YOUTH ORCHESTRA, CYCNY

86-30 188^TH Street, Jamaica Estates, New York 11423

Tel. 718-834-8904, 454-7181 Fax 718-246-0161, 454-8035

www.youthorchestra.com e-mail: youthorch8@aol.com

For Immediate Release

Contact: Patsy Chen 718- 834-8904

patsychen@aol.com

YOUTH ORCHESTRA, CYCNY is presenting the “2004 Holiday Concert: Christmas Magic” on Saturday, December 18, 7:30PM at Marie Curie Middle School Auditorium, located at 46-35 Oceania Street in Bayside, Queens. It opens to the general public and the admission is free. This is the traditional free holiday concert offered by YOUTH ORCHESTRA, CYCNY to the Queens community since 1998. About 60 young musicians age 12-22 will be lead by the music director, Dr. Jeffrey Liang, for a full-length concert performing orchestral music of the Classical, Popular, Film and Asian Folk Tunes.

Program including:

Lowden/Disney Magic

Anderson/Sleigh Ride

Brahms/Academic Festival Overture

Beethoven/Turkish March

Bach:/Sleepers Wake

Taiwanese Folksong/Peach Blossom

Asian Popular Song/When Will You Be Back

Chinese Folksong/Kang-Ding Love Song

And the Percussion Ensemble Group directed by Victoria I-Ju Chang will perform

Rimsky-Korsakov/Capriccio Espagnol

For more information, please contact Patsy Chen at 718-834-8904 or visit www.youthorchestra.com.

The YOUTH ORCHESTRA, CYCNY is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995. It has been under the Beacon Program sponsored by the Samuel Field YM and YWHA since 1997.

The purpose of YOUTH ORCHESTRA, CYCNY is to serve the young and talented music students, age 12 to 22 living in Queens, who could have the chance and experience in rehearsing and performing the orchestral music of Classical, Folk Tune, Broadway and Film, as well as being great team workers.

The activities that YOC offers are: 1 Weekly rehearsal on Saturday from 1-4PM, at MS. 158 in Bayside Queens, during the school year. 2. Annual Free Holiday Concert in Queens. 3. Annual Spring Concert at major concert hall. 4. Performing concerts at nursing homes, hospitals, charity occasions and community centers in Queens.

On Thursday, December 16 at noon, the faculty members of YOUTH ORCHESTRA, CYCNY, Liling Hung/Violin, Kenneth Chia/Flute and Joyce Lin/Piano will perform in the Outreach Program of New York Hospital Queens. And on Sunday, December 19 at 10:30AM, all the members of the orchestra will perform at The Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

“These two concerts on December 16 at New York Hospital Queens, and on December 19 at The Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, are made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administrated by Queens Council on the Arts.”

Jeffrey Liang, Music Director & Conductor

Conductor and trombonist Dr. Jeffrey Liang was appointed as the new Music Director of Youth Orchestra CYCNY in September 2002. As the conductor of the orchestra since 1999, Mr. Liang has led the orchestra in many concerts throughout the United States and Taiwan. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Jeffrey Liang began his study of trombone at age sixteen. In 1994 he continued his instruction in the United States, first with Mr. Hal Janks then under the tutelage of Dr. Per Brevig at Manhattan School of Music. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Manhattan School of Music, he was awarded Charles H. Ditson Scholarship to Yale University School of Music to study trombone with Prof. John Swallow and conducting with Prof. Shinik Hahm. In May 2000, Mr. Liang received his master degree from Yale and was awarded a full scholarship to State University of New York at Stony Brook. Studied with Prof. Michael Powell, Mr. Liang also served as teaching assistant with Prof. Bruce Engel at the Stony Brook Wind Ensemble. In May 2002, Mr. Liang received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

As an active soloist, Mr. Liang has been featured with ensembles such as the Stony Brook Graduate Orchestra, Stony Brook Wind Ensemble, Shock Concert Band, and Taiwan National Yan-Min University Wind Ensemble. The highlight of Mr. Liang's solo appearance was performing De Meji's "T-Bone Concerto" in its Taiwan premiere with the Hualien United Wind Orchestra in August 2002. In July 1995, Mr. Liang was invited to play for President Lee of Taiwan with the Elite Brass Quintet. In November 1999, joined by pianist Joyce Lin, Mr. Liang gave a recital at Yale University in honor of the victims of the September 1999 earthquake that killed more than three thousand and left eighty thousand homeless.

As a dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Liang co-founded the Metropolitan Brass Quintet in 2000 and made the Weill Recital Hall debut on April 13, 2002. As an international artist, Mr. Liang has appeared on the stages of Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Dallas Meyerson Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Staller Center for the Arts, Singapore Victoria Hall, Seoul Arts Center in South Korea, as well as the National Concert Hall of Taiwan. Mr. Liang is currently on the music faculty of Long Beach Catholic School.  With pianist Joyce Lin, Mr. Liang's recently released his first solo album - "In Love".