Oakland Youth Orchestras, (OYO), presents its winter concert on February 7, 6:30 pm at the Oxford Fine Arts Center located at 745 N. Oxford Road, Oxford, MI. Tickets will be available at the door: Adults–$10, children and students–$5.
Selections to be performed by the four orchestras of OYO include Overture to William Tell by Gioacchino Rossini, Waltz from Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, King Kong by James Newton Howard, arr. Ted Ricketts, Thundersnow by Katie O’Hara LaBrie and more.
The concert will also feature two accomplished musicians and winners of OYO’s 2023 Solo and Concerto Competition, soloists David Collier and Kyra Shogren.
Collier will perform Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26, 1st movement by Max Bruch and Shogren will perform the Allegro molto appassionato movement of Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22.
Collier is a 14 year-old Bloomfield Hills Home-Schooled Freshman. He began playing the violin at five years of age and is currently in the studio of Ned Djordjevic. He previously studied under Dylana Jenson and Nyssa Rabinowitz.
In addition to playing in OYO, Collier plays hymns in string ensembles with his three brothers weekly in church. Outside of music he has many hobbies including powerlifting, snowboarding, fishing, and hanging out with family.
Shogren is a 16-year-old junior at Rochester Stoney Creek High School and a ten year OYO veteran. She started playing violin at the age of five and currently studies with Bill Milicevic.
Musical honors include: OYO Studio Strings Solo and Concerto Competition winner, MSBOA All-State Orchestra, Oakland University Honors Orchestra, Grand Prix winner of the Concert Festival International Competition—performing at Carnegie Hall.
Shogren is also involved in school theatre, enjoys spending time with friends, writing and reading, and playing video games.
Zeljko (Bill) Milicevic, OYO Symphony conductor and Shogren’s teacher, commented, “It’s a pleasure to accompany a personal student in performance with our symphony orchestra. From the beginning, it was an exciting journey getting to the various points of performance readiness, but watching Kyra grow into the piece that has become a part of her has been truly special.”