Scenes of Seville
Sat Apr 27, 2024 – 7pm
Fort Dodge Middle School
Joshua Barlage, conducting
Helen Mao, piano
Tai Caputo, violin
Karlee Nelson, soprano
Lucas Wiese Ibarra, alto saxophone
2024 Young Artists Competition Winners
Youth Honors Recital at 6:25pm.
Join us for a pre-concert recital featuring winners of this year’s Youth Honors Competition.
BEETHOVEN Overture to Fidelio
MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Mvt III
Helen Mao
SAINT-SAËNS Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Mvt III
Tai Caputo
Nebal MAYSAUD Oh, Great Mystery
OFFENBACH Les oiseaux dans la charmille from Tales of Hoffman
Karlee Nelson
TOMASI Alto Saxophone Concerto, Mvt II
Lucas Wiese Ibarra
BIZET Carmen Suite No. 1
Our season finale takes us to southern Spain with the overture from Beethoven’s only opera and music from Bizet’s Carmen, both of which take place in Seville and are joined with Nebal Maysaud‘s mystical ode to our great universe and winners of our 2024 Young Artists Competition.
Junior Helen Mao developed her strong passion for piano at the age of four with Pam Sibbel and Larisa Kanevski. Helen is a three-time IMTA State winner, three-time MTNA State winner, Victor Borge Legacy winner, and a Young Artist who performed with the Central Iowa Symphony. This year, Helen will perform at Carnegie Hall in July, where she has also previously performed at the Museum of Danish America. Helen enjoys playing tennis, writing, and playing percussion, where she performed at the All-State Music Festival this year. Helen loves to perform piano and percussion for her community within ensembles, jazz band, and parades. Helen currently studies piano with Dr. Mei-Hsuan Huang and is thankful for the unconditional support of her family, friends, and teachers.
Tai Caputo is a junior at City High School in Iowa City. She began to study violin at age six with Doris Preucil and is now a student of Joseph Kromholz. She has also studied with Joshua Palazzolo and with Gerardo Ribeiro at the Meadowmount School of Music. Last fall, she won the Senior String Division for the Iowa Music Teachers National Association Performance Competition and was chosen to be concertmaster of the Iowa All State Orchestra. In 2022, Tai was a Fellow with the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. In 2021, The New York Times featured Tai conducting the Intermediate Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp in a photo essay, “I Found Myself at Band Camp.”
Karlee Nelson is a senior at Iowa State University majoring in Vocal Music Education with a minor in Psychology. She is a student of Chad Sonka. Karlee was the 2023 president of the Iowa State Singers and has had various leadership positions in other groups and organizations within the music department at Iowa State. She has enjoyed many performance opportunities in her musical career so far and is very excited to continue her careers in both music education and performance after graduating from Iowa State. Karlee would like to thank all of her music educators and her family for being her support system; she would not be the person she is today without them.
Lucas Wiese Ibarra is a saxophonist from sunny San Diego, California. His primary teachers include Dan Gelok and Dr. Kenneth Tse, the latter of which he currently studies with at the University of Iowa. In 2023, he was a national finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Senior Woodwind Competition and was a winner of the University of Iowa Undergraduate Concerto Competition. Other moments of note include participation in masterclasses with international artists like Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Jorge Antonio Garcia and members of the Habanera Quartet.
When not practicing sax, you can find Lucas pouring excessive amounts of Tajín on his food, playing table tennis, or listening to Joni Mitchell.
Single tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the concert.
$15.00 Adults
Students free of charge