Young Artist Concerto Competition

Feb. 22 update: Due to the school closings in Middleton, the MCO's concert scheduled for Wednesday February 22, has been rescheduled to Saturday, March 4, at 2 pm. The concert will take place at the Middleton PAC. 

Middleton Community Orchestra hosts this competition that offers young musicians the opportunity to solo with an orchestra. Originally open to all high school students in Dane County, three winners were chosen last month: Ellen Zhou, violin; Kaitlyn McIntosh, viola; and Angelina Chang, piano. They will play selections from Sibelius, Walton and Chopin, respectively. This is a great chance to support young talent. Tickets available at Willy Street Co-op West or at the door.

media release: The Middleton Community Orchestra's second annual Young Artist Concerto Competition performance will take place at the Middleton PAC at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, February 22. The competition, which was open to all high school students in Dane County, is intended to create yet another opportunity for young musicians to solo with an orchestra. The three winners were chosen last month and we are very excited to showcase them in a few weeks in collaboration with the MCO. 

You can see by the repertoire listed below that this event will be a showcase of extraordinary playing by talented and hard-working young musicians. 

Ellen Zhou (violin):  Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 - Allegro moderato

Kaitlyn McIntosh (viola): Walton Viola Concerto - Andante comodo

Angelina Chang (piano): Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 -Rondo

Join us in welcoming these artists to the stage and supporting your community's musicians. Ellen and Kaitlyn are seniors at Middleton High School. Angelina is a freshman at West High School.

Tickets are available at Willy Street Co-op West and at the door. Students can get tickets at the door only on the night of the show. Box office opens at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.

More on the soloists:  

Kaitlyn McIntosh is a senior at Middleton High School. At the age of five, she started studying the violin with Laura Mericle. In 2019, under the guidance of Ms. Mericle, Kaitlyn began studying the viola.

In 2014, Kaitlyn joined the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO). This marks her fifth and final year in Youth Orchestra. In addition to playing with the full orchestra, she enjoys performing in WYSO string quartets and in the WYSO chamber orchestra.

Outside of WYSO, Kaitlyn has attended Interlochen Arts Camp and the Northern Lights Chamber Music Institute. Last year at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Stars of Tomorrow Competition, she received Honorable Mention and played side-by-side with the MSO in May.

Kaitlyn is a member of her school’s National Honors Society, an AP Psychology tutor, and the vice president of the Chinese Language and Culture Club. Next fall, Kaitlyn will attend the University of Rochester, where she plans to study Neuroscience and Music Cognition, while continuing viola performance.

Kaitlyn would like to thank her family, Laura Mericle, Kyle Knox, and the WYSO Staff for their guidance and support.

Angelina Chang, piano  

Angelina Chang is a 9th grader at Madison West High School. She has been playing piano since she was four. She studies piano with Julie Chang and Kangwoo Jin, and previously studied with Lina Lee and Jung Won Lim. Vincent Fuh has been her piano accompanist since 2019. Angelina was a winner of her age group in the Sonatina Festival in 2016, 2018, and 2020. She was a winner in the junior group at the Honors Recital of Madison Area Music Educators (MAME) in 2019-2022 and was invited to perform at a masterclass with Diana Shapiro in 2019 and Kaju Lee in 2022. As the winner of the 2021 Fall Youth Concerto Competition, Angelina played in public with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in June 2022. She attended the International Summer Academy of the Mozart University, Salzburg, Austria and studied with Andreas Webber in August 2022. She received Honorable Mention in the Piano/Harp Senior Group of the 2022 Walgreens National Concerto Competition. As the winner of the 2022 Wisconsin Youth Piano Concerto Competition, Angelina will play with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in a series of concerts in February 2023.

In addition to playing piano, Angelina is a member of the Madison West Dance Team. She also enjoys ice skating and representing girls in state/national math competitions. She has been a recipient of Maryam Mirzakhani AMC 10A Certificate of Excellence (top 5 girls in Wisconsin) since 2021 and is qualified for American Invitational Mathematics Examination in 2023.

Ellen Zhou, violin  

Ellen Zhou, 17, is a violinist from Middleton, Wisconsin. She started the violin at 5 years old and currently studies with Almita Vamos. Ellen is a merit fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college musicians. Ellen has also been a member of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras for nine years. Ellen has appeared as a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Other solo performances include the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Interlochen Symphony Orchestra, and the Middleton High School Symphony Orchestra.

Ellen has received first prize in the 2022 Bolz Young Artist Competition, the Milwaukee Symphony’s 2021 Stars of Tomorrow Concerto Competition, and the 2019 Interlochen Intermediate Concerto Competition, among others. In addition, she was a junior quarterfinalist in the 2022 Fischoff National Chamber Competition and received an honorable mention in the 2022 Chicago National Chamber Music Competition.

During the summer, Ellen has attended the University of Michigan’s Center Stage Strings, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, Curtis Young Artist Summer Program, and the Interlochen Arts Camp. Recent masterclasses include Robert Lipsett, David Perry, Alexander Kerr, Elmar Oliveira, and Ray Chen.

In addition to fostering her passion for music, Ellen enjoys downhill skiing and playing with her beloved dog, Sadie.

Christopher Ramaekers, conductor

Full program:

Macura: An Unquiet Overture

Elgar: “The Wild Bears” from The Wand of Youth Suite No. 2, Op. 1b

Walton: Viola Concerto - I. Allegro comodo, featuring Kaitlyn McIntosh

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 - III. Rondo, featuring Angelina Chang

Sibelius: Violin concerto in D minor, Op. 47 - I. Allegro Moderato, featuring Ellen Zho

Dvořák: Carnival Overture