Philharmonic
48 Hours
Winning the chance to perform with a professional orchestra is a
grand finale to Ko Sugiyama's early years of music study.
After the violinist performs with the Burbank Philharmonic Sunday
at The Starlight Bowl in Burbank, the 18-year-old Glendora resident
will head for college Monday at the Cleveland Institute of Music in
Ohio. He will major in violin performance in the school's four-year
program.
Earlier this year, Sugiyama competed and won the first young
artist competition sponsored by the symphony orchestra.
Coincidentally, he will be featured soloist on Wieniawski's Violin
Concerto No. 1, one of the same pieces he used in his college
audition.
"This was the first piece I really enjoyed playing and my first
major concerto that I learned," he said. "It was the main piece that
got me into the college."
He started playing the violin at 4 1/2, only because his parents
wanted him to, he said. He was enrolled in a music school in Boston.
At 5, the family moved to Los Angeles. He continued his music studies
and began winning many prestigious competitions. He practiced five
hours a day until he turned 11.
"As a teenager, I went my own way," he said, adding that he cut
his practice to two hours a day, and not every day. By 16, he had
gone through a lot of teachers, but finally met a real easy-going
one.
"He let me see the joy of performing a lot," he said.
What also changed his tune was watching two violinists as he sat
in a master's class at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.
"They were amazing," he said. "I knew then I didn't want to be the
audience, even though it would take the hard work and sacrifices."
Although he has never played the piece in front of a large
audience, he is happily anticipating the chance to share his feelings
toward classical music and classical music itself with the crowd.
"I'm more excited and happy to be playing the concert and glad to
be doing it the day before I leave Los Angeles for college," he said.
"All my family, friends and teacher will be there. It's a nice way to
say goodbye."
This is the concluding concert of the orchestra's 10th anniversary season. Steven Kerstein is conductor. The opening selection is the
Festive Overture by Shostakovich and also on the program is Berlioz's
Symphony Fantastique.
The concert begins at 6:30 p.m. and gates open at 5:30 for
picnicking. Tickets are $5 and $3 for children 4 to 12 and seniors 60
and older. Parking is $2. The Starlight Bowl is at 1249 Lockheed View
