

Strommen/ There’s Christmas in the Ai,

Taiwanese Folk Tune/ Grasshopper & Rooster;

Taiwanese Popular Song: Moonlight Lute by Lai Su.

Information: T. 718-834-8904 or

www.YouthOrchestra.com

This project is made possible with the funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Art, administered by the Queens Council on the Arts.

The Youth Orchestra, CYCNY was founded in 1996, and incorporated in 1997 as a non-profit organization. It is a Queens based youth orchestra. The orchestra auditions new members each year in September; meets for rehearsal on each Saturday from 1-4 PM at MS 158 in Bayside from October to June under the Beacon Program; presents 2 formal concerts annually in December and June; performs communiy service at nursing homes; conduct concert tours to West Coast, Europe and Asia.

Our mission is to provide the orchestral and cultural experiences to talented and serious young music students age 11-21, with our unique repertories of Classical, Popular, Jazz, Fiilm, Broadway and Asian Music. Many of our members are new immigrants, they are eager to learn the music in the US. And some American-born 2^nd generation would like to know the music of their Asian heritage.

Christopher Chung, cellist

Mr. Christopher Chung, a native of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, began his musical studies in piano, violin and cello at the ages of five and nine. Following a successful musical career in high school, he attended the National Taiwan Normal University where he majored in cello and was awarded the Certificate of Music Education. In the United States, Mr. Chung studied under the tutelage of master cellist, Peter Wiley of the famed Guarneri Quartet at the prestigious Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, SUNY, where he received both his Bachelors and Masters Degree in Music.

In addition to his academic credentials, Mr. Chung has wide professional experience—encompassing conducting; teaching; symphonic orchestra and chamber performances; studio recording; and administration—including positions as Associate Principal Cellist of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra; Principal Cellist of the Yin-Qi Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Principal Cellist in the Yin-Qi Chamber Orchestra in Taiwan; and Cellist with the Chinese Community Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, New York Symphony Orchestra, and the Cellist in the Amadeus String Quartet. Teaching positions include Guang-Ren High School; Xi-Men Elementary School; and Guan-Du Christian College. In the United States Mr. Chung served as Music Director and cello and piano instructor at the Song of Songs Music School. In 2003, he served as Music Director and featured cellist for a world premiere of an original Chinese-language adaptation of A streetcar Named Desire at the Hwa-Sun Culture Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

Mr. Chung is currently teaching cello and piano at the Eastern School of Music, Amadeus School of Music and privately in Queens, Long Islands, and Westcheter areas. Mr. Chung also proud to serve as a string faculty of Youth Orchestra, CYCNY. Mr. Chung has long believed that music has the power to transform lives, to transcend cultures and languages, and to bring people together in important and lasting ways. It is for this reason that he has dedicated his future life towards inspiring a new generation of young musicians to pursue their dreams through the challenging and life-changing process of music education

Jeffrey Liang, conductor

Conductor and trombonist Dr. Jeffrey Liang was appointed as the new Music Director of Youth Orchestra CYCNY in September 2002. As the conductor of the orchestra since 1999, Mr. Liang has led the orchestra in many concerts throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Jeffrey Liang began his study of trombone at age sixteen. In 1994 he continued his instruction in the United States, first with Mr. Hal Janks then under the tutelage of Dr. Per Brevig at Manhattan School of Music. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Manhattan School of Music, he was awarded Charles H. Ditson Scholarship to Yale University School of Music to study trombone with Prof. John Swallow and conducting with Prof. Shinik Hahm. In May 2000, Mr. Liang received his master degree from Yale and was awarded a full scholarship to State University of New York at Stony Brook. Studied with Prof. Michael Powell, Mr. Liang also served as teaching assistant with Prof. Bruce Engel at the Stony Brook Wind Ensemble. In May 2002, Mr. Liang received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

As an active soloist, Mr. Liang has been featured with ensembles such as the Stony Brook Graduate Orchestra, Stony Brook Wind Ensemble, Shock Concert Band, and Taiwan National Yan-Min University Wind Ensemble. The highlight of Mr. Liang's solo appearance was performing De Meji's T-Bone Concerto in its Taiwan premiere with the Hualien United Wind Orchestra in August 2002. In July 1995, Mr. Liang was invited to play for President Lee of Taiwan with the Elite Brass Quintet. In November 1999, joined by pianist Joyce Lin, Mr. Liang gave a recital at Yale University in honor of the victims of the September 1999 earthquake that killed more than three thousand and left eighty thousand homeless.

As a dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Liang co-founded the Metropolitan Brass Quintet in 2000 and made the Weill Recital Hall debut on April 13, 2002. As aninternational artist, Mr. Liang has appeared on the stages of Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Dallas Meyerson Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Staller Center for the Arts, Singapore Victoria Hall, Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, as well as the National Concert Hall of Taiwan.

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