Opus 24
Friday, May 29, 2009, 7:30 pm - Flier
Camarillo Methodist Church, 291 Anacapa Drive, Camarillo, CA 93010
Sunday May 31, 4:00 pm Pre-concert dinner at Fiamme Ristorante - Flier
Sunday, May 31, 7:00 pm Opus 24 Concert - Flier
Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Scherr Forum Theatre, 2100 East Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
Performers and Their Pieces
Soloists: Michael Aspinwall, Alec Cheng, Joshua Hong, Vivian Rotenstein, Jared Shull, Heidy Wang and Victoria Wang
Program:
Overture- Mendelssohn: "Hebrides" Overture
Alec Cheng Bach Violin Concerto in E Major Victoria Wang Mozart Piano Concerto K 459 Michael Aspinwall Tchaikowsky Concerto #1 Jared Shull Mozart Horn Concerto #2 Vivian Rotenstein Beethoven Piano Concerto #1 Heidy Wang Saint-Saens Piano Concerto #2 Joshua Hong Rachmaninoff Concerto #1
The Thousand Oaks Philharmonic - Opus 24 Concert will be conducted by Richard Rintoul
Richard Rintoul (DMA in Conducting, UCLA; MM in Orchestral Conducting, USC; BFA in Viola Performance, Cal Arts) conducts the orchestra and teaches conducting at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also the founding conductor of the Orchestra da Camera at the Colburn School of Performing Arts (Los Angeles) since 1987. Dr. Rintoul founded and for nine seasons conducted the Colburn Chamber Orchestra, with which he toured England & California, did national radio & television broadcasts (winning an Emmy in 1994) and recorded a well-reviewed CD, currently in international release. He spent a decade as the Director of Orchestral Activities and Director of Strings at California State University, Long Beach. There he founded the Studio Orchestra and taught advanced and graduate level conducting as well as directing the string chamber music program. He helped build the Pasadena Young Musician’s Orchestra, the Glendale Youth Orchestra and the Crossroads School Music Department (Santa Monica) into strong organizations. As a choir director, Dr. Rintoul served three southland churches for nineteen years. He was conductor of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Youth Symphony (Idyllwild, California) for eighteen seasons and for two summers, he conducted the Interlochen Philharmonic at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.
His educational guest conducting includes work with student Honor Orchestras and High School Ensembles in a dozen states. Professionally, Dr. Rintoul has conducted the San Diego Symphony, the Downey Symphony, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, the Inland Empire Orchestra, and recording sessions for episodes of Star Trek “Enterprise” and the “Medal of Honor” video game series among a variety of projects. He has conducted productions of “the Medium,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” “The Daughter of the Regiment” and opera galas at CSULB. Additional operatic conducting credits are for “The Mikado,” “HMS Pinafore” and “Trial By Jury” with Opera a la Carte, the world premiere and subsequent performances of “Monticello” for radio station KCRW and a stint as chorus master for the Long Beach Opera. Dr. Rintoul has also been filmed conducting much of the standard orchestral repertoire for IVASI Systems’ “Video Conductor” DVD training materials. Having played viola professionally on hundreds of film soundtracks, he remains active in the recording industry. This is his second appearance with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic.
Alec Cheng, now 11, has studied violin with Shu-Wei Liu since age six. His love for violin began with a short encounter with a 
String Trio on a street in Santa Monica when he was only two. After attending Mr. Cho-Liang Lin’s concert at age 6, Alec had his first childhood dream, which was to become a violinist. Alec enjoys performing music and has been a winner in many events, including 1st place in 2008 Conejo Valley MTAC Concerto Competition, 1st runner-up in 2007 Conejo Valley MTAC Concerto Competition, and winner in 2008 Conejo Valley MTAC VOCE competition. He has won numerous competitions in the Southwestern Youth Music Festivals as well, including: 1st place in the Open Baroque and 3rd place in Open Classical categories in 2008; 1st place in Violin Qualified Baroque, 2nd place in Open Duo, and 3rd place in Violin Qualified Classical in 2007; 2nd place and 3rd place respectively in Violin Qualified in 2006 and 2005. In addition to violin, Alec enjoys running and tennis, and he loves school.
Victoria Wang, 12, is a 7th grader at Lindero Canyon Middle School. She started piano lessons at age four in Maryland. Upon 
moving to California, she studied with Christine Chow for two years, and since 2005, has been a student of Ornela Ervin. She was a gold medalist in the Conejo Valley Music Teachers’ Association of California Contemporary Music Festival for the last four years. Additionally, she was featured in Santa Barbara Bach Showcase after winning branch and regional competitions in the Southern California Junior Bach Festival. Victoria participates in the MTAC Certificate of Merit syllabus examinations, and this year, passed Level 8 with honors. She was the winner of 2008 Conejo Valley MTAC Concerto Competition in the piano category for 14 –and-under age group and was awarded with scholarship to perform with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic. At school, she is an honors GATE student and keeps busy even on Saturdays by attending Chinese school. In addition to school and piano, Victoria plays viola and is a member of the Conejo Valley Preparatory Orchestra. Her hobbies include watching Anime, playing games, reading, drawing, and writing. She is excited to be a featured soloist with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, especially since she will be performing in the same program featuring her older sister, Heidy Wang.
Michael Aspinwall, 15, is a freshman at Calabasas High School. He has been studying classical piano for eight years and has been a pupil of Edward Francis for three years. Tonight is Michael’s second appearance as a featured soloist with the 
Thousand Oaks Philharmonic; he played the Grieg Concerto in Opus 22 concert in August 2008. Michael recently was invited to participate in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artists Piano Program this summer. Last year, Michael was a gold medal winner in the Conejo Valley MTAC Contemporary Festival as well as a winner in the Southern California Junior Bach Festival. Twice he received honors in the MTAC Certificate of Merit syllabus examination, the second honors in the Advanced Level. Furthermore, he is in the Honors Piano Seminar at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. In addition to his classical pursuits, Michael studies jazz piano with Tod Cooper and currently plays in the Calabasas High School Jazz “A” Band. The jazz band recently performed in New York at Lincoln Center in the Essentially Ellington competition. In his free time, Michael enjoys reading and politics, and of course, listening to the music of his favorite classical composers, especially Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.
Jared Shull, 14, is a freshman at Calabasas High School where he is co-principal French horn player in the Wind Ensemble. He has been studying French horn with Jon Titmus since sixth grade. In eighth grade at A.C. Stelle Middle School, he won the 
Director’s Award for outstanding soloist, the award for Outstanding Band Member, and the music department’s Outstanding Achievement Award. He received superior ratings from the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association Solo and Ensemble Festival two years in a row. In 2008 and 2009, he was selected to perform in the California Band Directors Association (CBDA) All-State Honor Band. He was awarded a merit scholarship by CBDA to attend Cazadero Performing Arts Camp this summer. He currently plays with the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra, including its Brass Quintet, and the CSUN Youth Philharmonic, with which he performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall this past March. In the summer of 2008, he had the opportunity to be a member of the Moorpark Symphony Orchestra. In addition to being an honor student at school, he is on both the water polo and swim teams. In his spare time, Jared enjoys riding horses and is training to volunteer with Ride On, a horseback riding therapy program for persons with disabilities.
Vivian Rotenstein, 15, has been studying piano since the age of five. She studied with Gloria Hilliard and currently studies with Edward Francis. She was a gold medalist in the Conejo Valley MTAC Contemporary Music Festival numerous times and was a 
winner in the branch and regional competitions in Southern California Junior Bach Festival, which led to performance at the Santa Barbara Bach Showcase. Vivian was invited to participate in the Colburn School of Music Honors Piano Performance Seminar program and was a scholarship recipient from the Léni Fé Bland Foundation. She was a soloist with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic twice before, in the Opus 15 and Opus 18 concerts, performing Mozart’s Concerto No. 12 in A Major, and J.C Bach’s Concerto No. 2. In middle school, Vivian was a recipient of the Marian Huhn Award. Currently a freshman at Oak Park High, she is a member of her high school’s Mock Trial team, Junior Statesmen of America chapter, Beginning Peer Counseling program, Key Club, and ASB. As a volunteer at the Agoura Hills Library, and as a part of the Teen Friends of the Library, she provides computer instruction to older adults. Vivian enjoys ballet and modern dance and has been a part of the Nutcracker production with the Pacific Festival Ballet Company every year since 2004. She enjoys reading, listening to music, running, playing with her dog Bisou, and spending time with her friends.
Heidy Wang, 16, is a junior at Agoura High School. She has been playing piano since the age of 6, studying with Edward Francis since 2003. She has been a gold medalist in the Conejo Valley MTAC Contemporary Music Festival for the past six years. 
Additionally, as a result of winning branch and regional competitions in Southern California Junior Bach Festival, she performed in Santa Barbara Bach Showcases. Heidy was also invited to participate in the Honors Piano Seminar classes at the Colburn School of Performing Arts for the past three years. Heidy participates in the MTAC Certificate of Merit syllabus examinations, and this year, she passed Advanced Level with honors. Her advanced level has allowed her to audition for Panel in the Certificate of Merit as well as compete in the Los Angeles Spotlight Awards. She has won scholarships from the Léni Fé Bland Foundation at the Santa Barbara Academy of the West. When she is not occupied with academic activities, she enjoys drawing, reading and spending quality time with her family and friends. This is Heidy’s second performance with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, the first being in 2007 for Opus 17 in which she played the Shostakovich Concerto No.2. She is very happy to have the opportunity to play with her younger sister, Victoria Wang, in the same program.
Joshua Hong has been studying piano for fourteen years, the past 8 years with Edward Francis. He is also pursuing a performance degree in violin at The Juilliard School in New York where he studies with Masao Kawasaki. His previous violin 
teachers include Shu-Wei Liu, Joyce Osborn and Maurice Sklar. He has won numerous awards for his musical performances on both instruments. He has received many scholarships from the Léni Fé Bland Foundation in Santa Barbara and passed the advanced levels with both instruments in the MTAC Certificate of Merit syllabus examinations, reaching the highest level - Young Artist Guild - with violin. As a pianist, he has won numerous Southern California Junior Bach Festivals and Conejo Valley MTAC Contemporary Music Festivals and performed the Grieg Piano Concerto as a soloist in 2004 with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic. He also performed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with Ventura College Community Orchestra in 2005, returning to play Bach’s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto in 2008. Joshua was featured both in the “Rising Stars” of the Ventura Music Festival and High School Honors Piano Seminar at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. He has played for, among others, Jon Kimura Parker, Jerome Lowenthal, John Perry, and Gerald Robbins. As violinist, he has appeared with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, the New West Symphony (as a Discovery Artist) and the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra, in which he served as concertmaster. He devotes most of his time to the violin but continues to study piano whenever possible.