Young Artists Spotlight

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we hear a performance of George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue by Youth Orchestras of Fresno.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight we hear Youth Orchestras of Fresno perform Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we hear the FOOSA Festival/Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy perform works by Bloch, Lyaponuv, and Mahler's 5th Symphony.

The FOOSA Festival/Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy - Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy, Shostakovich 11

Hear a concert from the California State University Bakersfield Concert Band Fall 2024.

This week on KVPR's Young Artists Spotlight, we hear a performance by the Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra Recorded June 8, 2024. Dr. Leo Sakomoto, conductorRitual Fire Dance – Manuel de FallaNorwegian Dances, Op. 35 – Edvard GriegDanse Espagnole – Manuel de Falla, Brian Teeten, violinHungarian Dance No. 1 – BrahmsHungarian Dance No. 5 – Brahms

This week on KVPR's Young Artists Spotlight, we feature another performance by the Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra, recorded in November 2025 in Bakersfield.

The 2024 season concludes with the Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra and their Spring concert, held March 17, 2024 at the Edward Simonsen Performing Arts Center on the campus of Bakersfield College.

In this episode we join the Bakersfield College Chamber Singers, led by Dr. Jennifer Garrett, on their 2023 European, as they perform a wide range of sacred and secular music for audiences in Vienna, Prague, Leipzig, and Berlin.

In this episode we feature the Fresno State Wind Orchestra from their recent performance at the annual conference of the Western and Northwestern Divisions of the College Band Directors National Association, held at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts in March 2024.

This episode features sacred music of Bach, Haydn, Handel, and Schubert. Singers from Fresno Pacific University are joined by several area choirs, along with the Fresno Choral Artists and the San Joaquin Chorale.

From their Winter Magic concert, recorded December 3, 2023 at Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall in Fresno, Youth Orchestras of Fresno perform Dvořák's Carnival Overture and Beethoven's Symphony No.5 in C minor.

This week's episode features Youth Orchestras of Fresno's (YOOF) Love Conquers All concert, recorded February 18, 2024 at Paul Shaghoian Memorial Concert Hall in Fresno.

In the second episode of the 2024 Season of Young Artists Spotlight, Dr. Thomas Loewenheim leads the FOOSA Philharmonic in Dmitri Shostakovich's cinematic Symphony No.11 at Disney Hall in Los Angeles.

The 2024 season of Young Artists Spotlight opens with the FOOSA Philharmonic, performing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.5, conducted by Dr. Thomas Loewenheim.

This episode features two string soloists from Fresno and a pianist from Bakersfield.

In this episode, we present participants in Fresno State's 6th Annual Art Song Festival

This episode features a piano quartet from Fresno State, performing music by Joaquin Turina and Ernst Dohnanyi. They are Jackson Snead (violin), Melissa McGlumphy (viola), Emma Hill (cello), and Alina Xiong (piano).

This episode features the Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra (BYSO), from a concert recorded June 11, 2022 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Fresno, and also pays homage to trumpeter Daniel Edwards, a former member of the BYSO and a past performer on Young Artists Spotlight, who died tragically from COVID in March 2021. We'll hear Daniel Edwards' appearance on YAS from March 2009. A centerpiece of the BYSO performance is the world premier of a work commissioned in honor of Daniel Edwards, composed by retired CSUB professor Doug Davis.

Violinist Xavion is a student at University High School in Fresno. He performs music of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Henri Casadesus, and Vittorio Monti.

Our guests in this episode are a string quartet from Bakersfield. They all attend Stockdale High School, and they're all members of Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra, so they call themselves the BYSO Quartet. They perform music by Bach, Boccherini, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart.

A string quartet from Fresno performs music of Felix Mendelssohn and Aleksandr Glazunov. They are Atom Paz (violin), Rajbir Longia (violin), Eve Nelson (viola), and Elena White (cello). Their coach is Lianna Elmore.

A string quartet from Bakersfield performs music of Bach, Handel, Hasse, and Handel, plus guitar music by Mozzani. They are Sanjna Mizar (violin), Rafael Marinas (violin, guitar); Ollie Erickson (viola), and Aden Park (cello).

We kick off the 2023 season of Young Artists Spotlight with a performance by violinist Rowan Crass. He performs work of Bach, Lalo, and Paganini.

In this final episode from our 2022 season of Young Artists Spotlight, we bring you highlights from some of the most outstanding performances of the season, featuring string soloists ranging from violin to contrabass.

On this episode of Young Artists Spotlight, we're featuring vocal soloists and student composers from the 5th Annual Fresno State Art Song Festival.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we hear from The Woodward Quartet, a group of Fresno-based students. This performance was recorded in March 2022.

This episode features the Bakersfield Youth Symphony Orchestra (BYSO), from a concert recorded June 11, 2022 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Fresno, and also pays homage to trumpeter Daniel Edwards, a former member of the BYSO and a past performer on Young Artists Spotlight, who died tragically from COVID in March 2021. We'll hear Daniel Edwards' appearance on YAS from March 2009. A centerpiece of the BYSO performance is the world premier of a work commissioned in honor of Daniel Edwards, composed by retired CSUB professor Doug Davis.

In this episode, we hear from a young string quartet named Free26. This performance was recorded March 17, 2022, at a concert in Fresno.

This week, we feature more string soloists from the Fresno/Clovis area.

This episode features more string soloists from the Simba School of Music in Fresno. We'll be treated to a wide range of selections from the Romantic repertoire.

Our season opener features string soloists from the Simba School of Music in Fresno. They range in age from elementary school through high school.

On this final episode of the 2021 season of Young Artists Spotlight, we feature more performances from Claire Vega, Emma Woodward, Rowan Crass, Emma Sigala and others.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we feature a performance from guitarist John Benjie Arriba, a senior at Central High School. He performs solo pieces for guitar. We also feature Free26, a quartet of 8th graders from the Simba School of Music. They are Penelope Freeman (violin), Izzy Cobb (violin), Xavion Torres (viola), and Betsy Woodward (cello).

On this edition of Young Artists Spotlight, host David Aus features Bakersfield violinist Brian Shih, performing Mozart with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, and more.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we feature performances from three Fresno State vocal performance students: Aunika Bull, Jordan Pulido, and Katie La Blue.

Anna Jian from Bakersfield's Stockdale High School performs cello work by Tchaikovsky with the Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra and piano work by Mendelssohn.

Baritone Christopher Rodriguez shares performances from his recent Master's Recital and discusses the importance and excitement of performing work by living composers.

Fresno-area harpist Carter Williams enchants with the music of Nino Rota, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Marcel Grandjany.

This season of Young Artists Spotlight is all about trying new things. All new kinds of ways of putting on performances, overcoming hurdles, and working through constraints. And in the spirit of trying new things, in this episode of Young Artists Spotlight, we step outside of our tradition of musical performance, to hear an innovative and original high school production from the Theatre Department at Stockdale High School. In the Fall of 2020, collaborating virtually, they explored the realm of radio drama and wrote their own radio teleplay - Mirror Mirror on the Radio. We speak with Drama Teacher Guinevere Park-Hall and some of her drama students, and we'll hear their production in its entirety.

This week we feature performances by Fresno area cellist Diego Marrero Perez and vocalist Tiffanie Trujillo.

For this episode, we feature three talented violinists from the Fresno area. They are all in high school, and they all participate in music at the Simba School of Music. Charis Gray performs music of Édouard Lalo, Elsa Macias performs work of Mozart, and Nicole Ward performs music of Archangelo Corelli.

For this episode we welcome back a pair of string soloists who have performed before on Young Artists spotlight — April Park and Claire Park. They are sisters, and they both attend Stockdale High School in Bakersfield. April plays viola, and Claire plays violin. We hear them perform some solo pieces and a duo, with music from Henryk Wieniawski, Fritz Kreisler, William Walton, Arthur Benjamin, and Johann Halverson.

For this episode we turn to string soloists. This week's artists are all in high school, and they all have studied at the Simba School of Music in Fresno. Violinist Emma Woodward performs music of Max Bruch, violinist Rowan Crass performs work of Fritz Kreisler, and bassist Emma Sigala performs music of Saint-Saëns.

In this episode of Young Artists Spotlight, we welcome another pianist from Bakersfield, Alexander Leung. He is a freshman at Frontier High School. he performs music of Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Bartók.

Valley Public Radio's Young Artists Spotlight makes a triumphant return for 2021! Our new season features remote and socially distanced performances from some of the valley's top young musicians. Check back soon for videos from the season posted on our YouTube page, and more. We kicked off the 2021 YAS season on Thursday March 18th 2021 with a performance and interview with a wonderful pianist from Bakersfield, Claire Vega, who performed music of Bach, Beethoven and Gershwin.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we feature a performance from the Glacier Point Middle School Chamber Choir, from Fresno's Central Unified School District.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight we feature four talented musicians from Bakersfield performing in a string quartet. All of the students in this ensemble attend Stockdale High School in Bakersfield and are members of the Bakersfield Youth Symphony.

Our performers this week on Young Artists Spotlight are a string quartet from the Simba School of Music in Fresno. They call themselves Free26 – they are all 7th graders and all but one have birthdays on the 26th. Clever kids. They've been playing together for many years. The cellist and violist have played together since they were 2 years old. They all went to Fresno's Manchester GATE School and now go to Computech Middle School in the Fresno Unified School District.

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we welcome vocal performers from Fresno State, as well as Dr. Maria Briggs and Dr. Cari Earnhart. In addition to the performances, Briggs and Earnhart will discuss the upcoming Fresno Art Song Festival (Feb 29) and the CSUF Carmina Burana gala (Mar 13-15).

This week on Young Artists Spotlight, we welcome music students from California State University, Fresno. Each of the three student musicians will perform with collaborative pianist Dr. Shing-Ming Liao. Soloists this week include Amanda Steinhauer, xylophone; Robert Bennett - clarinet; and Arianna Knee, flute. Matthew Darling, Fresno State Music Department chair, also joins host David Aus this week to help introduce artists and to talk about their Carmina Burana gala taking place in March and Art Song Festival, happening later this month.