June 1, 2014
Spring Concert

"A CONCERTO EXTRAVAGANZA"

Featuring
7th Young Artists Concerto Competition Winners

Crystal Chiu, 13-year-old pianist
Matthew Eng, 16-year-old pianist

Katie Liu, 15-year-old violinist
Martin Long, 12-year-old pianist

Program
Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream
Mozart Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, K.271
Mozart Piano Concerto in D minor, K.466
Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor
Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor

Return to 2013-14 Season


The Bravura Philharmonic gets ready to play its final concert of the season!

Our youngest West Windsor Award winner,
Martin Long

Pianist Matthew Eng takes a bow

Maestra Lin and Crystal Chiu in
intense collaboration

Katie Liu plays a soulful Sibelius cadenza

Competition chairperson Ellen Fisher-Deerberg leads the awards ceremony

Maestra Lin and Crystal Chiu receive flowers from their many admirers

Maestra Lin, Trustee Saverio Greco, Jim Huang of the Kai Yue Foundation, Bravura president Myrna Reiter, and competition chairpersons Wendy Wu and Ellen Fisher-Deerberg with the winners


Crystal Chiu, age 13, is an eighth grader at Marlboro Middle School.  Crystal is a student of Chiu-Tze Lin.  Her former teachers were Ingrid Clarfield and Helen Wang. Crystal won 1st prize in the New Jersey Music Teachers Association (NJMTA) Young Musicians Competition four times.  She also performed in Carnegie Zankel Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall as a winner of the National League of Performing Arts, Cecilian Music Club and Golden Key Music Festival competitions.  Crystal Chiu also won the silver prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition in Connecticut.  Crystal Chiu is also an accomplished young actress.  She has appeared on Sesame Street alongside First Lady Michelle Obama, in episodes of 30 Rock and White Collar, and the 2009 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Crystal has also received a Special Jury Prize at the Asian Pacific Film Festival for her leading role in the movie Children of Invention. Crystal also performed in various charity performances such as “Children Helping Children”, “Malaria No More”, as well as at nursing homes.  Crystal is active in school activities. She accompanies the school choruses, jazz band. Crystal also plays the violin, and plays in the NJMEA Regional and All-State Intermediate Orchestras.

Matthew Eng is a 16 year piano student of Veda Zuponcic. He is an active participant in international, national, and local piano competitions. In addition to being a gold medal winner of Bravura Concerto Competition, he recently won Honorable Mention in Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2014 Greenfield Concerto competition. He has won the 1st prizes at the Osaka International Music Competition in Japan and the Feurich Prize Mozarteum Music Festival in Salzburg, Austria.  The awards resulted in his performance in Kaisersaal Hall in Vienna, Austria. Matthew also won first place in the International Young Artists Piano Competition, the Greater Princeton Steinway Society Piano Competition, and the New Jersey Music Teachers Association (NJMTA) Young Musician Competition. In addition to piano, he plays violin and currently plays in the Philadelphia Sinfonia youth orchestra in Philadelphia. For 2012-13, he was the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Sinfonia Players. He has participated in Temple University’s Gifed Children’s Program, was the concertmaster of the Baroque Orchestra in 2010-11, and concertmaster of the Children’s Orchestra previously. He is currently a sophomore at Moorestown High School and plays saxophone in the Honors Jazz Band.

Katie Liu is a sophomore at Mount Olive High School and began playing the violin and piano at age five. She has won first prize in numerous competitions, including the American String Teachers Association of New Jersey Solo Strings Competition, New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Musicians Competition, Summit Symphony Young Artists Concerto Competition, Adelphi Orchestra Young Artists Competition, New Jersey Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, and the Bravura Young Artist Concerto Competition. Katie enjoys playing chamber music with her string quartet and served as concertmaster of the All-North Jersey High School Symphonic Orchestra. Katie studies with Duoming Ba of the New York Philharmonic. Aside from playing the violin, Katie participates in her school debate club, math league, track team and science league, and she enjoys working on calculus in her spare time. A straight-A student, Katie continues to find creative ways to balance her many interests and schoolwork along with practicing the violin. She aims to understand music better through collaboration with her peers. She strives to be a good musician not only as a soloist, but also within an ensemble, learning to listen and communicate with others.

Martin Long, 12 years old, is a 7th grader at Community Middle School from West Windsor. He started piano at age 8 and studied with Grace Yang for 2 years. He is currently a student of Dr. Chiu-Ling Lin. His accolades include awards from Music Fest, Golden Key, Steinway Society, and NJMTA Composer Commission Competitions. He is the 2014 West Windsor Award winner of the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra¹s Concerto Competition. Martin participated in the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) theory and practical exams, getting all Distinctions. He earned the highest score of the Grade 6 practical exam in the Tri-State area in Spring 2013 and received perfect score in Grade 3 theory. He is also actively involved in tennis, jazz band, the future problem solving program, and A&E (Accelerated and Enriched) in school.