Saturday evening concert features virtuoso violinist with a home town connection
Eleven-year-old Lauren Welch to be among four world class musicians to perform

 

[June 22, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

This Saturday evening, avid concert goers are in for a treat when they attend a performance by four outstanding musicians performing at the Lincoln Community High School Auditorium starting at 7 p.m.

In addition to being world class musicians, one of these performers has a home town connection. Eleven-year-old Lauren Welch is the daughter of Mark and Paulette Welch. Mark is a former Lincoln resident, Carroll Catholic School and Lincoln Community High School Alumni. Lauren is the niece of Carroll Catholic School principal David Welch and the granddaughter of Mary and Tom Welch of Lincoln.

The concert is being held as a fundraiser for Carroll Catholic School. There will be no admission fee, just a free-will donation, making this concert affordable for all.

Performers:

Wai Mizutani

Wai Mizutani is a world renown classical violinist virtuoso who escaped China at age 14 by devoting his life to music and becoming the youngest 1st violinist in the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

 At 17, Wai won an audition to study at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music. He went on to receive his Master’s Degree at the Manhattan School of Music, where he then attended Rutgers University in pursuit of his Doctorate.

In addition to the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Wai has played in the Vancouver Symphony. As a soloist he has performed for various orchestras around the world such as the West Coast Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Sinfonietta in Taiwan, and Puccini Sinfonietta in Italy.

Wai has been honored for his fine performances in front of thousands at the famous Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, and Avery Fisher Hall, as well as for securing top honors for the Taiwan International Competition and Five Towns Violin Competition.

Wai is a recipient of the Music Teachers National Association Award. He has performed with world class super stars from pop, classic rock to operatic and classical including: Michael Jackson, Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli and YoYo Ma.

Lauren Welch

Lauren Welch is an 11-year-old violinist who has always had an extreme love for music. Nearly two years ago, Wai Mizutani invited her to be his student and within a very short amount of time, Lauren knew her violin and this new world of music was something she wanted more of. She was Intrigued.

Every concert Mizutani performed, Lauren was there learning and listening.

After six months this music was more than a curiosity it became her passion, making it the forefront of her life. Lauren soon began studying with Mizutani intensively in a study program through Flathead Valley Community College in Montana, where she has taken music theory classes, plays in the college orchestra and has recently played first violin in the pit orchestra for the musical Guys and Dolls.

Lauren was the youngest in the pit orchestra and is the youngest ever to play the musical’s entirety of six performances. Lauren has played in over 50 concerts and college events, and has a professional level repertoire with a range of genres beyond her years. It includes over 600 pieces ranging from classical concertos and sonatas, jazz, pop, rock, Hollywood film music and church hymns.

Lauren said she uses her music to make people smile, especially God, that is why she loves to play her violin in her church choir several times a weekend.

Lauren practices anywhere from three to six hours a day. Over the past year, Lauren’s love for music matured into a deep passion for classical music with a great interest in learning about the many composers from the different time periods.

Lauren enjoys piano, ballet, boat surfing with her brothers, is an avid downhill skier and loves to go on bike rides with her dad.

When people ask Lauren if she ever has time for fun, her response is, “Playing my violin is fun!!!”

Wei Pai

Born in Yilan, Taiwan, Wei Pai has been praised by critics, teachers, fellow musicians alike as having a “virtuosic display” at the piano. Wei received his Master’s Degree in music performance from Northern Illinois University where he received a full scholarship and served as a teaching assistant. He also received his Doctoral Degree in piano performance from the University of Minnesota where he was a Berneking Fellow.

Wei started playing the piano at age six. He studied piano for eight years at Gnessin’s Academy of Music in Moscow. His teachers included Boris Lvov, Maria Gambarian, Alexey Skavronsky, and Alexander Braginsky.

In 2003, Wei received the second place prize from the International Mendelssohn Chamber Music Competition in Moscow. Performances continued in Russia, Germany, Taiwan and the United States.

In 2012, Wei won the Concerto Competition and performed with the NIU Philharmonic Orchestra in Illinois.

As a music educator, Wei began his teaching career in Taiwan where he taught piano students from the beginner to college level. With over a decade’s teaching experience, Wei continues contributing his passion for music to his students in an informative and intriguing way. He has been invited to perform solo recitals this summer at the Baroque Room in Saint Paul, Minnesota and also in Illinois.

Aside from teaching and music performance, Wei served as the music director and vocal coach at the Theater of Ridiculous and Absurd for the historical revival of Irving Berlin’s “Music Box Revue 1921” at Masonic Heritage Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Tsai-Ying Li

Originally from Taiwan, Tsai-Ying Li has been playing the horn since age fifteen. She received her Master’s Degree in music performance in 2014 from Northern Illinois University where she received a full scholarship. She also received her Doctoral Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she studied horn with Daniel Grabois and wind conducting with Scott Teeple.

Tsai-Ying has appeared as a soloist, chamber orchestra performer and music educator in Taiwan and the United States.

In 2007, she won the first prize from the National Solo Horn Competition in Taiwan. She has also played extensively with horn choirs, wind ensembles, and orchestras. She has taught students in Taiwan and the United States as a horn teacher.

Tsai-Ying performed on the stage of New York’s Carnegie Hall with the UW Wind Ensemble in 2015. In addition, Tsai-Ying performed and recorded in Madison with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra in 2014. She also conducted University of Wisconsin Madison Horn Choir at Chazen Museum and performed with Wisconsin College and Faculty Brass Ensemble for Wisconsin State Conference in 2015. She performed with Beloit Janesville Symphony Orchestra and taught horn at Patrick Marsh Middle School in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin from 2015-2017.

Tsai-Ying has been on the music faculty of Dawson Community College since 2017. In addition, she served as a judge for the 2018 Southeast Horn Workshop Competition in Atlanta and also will perform a concert at the Baroque Room in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

[LDN with information provided by Mark Welch]