JAMMIES Evening of Classical Music

Han-ah Lee Sumner
As a 12-year-old pianist who has been studying piano for the past eight years under Huei-Ping Chen Lin in Davis, Han-ah Lee Sumner has participated in master classes, music camps and piano competitions. She has also won many awards and honors, including the Sacramento Youth Symphony Premier Orchestra Concerto Competition. She has also played the cello since she was 7. Han-ah is in her second season playing cello with the SYS Premier Orchestra and plays with several chamber-music groups in Sacramento.

Rio Americano High school AM Jazz Ensemble
The Rio Americano AM Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Josh Murray, is part of an 180-student band program at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento. Rio has three full and separate jazz ensembles. AM has been selected as a finalist for the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition in New York City four times since 2001, and has won the Monterey Jazz Festival Next Generation Competition a record seven times since 1987. AM was selected to perform at the inaugurations of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. They have toured in Japan, China and Australia, and are planning a tour of Argentina.

Rosemont High School Marching Band and orchestra 21
The Rosemont High School Marching Band, under the direction of Philip Angove, is a talented group of young musicians within the extensive Rosemont High School Music Department. Rosemont High School offers students a diverse selection of music courses, ranging from large performance ensembles to classes on audio recording and music production. The performance this evening features impressive student achievements within these classes. Students in Rosemont’s Digital Music course have composed works for symphonic orchestra, and through a competitive process, local and Bay Area composers have selected RHS student Clyde Patterson’s four-movement symphony, A Carnaval’s Crusade, as the most outstanding composition of the current academic year. Clyde’s symphony moved through several levels of the National Parent Teacher Association Student Composition Contest. Tonight, two movements of the work will be performed by two groups. “The House of Mirrors” will be performed by members of Orchestra 21. Orchestra 21 is an accomplished group that has been dedicated to premiering the compositions of Northern California’s most contemporary composers since 2007. The second movement, “Fanfare to the Beast,” will feature the combined forces of the RHS Marching Band and Orchestra 21.

Meagan Rao
Megan Rao is a 13-year-old vocalist who has been singing since the age of 5. Born in India and adopted at 9 months old, her father flew from America to India to pick her up, and she became an American citizen at the age of 2. Her parents have been extremely supportive of her musical endeavors, relentlessly pursuing voice coach Marina Lynch when Meagan was only 9 years old, who refused to take her because of her young age, until she finally heard Meagan sing. Meagan has been under Marina’s tutelage for the past three years.

Woodcreek High School Symphonic Band
Under the direction of Brad North, the Woodcreek High School Symphonic Band is one of the premier ensembles in Northern California and also one of six award-winning instrumental ensembles at Woodcreek High School. The Woodcreek Symphonic Band has won numerous first-place awards, including eight consecutive years of unanimous superior ratings by the California Music Educators Association.

Annamarie Arai and Jacob Veligan
Annamarie Arai is a 17-year-old violinist who has been playing violin since she was 4, and Jacob Veligan is a 16-year-old pianist who has been playing since he was 6. Both are very accomplished musicians: Annamarie has played with the Sacramento Youth Symphony, the UC Davis Summer Symphony and Sacramento’s Camellia Symphony Orchestra, and Jacob passed the advanced level of the Certificate of Merit program, sponsored by the Music Teachers’ Association of California, which included theory, piano, technique, music history and ear-training exams. He has also participated in many recitals, performances and competitions.

Loretto High School Chamber Singers
This ensemble, directed by Anthony Lien, consists of nearly equal numbers of sophomores, juniors and seniors, and over just the past four years alone has performed at the Memorial Auditorium, the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, the state Capitol and the Community Center Theater, where it joined the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra in presenting Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Being part of a Catholic school, they take seriously their responsibility to give back to the community whenever possible. Since 2005, Loretto choirs have helped to raise nearly $12,000 for local charitable organizations.

Kiana Okhovat
Currently a Roseville resident, Kiana Okhovat was born in Tehran, Iran, and also lived in Hamburg, Germany, until she moved to the United States in 2001. She is a 12-year-old pianist and has played the piano since she was 6. She has participated in and won various auditions provided by the Music Teachers’ Association of California and is also preparing for level seven of the Certificate of Merit program.

Davis Senior High School SYmphony Orchestra
The Davis Senior High School Orchestra Program, directed by Angelo Moreno, consists of three orchestras, including the DHS Chamber Orchestra, the DHS Symphony Orchestra and the DHS Baroque Ensemble. Its JAMMIES performance will highlight the Davis Senior High School Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony Orchestra is a selective, audition-based group consisting of string, wind, brass and percussion students. Under Mr. Moreno, students in the Symphony Orchestra gain experience through a background of various styles of symphonic music, while advancing their instrumental technical and cooperative skills. The Symphony Orchestra performs advanced-level full orchestral literature and has won numerous awards and commendations as part of the exceptional Davis Senior High Orchestra Program. The Davis Senior High School Orchestra Program performs several times throughout the year, including the Winter Concert, the Wennberg Music Festival, a spring tour and competition, and a spring “Finale” concert.