Student musicians in the spotlight at next USC Symphony Orchestra concert

See tomorrow’s musical leaders in action as outstanding students of the University of South Carolina School of Music shine in the next USC Symphony Orchestra concert. The first half of the March 13 concert showcases winners of the orchestra’s concerto-aria competition and student conductors performing works spanning four centuries by Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms and Ibert.

After intermission orchestra music director Donald Portnoy will conduct Bizet’s Symphony in C.

Students in the spotlight are from around the U.S. as well as South America and Asia.

Nové Deypalan

The concert opens with “Overture to Egmont” written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1810. Conducting will be Nove Deypalan who in February conducted the world premiere of “Dream of a Hundred Flowers” by Fang Man at Carnegie Hall. Deypalan, a native of the Philippines, studied at the University of the Philippines College of Music and was composer and conductor at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.  A doctoral student in conducting, Deypalan holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern California.

The work was a commission for a production of Goethe’s tragedy “Egmont.” The composer waived his fee “merely for love of the poet.”

Blair Francis

Paula Anne Ulicsni will conduct the third movement of the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by Jacques Ibert, with soloist Blair Francis. Francis, principal flutist of the orchestra, is a senior performance major and the 2011 Presser Scholar.  She has been an award winner in the Florida Flute Association College Young Artist Competition, the South Carolina Flute Society’s Young Artist Competition and the National Flute Association Masterclass Performers Competition.

Paula Anne Ulicsni

Ulicsni is pursuing a master’s degree in instrumental conducting. She has been assistant conductor of Opera at USC, participated in the 2010 and 2011 Conductors Institute of South Carolina and conducted for in the 2010 concerto-aria Competition concert. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The third movement of the 1934 concerto immediately became a test piece at the Paris Conservatory, in part due to its difficulty; for the same reason 20 years passed before it became a frequent concert choice.

Robert Brown conducts Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Major, first movement, with soloist Oswaldo Zapata.

Oswaldo Zapata

Zapata is from Colombia, South America, where he earned a music performance degree from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. In 2000 he began studying in his native country with James Ackley, who is now on the School of Music faculty, and in 2008 he came to USC to continue working with Ackley. Zapata is pursuing a master’s degree in music performance.

Robert Brown

Brown, a master’s degree student in orchestral conducting, received a bachelor’s degree from Moravian College in Pennsylvania where he performed in various ensembles as a saxophonist, served as student director for the Moravian College BIG Band and organized and conducted a full performance of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale.”

The Trumpet Concerto, written in 1796, is the one of the first important works written for the recently-invented keyed trumpet.

Yi Yang

Yi Yang will lead the orchestra and Ying-Li Pan will be soloist for the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D Major by Johannes Brahms. Yi Yang studied conducting at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, and has conducted at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Central Conservatory. Yi Yang won First Prize at the Conducting Competition and Best Conductor Prize at the Beijing International Band Festival and the China High-Class Amateur Band Festival.

Ying-Li Pan

A native of Taiwan, Ying-Li Pan is pursuing her master’s degree in performance. She holds the positions of concertmaster with the USC Chamber Orchestra and associate concertmaster with the Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of National Taiwan Normal University, she toured with the Normal University Symphony Orchestra and Asia Youth Orchestra throughout Asia, Australia and the U.S.

The 1878 work is the only violin concerto by the composer. He wrote the work for his lifelong friend violinist Joseph Joachim.

Donald Portnoy

Maestro Portnoy will take the podium to conduct Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C. Bizet wrote the symphony, his only one, when he was 17. The Symphony in C was not discovered until decades after the composer’s death in 1875, with its first performance given in 1935.

The USC Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 13. Koger Center for the Arts. Tickets are $25; $20 for USC faculty and staff and seniors, $8 for students. Call (803) 251-2222 or go to capitoltickets.com

(To arrange interviews with any of the participants, please contact the USC Symphony Orchestra at 803-777-7500.)