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from Young Concert Artists, Inc.

August 4, 2006

2006-2007 YOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS SERIES PRESENTS FIVE EVENTS
Series includes a harpist, two pianists, and two string quartets

August 4, 2006 – The Young Concert Artists Series is proud to present the Washington, DC debuts of five winners of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.  All concerts will take place in the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater.

The 2006-2007 Season opens on Sunday, November 12 with the debut of 22-year-old French harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, who won the Gold Medal at the 2004 USA International Harp Competition in Bloomington, Indiana.  He has just been chosen as principal harpist of the Paris Opera Orchestra.  Mr. Ceysson’s debut will include the premiere of Suite Sylvanesque by YCA Composer-in-Residence Benjamin C.S. Boyle.

Next in the Series will be the Washington, DC debut of 18-year-old French pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuburger on Monday, December 4.  Mr. Neuburger has recently released his second recording of Chopin works on the DiscAuvers label.  Le Journal (France) says he “is already one of the great pianists, and all that is needed is for him to become known.”

The Amedeo Modigliani Quartet will make its Washington, DC debut on Tuesday, February 20.  The French quartet (Philippe Bernhard and Loïc Rio, violinists, Laurent Marfaing, violist, and François Keiffer, cellist) won first prize at the 2004 TROMP International String Quartet Competition in the Netherlands, its first international competition.  Nice-Martin (France) writes “These four young musicians are already great.”

The Jupiter String Quartet’s Kennedy Center debut will take place on Tuesday, March 6.  The Quartet (Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violinists, Liz Freivogel, violist, and Daniel McDonough, cellist) won both the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition and the 2004 Fischoff National String Quartet Competition.  “One of the strongest young string quartets in the country,” wrote The New York Sun.

The season will close with the Washington, DC debut of 25-year-old Chinese pianist Chu-Fang Huang.  First Prize Winner of 2005 Cleveland International Piano Competition and a finalist in the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas, Ms. Huang possesses “Clarity, poise and dead-on technique,” wrote The Birmingham News.

Young Concert Artists of Washington is a branch of Young Concert Artists, Inc, a non-profit organization in Washington and New York, which presents the winners of its annual Auditions in debut concerts and also provides extensive management services to start the careers of exceptional young musicians.

Support for the debuts of Messrs. Ceysson, Neuburger, and the Amedeo Modigliani Quartet generously provided by the Florence J. Gould Foundation.  This Series is also supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

YOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS, Inc. PRESS CONTACT: Sam Clapp, Publicity Associate
Telephone: (212) 307-6655 ext. 201  E-mail: sam@yca.org World Wide Web: www.yca.org